woman branded by manhole cover

LeiZaK

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May 25, 2005
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Text

NEW YORK (AP) -- A woman who was branded with letters from the Consolidated Edison logo when she fell off a skateboard onto a searing hot manhole cover in Manhattan last year filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking unspecified damages from the utility.

Elizabeth C. Wallenberg, 27, was burned just above her buttocks and on her left arm when she fell off her skateboard onto a cover over a steam pipe at Second Avenue and 13th Street in the East Village shortly after midnight on Aug. 11, 2004, said her lawyer Ronald Berman.

"It literally looked like a brand that had been applied by someone," Berman said about the burn marks left on Wallenberg's body.

He said she was treated for the injury in the Beth Israel Hospital emergency room and was released.

Wallenberg, then a Brooklyn resident who worked for Paper magazine, reportedly said she heard her skin sizzle and saw an "o" and an "n" from the hot cover impressed upon her body. Wallenberg has been told the scarring is permanent, Berman said.

The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan's state Supreme Court, accused Con Ed of "negligence, carelessness, recklessness and culpable conduct" related to Wallenberg's injuries.

Court papers said Wallenberg, now a factory worker who lives in Portland, Ore., is entitled to compensatory and punitive damages because of Con Ed's "reprehensible and egregious failure and refusal ... to protect the public from this manifestly clear and present danger."

Con Ed spokesman Chris Olert said he had no comment on the lawsuit.
 

Eli

Super Moderator | Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
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I don't really get it.

Was the manhole hot because it was in the sun, or from the steam running through the pipe?

If it was from the steam, they're most certainly liable - it should be insulated.
 

Mojoed

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Jul 20, 2004
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Originally posted by: Eli
I don't really get it.

Was the manhole hot because it was in the sun, or from the steam running through the pipe?

If it was from the steam, they're most certainly liable - it should be insulated.

Most likely from below. There have been problems like this in Boston lately too, although no one here has been hurt. (Not that I know of, anyway) The manhole covers can get VERY hot and even explode high into the air from underground pressure.
 

40Hands

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Jun 29, 2004
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Originally posted by: Eli
I don't really get it.

Was the manhole hot because it was in the sun, or from the steam running through the pipe?

If it was from the steam, they're most certainly liable - it should be insulated.

it was hot because of the steam pipe that was under it.

edit: beat. anyways she will definitely make some money off this and a free branding of ON.
 

xospec1alk

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Mar 4, 2002
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because of this girl, my buddies who worked at con ed was pulling extra long hours, and lost out on some prime poon.
 

Taggart

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Apr 23, 2001
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Originally posted by: xospec1alk
because of this girl, my buddies who worked at con ed was pulling extra long hours, and lost out on some prime poon.

so you had more than one buddy who 'lost out on some prime poon?' They should sue Con Ed too for preventing them from obtaining poon.
 

LeiZaK

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May 25, 2005
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Originally posted by: Taggart
so you had more than one buddy who 'lost out on some prime poon?' They should sue Con Ed too for preventing them from obtaining poon.

qft
 

xospec1alk

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Mar 4, 2002
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Originally posted by: Taggart
Originally posted by: xospec1alk
because of this girl, my buddies who worked at con ed was pulling extra long hours, and lost out on some prime poon.

so you had more than one buddy who 'lost out on some prime poon?' They should sue Con Ed too for preventing them from obtaining poon.

well one for sure, the other two im sure weren't helping themselves much with the 18hour days and the WoW :)
 

Mojoed

Diamond Member
Jul 20, 2004
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Originally posted by: captains
Originally posted by: tami
most manholes in nyc are pretty darn hot. i've seen a few myself.

lol

It took me about a minute to figure out why you thought this was funny. :Q

Leave her alone! :p
 

aerialcombat

Senior member
Feb 2, 2001
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Before I read this thread, I was like "what?"

Is there a meaning of "brand" that I'm missing?

Damn, this is sad but funny. Can you picture her falling off?

I'm frownig and laughing at the same time
 

imported_ArtVandalay

Senior member
Jul 19, 2005
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She wants millions for being "branded" by a hot manhole cover, yet she very likely has tattoos, some of asian-language words which she can't even read and may well be labelling her a fat pig? :p Sorry if I offended anyone with the skateboarder stereotype.
 

Eli

Super Moderator | Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
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Originally posted by: tami
most manholes in nyc are pretty darn hot. i've seen a few myself.
OMG, LOL!

That could SOOOO be taken the wrong way. ;)
 

xospec1alk

Diamond Member
Mar 4, 2002
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Originally posted by: ArtVandalay
She wants millions for being "branded" by a hot manhole cover, yet she very likely has tattoos, some of asian-language words which she can't even read and may well be labelling her a fat pig? :p Sorry if I offended anyone with the skateboarder stereotype.

actually when the story came out last year, there was a pic, and i think you pretty much described her to a 'T'
 

mugs

Lifer
Apr 29, 2003
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Originally posted by: aerialcombat
Before I read this thread, I was like "what?"

Is there a meaning of "brand" that I'm missing?

Damn, this is sad but funny. Can you picture her falling off?

I'm frownig and laughing at the same time

Branding = imprinting a shape on your skin with a hot piece of metal. Think cattle.

I wonder how hot the thing would have had to be to cause the brand, and if it would have affected people who weren't laying on it (like their shoes)
 

Aharami

Lifer
Aug 31, 2001
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heard stories of NYC manholes bursting tires. ConEd really needs to look into this