Otis Elevator Co. v. Reid

OPINION

This is an appeal from a judgment entered on a jury verdict which awarded respondent $317,500.00 in damages for injuries sustained in an elevator accident.

THE FACTS

On October 14, 1980, respondent Richard Reid was riding in an elevator manufactured and exclusively maintained by appellant Otis Elevator Company (Otis) when the elevator’s overspeed safety switch tripped, causing the elevator to stop two to three feet above the second floor.

Reid testified that he entered the elevator from the fourth floor in order to get to the first floor. After the elevator doors closed, the elevator…