A student, who cannot be named due to federal law, is seeking $3,306 to cover medical costs from N.C. State after falling down a flight of stairs leading to Riddick parking lot.
An investigation of the claim, completed in Sept. 2007, denied University responsibility for the accident.
According to a letter from Deborah G. Harvey, assistant to the General Counsel at NCSU, to Shelly W. Perry, a tort claim investigator, the student said she was returning home after class in Poe Hall around 10 p.m. on Nov. 22, 2005 when the incident occurred.
It stated that she did not receive medical attention until Dec. 1, 2005.
According to the letter, the stairs in question were not part of her normal route to her car, that was located in the parking lot across Riddick Field. Due to construction, she had to change her routine and use a set of unfamiliar stairs.
Legal Services did not want to directly comment on the investigation because of the case’s pending status.
The construction of the area excuses maintenance crews to be responsible for cleaning the stairs, the letter stated.
It also stated that pictures of the set of stairs she fell down were obtained from the claimant and used as exhibits in the investigation. Construction fences in the background signified the area was once part of a construction area.
“Once an area becomes a construction site, the University is no longer responsible for maintenance of the area as maintenance becomes the contractor’s responsibility,” Harvey said. “No one but the contractor’s employees or sub-contractors are supposed to enter the area.”
According to the letter, the student also claimed the stairs were poorly lit, which aided in the resulting accident. However, Harvey noted a streetlight at the top of the stairs provides a circle diameter of 40-50 feet of lighting, and therefore denied this claim.
“It is our position that the damages suffered by [the student] were not due to any breach of duty or omission on the part of the University,” Shelly W. Perry, tort claims investigator, said to the claimant in a letter.
Further, Harvey said there were no other reports of accidents or work reports of poor lighting or maintenance.
Blake Gilbert, freshman in biomedical engineering, said she felt the campus is well lit and has never had a problem while walking back from her night class. She said she felt the filed claim “seems a lot to ask for from the University.” “If you’re walking around in the dark anywhere, you need to be careful,” Gilbert said.
Tony Zappulla, sophomore in professional golf management, said the money requested from the claim should be invested in improving campus facilities to prevent such accidents from happening again.
“The University having to pay her isn’t going to help the situation,” Zappulla said.
