This post was written by Hatchet reporter Tiana Pigford.
GW Law School professor Dinah Shelton is suing the University of Denver for more than $100,000 after she fell and broke her heel while accepting an award there in 2011.
The international law professor took a step back during her speech to put down her water glass when she fell, the Courthouse News Service reported last week. Her suit alleges that the raised platform was “unreasonably small in width and depth.”
Shelton went to Denver to accept the Myres S. McDougal Distinguished Lecturer award – the first female to receive the honor from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.
In the last two years, Shelton’s broken foot has made travel difficult as her destinations often “involve walking on uneven ground, sitting for extensive periods of time and limitations on movement,” according to the claim. It asserts that the international law and human rights consultant has had to pay out of her own pocket whenever she attends events hosted by nonprofit organizations that cannot afford to accommodate her discomfort.
She also said in the suit that her injury made it difficult to navigate the GW Law School’s campus, which “consists of a number of buildings and lots of stairs.”
Shelton declined to comment on the lawsuit because the litigation is pending, but said in an email that there is a possibility the University of Denver will settle.
