A Broomfield woman is suing a lodge near Estes Park after she got locked out and stuck on a balcony and had to jump off to escape, breaking her ribs, neck and back, according to court records.
Diana Gathright, 60, was staying at Dao House on April 6, 2023, when she went out onto her balcony to stargaze and the door locked behind her, according to a complaint filed in Larimer County District Court on Thursday.
Gathright was the only person staying at the lodge at the time. Dao House employees stay in a different building and there is no cell phone service at the facility, attorneys with Denver firm Cheney Galluzi & Howard wrote in the lawsuit.
Gathright was on the balcony for three hours in single-digit temperatures and tried to break the window to her room with balcony furniture before she decided to lower herself to the ground to escape. She landed on a snow-covered log which broke multiple bones, lacerated her liver and collapsed one of her lungs.
Multiple other people had previously gotten locked out on the balcony, the lawsuit claims, and the lodge owners should have known the automatic locking doors created dangerous conditions.
Failing to protect their guest is “a breach of (the lodge’s) duties to exercise reasonable care to protect against dangers of which they knew or should have known,” Gathright’s attorneys wrote.
Gathright was permanently injured by the fall and still experiences pain, according to the complaint.
She is seeking unspecified damages for medical expenses, permanent impairment and pain and suffering.
Representatives for Dao House could not be reached for comment on the lawsuit Friday.
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