Web Extra!

A Chicago woman on Tuesday filed suit against Brookfield Zoo claiming she was injured after she slipped and fell on a wet walkway at a dolphin show at the zoo in August 2008. The plaintiff, Allecyn Edwards, is seeking more than $50,000 in damages for her injuries.


According to the lawsuit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court on Aug. 18, Edwards visited the zoo on
Aug. 20, 2008, and attended one of the dolphin shows. While walking in the bleacher section of the exhibit area, Edwards fell and sustained injuries not specified in the lawsuit.


Calls to Edwards and to her attorney were not immediately returned. A spokeswoman for Brookfield Zoo declined to comment on the suit citing pending litigation.


Since 2000, Brookfield Zoo has been sued five other times for personal injury or premises liability. All of those cases were dismissed, according to records on file with the clerk of the court for
Cook County.


In this latest lawsuit, Edwards alleges that the zoo was negligent in “recklessly and willfully” training its dolphins to splash water at spectators and onto the walkways, not warning spectators to beware of the slippery floor and not providing slip-proof mats or strips for spectator safety.


The suit claims Edwards suffered injuries that caused her to miss time from work and to experience pain, suffering and physical and emotional trauma.