A Portland mother has sued Rivergreen Apartments for $3 million after her seven-year-old daughter, Maci Pomykala, fell three stories through a window screen and sustained a traumatic brain injury and multiple fractures. The lawsuit alleges a roughly $5 window stop would have prevented the fall and cites Oregon building-code requirements. Maci has returned to school but faces ongoing medical risks. Authorities and safety experts urge simple, low-cost window safeguards and keeping furniture away from windows to prevent similar accidents.
Portland Mother Sues for $3M After Daughter Falls Three Stories; Says $5 Window Stop Could Have Prevented It
Image Credit: Pexels/Nagehan SAĞIR, Lorrain Pomykala.
A Portland mother has filed a $3 million lawsuit against the owners and managers of the Rivergreen Apartments in Gladstone, Oregon, after her seven-year-old daughter fell backward through a window screen and plunged three stories, suffering a fractured skull and a traumatic brain injury.
The complaint, filed last week in Multnomah County Circuit Court, names Rivergreen Associates Limited Partnership and CSM Corporation among the defendants. According to the suit, the fall occurred on what had been the hottest day of the year to that point—around 90 degrees—when Maci Pomykala sat on her bedroom window sill. The insect screen gave way behind her and she tumbled onto hard, dry ground below.
Medical records cited in the filing describe severe injuries: a broken forehead and nose, fractures to facial bones near one eye, multiple arm fractures, and a traumatic brain injury involving bleeding around the brain and trapped air inside the skull. The lawsuit says Maci continues to experience headaches and faces an elevated risk of future seizures and potentially long-term disability. She has improved enough to return to school and, now eight years old, is expected to start third grade this fall.
The central contention of the lawsuit—brought by Portland attorney Greg Kafoury on behalf of Maci’s mother, Lorrain Pomykala—is that the apartment should have been fitted with a simple, low-cost safety device: a window stop that restricts how far a window can open. Kafoury says such a device would have cost roughly $5 and would have prevented Maci from falling. He also cites Oregon building codes, arguing that if the property had been built or updated to applicable standards, a safety device would have been required for the bedroom window. The complaint asserts that a professional property owner should ensure these devices are installed before tenants move in.
Neither Rivergreen Associates nor CSM Corporation has publicly responded to requests for comment, and the claims in the lawsuit have not yet been adjudicated.
Wider Safety Context
Child-safety experts say window falls spike during warm months as families open windows to cool homes. OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, which treated Maci, reports that roughly 50 children each year in Oregon fall from windows. At a national level, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that about 5,600 children under 12 were treated in U.S. emergency rooms in 2024 for falls from windows, and at least 25 children died from window falls between 2021 and 2023.
Important Safety Note: Insect screens are not designed to support a child’s weight; they are intended only to keep bugs out.
Both OHSU and the CPSC recommend simple precautions: install window stops that limit openings to a few inches (often costing only a few dollars), fit window guards (bar-style devices that can be released in emergencies), and keep furniture away from windows to prevent children from climbing to sills.
What’s Next
The case will proceed through the Multnomah County court system. The lawsuit seeks compensation for medical expenses, ongoing care, pain and suffering, and future disability related to Maci’s injuries. Regardless of the legal outcome, safety advocates say the incident underscores how low-cost measures and awareness can prevent devastating falls.
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