Oct 22, 2013 1 min read

A student who was injured in a residence hall student lounge earlier this year has sued California University of Pennsylvania.

Megan Vierheller, who listed her address in Washington County Court records as an apartment on California Road, Brownsville, was sitting in a chair in Residence Hall B with her back to the room’s windows March 11 when the closed window suddenly separated from its mooring and crashed down on her head, shattering and spraying her with shards of glass.

She suffered, according to the complaint, a concussion, spinal injuries and severe pain in the neck, shoulder and upper back, causing her to lose time at work. Vierheller is seeking damages of less than $50,000 from a board of arbitrators.

She knew of no severe weather that would have caused the incident, and, in the complaint, states her chair was in a fixed location. Vierheller said university employees immediately took the damaged window and removed latches, making it impossible for her to determine the cause of the window’s failure.