A former University of Oregon student is suing the school for $16.3 million, claiming she became paralyzed after a tree fell on top of her on UO's Eugene campus.
The Daily Emerald was the first to report on the lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday.
In court documents, plaintiff Olivia Rose Edwards said she was walking to class during a wind storm on Feb. 24, when part of a 50 feet tall tree near University Hall snapped and collapsed onto her.
Edwards claimed the resulting injuries made her paraplegic, and she's accrued $1.3 million in medical expenses. In the lawsuit, she estimated she would have to pay an additional $5 million in the future.
Now, she’s suing the university for negligence, saying it didn’t ensure the tree was safe, take steps to remove it, or keep students away in advance of a potential accident.
"On information and belief, the tree was fatally weakened by disease or some other cause," read the plaintiff's complaint. "On information and belief, such weakness would have been apparent upon reasonable and routine maintenance and inspection."
Edwards' complaint also accused the university of failing to warn the campus community about weather risks on the day of the incident. According to the UO Alerts archive, it sent multiple notices about downed trees that day, but only after the accident reportedly occurred.
Once Edwards was injured, the complaint alleges that her legal team asked UO not to destroy the tree, so a forensic arborist could determine what caused it to fall. But Edwards said the university later told her team that it'd gone through a wood chipper.
According to the lawsuit, the situation forced Edwards to leave her studies at UO. One of the her lawyers, Zach Walker, said he's been disappointed by the lack of outreach from the university to help its student get her degree.
"We're talking about a very young woman trying to navigate life differently," said Walker. "I think everybody would have hoped to see the university try to be a bit more proactive on trying to help Olivia Edwards get back to some form of normalcy."
In an email to KLCC, UO representative Eric Howald said the school was heartbroken about the accident, and student and staff safety is its top priority. He also said the university takes tree maintenance seriously.
"We have a dedicated team of experts that regularly inspects the health of our trees, caring for them properly and checking for any issues that could put people at risk," he said. "This includes routine assessments, trimming, and any necessary interventions to address potential risks."
Howald said UO would respond to the plaintiff's claims in a legal filing.
