The father of the Midtown executive who was killed in a gruesome elevator accident is suing the lift repair company over his daughter’s death.
Alex Hart is suing Transel Elevator and Electric over the December, 2011 death of his daughter Suzanne, who was going to work at her advertising firm when the under-repair elevator suddenly rose as she stepped into it.
The suit, filed in Brooklyn Supreme Court, claims that repairmen failed to re-enable a safety circuit after doing repairs. It also says that the workers did not post signs saying the elevator was being worked on; did not contact the Department of Buildings to inspect the lift before it was put back in service; and left a “jumper wire” in the elevator bypassing its safety circuit.
Transel employees Michael Hill, David O’Neill, Jason Torzilli, Robert Schroeder, Efrain Cardona and Transel co-owner John Fichera are all named in the suit, as well as Cushman & Wakefield, management of the Madison Avenue building.
“We don’t have a comment at this point,” said Robert Pitney, a Transel spokesman.
The suit comes after a February report by the city that found the workers did not follow safety protocols. The report led to the suspension of Transel’s license over 23 violations.
City inspectors from January to October 2012 cracked down on elevator violations, issuing 753 of the most serious fines — compared with 515 during that period in 2011.
A spokesman for Cushman & Wakefield declined to comment.