On Oct. 30, an Ozaukee County jury awarded $15 million to the estate of a woman who died at a Port Washington senior living facility over five years ago after a collapsed retaining wall fell on her.
On May 17, 2020, Port Washington police officers found Judith Cisewski, 74, buried under rubble shortly after they were notified of the retaining wall’s collapse at Lincoln Village Senior Living, according to police at the time.
Officers removed the concrete blocks off Cisewski, but she sustained numerous injuries. She died the following day.
The jury verdict found that the landscaping maintenance company Oberndorfer was negligent in constructing the retaining wall and that Lincoln Village Senior Living was negligent in failing to maintain and preserve safety on the premises, according to verdict documents shared by Al Foeckler, an attorney for Cisewski’s estate.
The jury deliberated for four hours and found Oberndorfer responsible for 60% of the liabilities and Lincoln Village responsible for 40%.
“We are grateful the jury, as the conscience of the community in Ozaukee County, held Lincoln Village responsible for its failure to inspect and maintain its property for its senior residents that results in this tragedy,” Foeckler said in a statement sent to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Oct 31.
“We also are proud the jury had the courage to deliver a verdict that recognized the horror Judith Cisewski experienced after being buried alive for two hours and then suffering an additional two hours before dying from the injuries,” Foeckler said.
The Journal Sentinel has reached out to Lincoln Village Senior Living and the facility’s attorneys but has not immediately heard back.
Contact Claudia Levens at clevens@gannett.com. Follow her on X at @levensc13.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Jury renders $15M verdict in fatal 2020 wall collapse at senior home
