It’s hard to imagine anyone anticipating this situation.
A young tech employee found himself seriously injured due to an unexpected incident involving a large glass door at a Manhattan eyewear store.
William Vance, who was just passing Lenscrafter on West 34th Avenue last month, claims in a lawsuit filed Thursday that a heavy glass door suddenly fell off its hinge, shattered on the ground, and landed on him.
“I never saw it coming,” the 32-year-old Vance remarked. “Honestly, I’m relieved it didn’t fall on a child instead.”
His lawsuit asserts that Vance had encountered a part of the door only a day before the accident occurred. He alleges that Lenscrafter either knew about the “dangerous condition” or inadvertently created it.
According to the lawsuit, Vance sustained multiple fractures in his shoulder and foot, along with injury to his rotator cuff and ligaments.
His lawyer, Daniel Sebaros, mentioned to the Post that, “He’s been in a sling and unable to move his arm since the incident. It’s left him in quite a predicament—he’s missed work and feels debilitated.”
The unfortunate event took place on the morning of May 19, as Vance walked toward his office, passing Lenscrafter near Herald Square.
He described how he was merely “walking down the sidewalk” and didn’t even attempt to open one of the seemingly benign glass doors when it unexpectedly fell.
It’s noteworthy that typical glass doors at retail establishments can weigh around 350 pounds.
“The door hit him hard, causing him to fall and injure himself significantly,” the lawsuit states.
Vance, reportedly in shock after the incident, couldn’t remember the exact events and filed a request to secure any surveillance footage from the store.
Following the alarming incident, Sebaros stated that there were indications that a worker had tampered with the door the previous day. This suggests that the store might have had prior knowledge of the issue before the accident occurred.
Vance, who is a former college athlete, ended up with serious injuries that left him unable to work for over a month following the chilling episode.
Efforts to reach Luxottica, Lenscrafter’s parent company, for a comment were unreturned, as were calls to the store itself.
According to Sebaros, the door’s replacement is underway, but the injuries inflicted on Vance could have lasting repercussions.
“Wil is genuinely worried about his recovery and hopes such an incident doesn’t happen to anyone else in the future,” Sebaros added.
