Lake Katherine Visitor Sues City, Nature Center after Trip and Fall

A woman who tripped and fell on a wooden walkway at Lake Katherine Nature Center and Botanic Gardens is suing the city, claiming the city should have warned visitors of the slippery wooden footbridge.

Catherine Gonzalez filed a suit against the city of Palos Heights and the nature center on May 6 in Cook Cook Circuit Court, alleging willful and wanton liability in her May 2014 injury.

Gonzalez was walking the grounds of the nature center at 7402 Lake Katherine Drive, when she stumbled and fell on a wooden footbridge, reports Cook County Record. The footing was uneven, and the suit maintains the defendants “constructed an unsafe and defective footbridge; failed to inspect, maintain, and repair the property; and neglected to warn pedestrians of the hazard.”

Gonzalez is claiming personal injury and loss of a normal life, along with accumulated medical bills and lost earning capacity. She seeks monetary damages of more than $50,000, plus attorney’s fees and costs.