Arlington Heights Settles Lawsuit Over Fall

Arlington Heights settled a lawsuit for $49,500 with a woman who alleged she fell due to snow in a public parking lot, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Jeannie Nishime Johnston and Michael Johnston filed the lawsuit in 2010 seeking damages after Jeannie slipped in a parking garage due to “unnaturally accumulated” ice, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The lawsuit named the Village of Arlington Heights as a defendant and claimed it was negligent in the incident.

The village board recently reached a settlement agreement with the couple which trustees approved in December 2012.

While the village does not agree with the Johnston’s attorney, who said the pile of snow was the cause of the fall, Arlington Heights is making a change to prevent similar incidents, said Scott Shirley, director of Public Works.

Plows will push snow to the outer corners in parking garages to make sure there aren't any “unnatural accumulations” that anyone could slip on, Shirley said.

The village always has in the past and plans to continue to put salt on floors of garages and on the roads after it plows, Shirley said.

He said salt was down in the parking garage the morning Johnston fell.