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Suit filed in stadium elevator death

The family of a 27-year-old South Philadelphia man who died in July after falling in an elevator shaft at Citizens Bank Park yesterday sued the Phillies, Global Spectrum, the elevator manufacturer and related entities.

The family of a 27-year-old South Philadelphia man who died in July after falling in an elevator shaft at Citizens Bank Park yesterday sued the Phillies, Global Spectrum, the elevator manufacturer and related entities.

Christopher Greene, an employee of food-services company Aramark and father of two young children, died two days after his fall.

"We intend to leave no stone unturned in holding those responsible accountable" for his death, attorney Matthew Casey said yesterday. His firm, Ross Feller Casey, LLP, in Philadelphia, filed the lawsuit in Common Pleas Court.

Greene, who stocked food and beverages at the baseball stadium, was working there at about 9 a.m. July 28. He was driving a golf-style cart on the third level of the stadium when he entered a "very dark" vestibule, where the entrance of a freight elevator was located, Casey said.

Greene's cart hit the lower part of the elevator door, which then opened, exposing the elevator shaft, Casey said. (The elevator doors open vertically; that is, the lower part opens downward and the upper part opens upward.)

Greene and the cart plunged into the elevator shaft. Greene fell 51 feet, according to the police report, landing on the roof of the elevator car, which was on the first floor, Casey said.

The cart landed on top of or next to Greene, he said.

At the time, Greene's younger brother, Brandon, 23, also an Aramark employee, was inside the elevator car.

The brother, also of South Philadelphia, suffered arm and head injuries, according to the police report, Casey said. He was treated and released from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Christopher Greene, taken to HUP with catastrophic injuries including hemorrhages and fracturing of the skull, died July 30 after being taken off life support.

He left behind his common-law wife, Denise Lamon, and their children, a 6-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter. The suit was filed on their behalf.

The Phillies' legal department and Comcast-Spectacor yesterday declined comment. *