Schaumburg agrees to $320,000 settlement for ankle injury in Metra lot

Schaumburg trustees have unanimously approved a $320,000 settlement of a 2017 lawsuit by a woman who injured her ankle and required two surgeries after she stumbled in a hole in the village's Metra train station parking lot.

Much of the settlement will be paid to Joan C. Michels by the village's insurance company, Schaumburg Village Attorney Lance Malina said.

The village has an insurance deductible of $100,000, of which approximately $70,000 has already been spent on the litigation costs of Michels' lawsuit, Malina said. Only the difference to reach that $100,000 deductible will be the village's share of the settlement payment.

Malina said the hole in the asphalt was believed to be a couple of inches deep. He added that Michels said she had seen the hole on her way to work in the morning but forgot about it and was unable to see it in the darkness as she returned to her vehicle in the evening.

The lawsuit seemed to be heading toward settlement last September when Michels found she needed a second surgery to correct the injury to her ankle and the amount of her monetary damages increased, Malina said.

The case was scheduled to be tried this month, but the judge set a settlement negotiation in May that ultimately led to the out-of-court agreement, Malina said.

Neither Michels nor her attorney could be reached for comment Wednesday.