Pennsylvania woman sues estate of teen who fell on her from 8th floor window

Education Management

05/05/2016 19:49

By Joseph Ax 
    NEW YORK, May 5 (Reuters) - A Pennsylvania woman who 
suffered severe injuries when an 18-year-old college student 
fell on her from an eighth-story window has sued the dead 
teenager's estate, claiming permanent disabilities. 
    Erica Goodwin, 45, was walking in Philadelphia's Center City 
district on Jan. 15, 2015, when Rebecca Kim landed on her after 
falling from the eighth floor of an apartment building, leaving 
her with spinal fractures and other injuries. 
    The Philadelphia medical examiner's office ruled Kim's death 
a suicide. 
    According to Goodwin's lawsuit, Kim, a first-year student at 
Temple University, was visiting friends who lived in the 
apartment, which houses students at the Art Institute of 
Philadelphia. 
    She told them she wanted to take photographs from the ledge 
and then either fell or jumped to her death, the complaint said. 
    In addition to Kim's estate, the lawsuit also names as 
defendants the Art Institute and its parent company Education 
Management Corp  EDMC.PK , the students who lived in the 
apartment and the companies that managed and owned the building, 
among other entities. 
    Goodwin's injuries were the result of the defendants' 
negligence for allowing access to the ledge, according to the 
lawsuit, which was filed in the Court of Common Pleas in 
Philadelphia. 
    A lawyer and a spokeswoman for the Art Institute declined to 
comment on Thursday. 
    Kim's relatives filed their own wrongful death lawsuit in 
December against many of the same corporate defendants, claiming 
they did not take appropriate steps to secure the building's 
windows. The lawsuit characterized Kim's death as a "fall," and 
did not address whether she acted intentionally. 
 
 (Reporting by Joseph Ax, editing by G Crosse) 
 ((joseph.ax@thomsonreuters.com; +1-646-223-6594; Reuters 
Messaging: joseph.ax.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: PENNSYLVANIA LAWSUIT/