A senior architecture major has filed a lawsuit against Syracuse University, a construction corporation and a window repair company after a 50-pound, 6-by-3-feet window pane fell on her head.

On Jan. 13, 2014, Meishi Zhang was in Lyman Hall talking to her FST203: “Fine Pastries and Desserts” professor, when the window pane fell on her head, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in Onondaga County Supreme Court. Now more than a year later, Zhang said her eyesight has been seriously compromised — including partial loss of her peripheral vision — and she will graduate in the fall, rather than this spring.

Since the incident, Zhang said in an interview she has incurred medical expenses costing at least $20–30,000 causing her to hire an attorney and file a lawsuit against SU, The Hayner Hoyt Corporation and Upstate Insulated Glass Inc. Both Central New York-based companies were hired by SU to replace windows in Lyman Hall, according to the lawsuit.

Neither representatives from Hayner Hoyt nor Upstate Insulated Glass were immediately available for comment. Kevin Quinn, senior vice president for public affairs, said he could not comment on pending litigation.

Clifford Zelen, Zhang’s attorney, was also not immediately available for comment. Chris Uyehara, a professor Zhang said was with her at the time of the accident, was also not immediately available for comment.

Zhang said that she first went to SU Health Services and then the Crouse Hospital emergency room because she felt nauseous. She later was referred to the Upstate Concussion Center at the Institute for Human Performance, where she was told she had post-concussion syndrome, which causes dizziness, headaches and some psychological effects, such as anxiety and depression.

By March 2014, Zhang said her vision was so impaired that she dropped all of her classes and went home to New Jersey for the remainder of the semester. In the fall, she came back as a part-time student, she said.

She now struggles with “seeing double,” and said doctors have told her she reads at the speed of a sixth grader. Zhang said she’s unsure if her eyesight will ever return to normal.

“If I see a curve I don’t know if it’s flat on the ground,” Zhang said. “I can see things three-dimensionally, but how high or how far things are, that kind of got lost.”

Originally, she said she was uninsured and paid for medical expenses out of pocket, but SU was later able to provide her with some insurance coverage. The high costs of hospital, eye doctor and psychiatric visits were what pushed her to hire a lawyer, Zhang said.

“In a brain injury, it’s just very emotional,” Zhang said. “I wasn’t myself when I was recovering, and now I feel better, but my vision might be permanent.”

Published on April 21, 2015 at 9:11 pm

Contact Annie: apalme05@syr.edu