Bengal Staff
A former student maintenance employee has alleged that ISU Housing ignored faults with the Turner Hall elevator before it fell last year. Afterward, he alleges, they threatened him and other student maintenance workers that they would face consequences if they spoke with any media about the incident.
“I would say Idaho State University housing was extremely negligent in handling the elevator situation,” said Garrett Johnson, the former student maintenance employee. “I think they had no regard for the safety of the residents.”
There was also no accident report for the elevator filed, which is required by law in any case where there is an injury, according to Gary Barnes, industrial safety program manager with the Idaho Division of Building Safety.
The elevator unexpectedly descended five floors in February 2018 with three students in it. The elevator safety mechanisms kicked in, preventing a free-fall. One student suffered a sprained knee during the accident.
Johnson lived in Turner at the time of the incident. He alleges that multiple students brought forth complaints to Jordan Withers, the director of Turner Hall, along with resident assistants, about the elevator making strange noises and, in some cases, getting stuck in between floors.
Isaac Dursteler was also a student living in Turner before the accident. He reports that in a couple of instances, the elevator would slow down until it had almost stalled. It would then make a high-pitched squeal, “like something was grinding,” and then would eventually continue moving.
Dursteler said he brought his concerns to the RA at the front desk on multiple occasions and that they went unaddressed before the accident.
Associate Vice President for Marketing and Communications Stuart Summers said that the proper channels to bring concerns about housing forward would be to first alert a resident assistant and the building director. He also pointed out that any student has a right to anonymously report concerns to the Division of Student Affairs.
Johnson also alleges that before the elevator accident, he heard a conversation between four maintenance craftsmen named Matt Olsen, Cooper Bybee, Kate Schorzman-Wilson and Ziad Younis. During the conversation, Johnson alleges the craftsmen acknowledged the student complaints with the elevator but brushed it off until a later date. Johnson remembers this conversation taking place three to four weeks before the accident.
After the elevator descended, Johnson said he received a text from Schorzman-Wilson that said she needed the student maintenance workers down in the basement of Turner for an important meeting.
“They specifically told us not to talk to anyone, especially the media, about the elevator situation,” Johnson said. “They said there would be consequences if we talk to them.”
Johnson alleges that Schorzman-Wilson said that they would probably face termination if they spoke to any media about the elevator.
Schorzman-Wilson said she is not aware of any of these allegations being true. She also always advises students to refer to Craig Thompson, director of housing, for media inquiries.
“We ask that all of our employees deal with all media requests by forwarding them to senior staff,” Thompson said. “It allows us to make sure the message that’s being sent is accurate.”
Thompson said this was the first he was hearing of the allegations.
“I was certainly not aware of anything that would impact the safety of the unit,” Thompson said. “That’s my highest priority, providing a safe environment for the students to live in.”
Summers affirmed that it’s practice for media to work with the people delegated to speak on behalf of ISU for the university’s official stance, but that doesn’t stop students from talking to media.
“Anyone is welcome to talk to media … but it’s important to note that they’re not speaking on behalf of the University,” Summers said.
Summers was not aware of issues with the elevator or anyone being threatened but said that it was something they’d have to look into.
Jordan Withers said that anytime a resident reports something to him, it gets sent to the maintenance craftsmen.
“We want those elevators to work because we don’t want residents to have to climb eight flights of stairs to go up to their room,” Withers said. “That’s our priority to ensure that the building is safe and all the items in it are safe for residents.”
After the elevator descended, it was inspected by Kim Thompson with the Idaho Division of Building Safety, who approved the elevator to be re-opened. Public Safety, Risk Management, and Facilities were all notified about the accident, as well as Thyssen-Krupp, the elevator company.
Thyssen-Krupp was not able to be contacted by the publication date of this story.
However, the Idaho Division of Building Safety was never notified of the incident with an accident report. According to Gary Barnes, the division has not received an accident report in the six years since the elevator was updated.
Barnes said the duty to report the accident would fall on either the owner of the building or the elevator service company. Withers said that maintenance craftsmen maintain communication with the elevator company.
“I don’t want to say that the allegations are true or false, but we have documentation,” he said. “We have a thorough understanding that we have communication in place that when a concern is brought up we get it addressed quickly.”
