An Ohio man has filed a lawsuit against the company that owns the warehouse in which his indoor storage business is housed. He claims that a tow motor skidded on a wet portion of the warehouse floor, causing it to slam into a boat and injure his hand. The man accuses the leasing company that owns the building of failing to repair a leak in the roof, which he says caused the floor to be wet and ultimately caused his personal injury. He is requesting approximately $25,000 in damages.
According to the lawsuit, the lease between the plaintiff and defendant included information regarding the leaking roof, as well as damage caused by the leak. While the leasing company paid for several boats and other damaged vehicles to be repaired, the leak went unaddressed. In 2010, the man claimed to have supplied a representative of the defendant a detailed list of all the facility's leak-affected areas. Although the company retained roofing contractors at that time, the man claims that any of the repairs that may have been done were ineffective.
The month after the plaintiff claims to have shown the leak details to the company, a tow motor skidded across a wet spot on the warehouse floor while the man operated it. As the motor slid toward a boat, the man attempted to stop the crash with his arm. Unable to do so, the man's hand was pinned between the boat and motor. The severity of the plaintiff's injury is unclear.
The man accuses the leasing company of causing his injury by failing to repair the leaking roof at his request. He contends that this lack of action on the defendant's part also constitutes a breach of the leasing contract he signed with the company. No representatives from the defendant could be reached for comment regarding the lawsuit.
Source: Morning Journal, "Leak leads to lawsuit," Kate Snyder, March 21, 2012