Joliet Slip, Fall Lawsuit Settled For Six Figures

JOLIET, IL - Earlier this year, the City of Joliet quietly reached an out of court settlement to resolve a 2013 civil lawsuit brought on behalf of Estella Jurkovich, a Joliet resident who slipped and fell near the Pace bus stop in the 1200 block of Plainfield Road. The settlement was not cheap. The city agreed to pay the plaintiff's side $100,000 to bring the 2013 Will County lawsuit to a close as far as the city was concerned. The plaintiff was represented by attorney Brion Doherty of Motherway & Napleton in Chicago. Besides Joliet, the lawsuit also named the Pace bus service as a co-defendant.

Joliet Patch recently learned about the terms of the settlement as a result of filing a Freedom of Information Act request with the city of Joliet. The request, filed after our recent story about the city's $30,000 settlement involving a false arrest made by Joliet Police Officer Rachel Smithberg, asked Joliet for any and all lawsuits that have been settled so far this year besides the Smithberg case. The Jurkovich settlement, made in February, is the only other such case, Joliet Patch learned.

RELATED: Joliet False Arrest Leads To Settlement

The 2013 lawsuit accused Joliet of negligence by "failing to properly inspect the sidewalk upon which the public could walk" and also having "failed to provide a safe walking surface."

Next month will mark five years since Jurkovich took her tumble to the ground, not far from the Tezak Funeral Home, the lawsuit notes. The lawsuit states that Jurkovich "was caused to fall and be severely injured as a result of the unsafe conditions" of the city sidewalk.

"On June 25, 2013, the plaintiff was walking on the sidewalk located ... near the intersection of Plainfield Road and Connecticut Avenue in front of the Tezak Funeral Home," the lawsuit states.

But how was Jurkovich injured?

"Estella Jurkovich slipped and fell because of the anchor protruding from the sidewalk that remained from a removed Pace bus stop sign," her lawyer wrote.

Joliet "allowed a steel anchor to protrude in front of the sidewalk. The anchor ... was not intended or designed to facilitate pedestrian traffic. Estella Jurkovich became sore, lame and disabled, suffered pain and anguish and incurred medical expenses, suffered loss wages and may continue (encountering) other loses for the rest of her life."

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