A handicapped woman who came from Georgia to see her daughter graduate from USC in May is suing the university for negligence and premises liability, alleging she fell out of her wheelchair and broke her amputated right leg due to the negligence of two employees.
Zelda Outlaw’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit was filed Aug. 25 and seeks unspecified general and special damages as well as compensation for medical expenses. A USC representative issued a statement Tuesday, stating that the university is aware of the lawsuit and that it’s being reviewed.
According to Outlaw’s complaint, she went to USC to see her daughter’s commencement ceremonies on May 16 in a wheelchair because of a 2023 below-the-knee amputation or her right leg, although she had been trying to walk with a prosthetic leg that she did not bring to the ceremony.
Outlaw was able to watch her daughter’s graduation without any problems and used an ADA-compliant pathway for wheelchair-bound guests in order to do so, the suit states. Unknown to Outlaw, however, the wheelchair route that the plaintiff had used was now taped and roped off, limiting access to handicap ramps and posing an unreasonable and dangerous hazard, according to the complaint.
The ADA-compliant pathway gate was locked and Outlaw had to wait up to an hour to find someone to open it, according to the suit, which further states that staff members sent her in two different directions, each of which brought her to locked exits, the suit states.
Two employees, wearing vests identifying them as USC employees, ultimately offered to carry Outlaw in her wheelchair down a step to get her on her way, but due to their alleged improper training, she fell from her chair and onto the ground, causing a fracture in her amputated leg as well as other physical and emotional injuries, the suit alleges.
Outlaw continues to suffer from these injuries and the USC employees’ alleged negligent conduct was a “substantial factor” in causing the plaintiff’s harm, according to the suit.
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This woman is a frivolous filer. Any attorney that takes her cases knows what he’s or she is getting into. Shame on the attorneys who file these claims. Shame on them.