Can and should I sue my landlord?

I live in Chicago. I rent the second floor of a building for appx $1.200/mo. Outside, there is a homemade wooden ladder that is nailed to the building that leads to the roof. This past Thursday evening, a couple of friends and I were climbing the ladder to have a few beers on the roof when it broke and left me falling about 20 feet onto my friend below. I ended up breaking my left (non-dominant) arm just above the wrist. That evening, the fracture was set at the emergency room and I had surgery and hardware installed Saturday. The doc tells me the cast will have to stay on for about 8 weeks. The doc also tells me that the injury will likely leave me with permanent limitations.



The majority of my income is derived through my employer; assembling, repairing, and maintaining computer servers. Typing is an essential part of my job duties. And in most cases, my work is performed in a dimly-lit room. Also, I can see but I am legally blind. When I am typing, my face is usually buried in the monitor so I can scan for errors as I type. Needless to say, this temporary disability is going to decrease my job-productivity by appx 80%. That has me concerned about whether I'll lose my job due to this injury.



To a lesser extent, I also earn money as a solo musician; playing guitar and singing in restaurants and lounges. Obviously, I cannot play the guitar with a broken arm. But what has me more concerned is the doctor's comment about permanent limitations and what effect they'll have on my guitar-playing.



My questions are:

Can and/or should I sue my landlord?

Can I be evicted if I do sue?

Can I be fired from my job for the temporary decrease in productivity?

What kind of monetary settlement, if any, is possible?

As a temporary negotiating tool, in order to retain my job with my decreased productivity level, can I collect unemployment benefits while working and allow my employer to decrease my normal wages by the amount of unemployment benefits?



I'm hoping to get some professional legal opinions and/or referrals for legal assistance in Chicago (preferably in the "Loop" area.)Can and should I sue my landlord?
You have a relatively small chance if you sue civilly, because your landlord will rightfully claim that you were trespassing when you attempted to climb the ladder to the roof. It's not like steps to your apartment that needed repairs that were ignored, because the ladder was not for your use as a tenant.



You couldn't legally be evicted for filing a suit, but the lease would not be renewed.



Legally, you could be replaced if you can't perform your job adequately. Finally, that's not what unemployment benefits are intended for, so doing so would be fraudulent.



The bottom line here is that it does not appear that your LL was negligent in any way, so your chance of winning or collecting damages is slim.
You can sue and win ONLY if you can prove that the ladder was defective and the landlord knew it was defective and failed to repair the ladder. You will also need to prove that you were legally allowed to use the ladder to access the roof.Can and should I sue my landlord?
you will sue and win but its to bad you wernt killed for being so stupid
Did you requested authorization to use that service ladder and go to the roof? If you didn't have authorization then you were trespassing.

Did you just mentioned the word "BEER"? Like in "alcohol" and "I was drunk and fell"? Of course you might claim you were not drunk but you can't prove it, and in a civil trial that will go in favor of the landlord.

As for your employer: IF you qualify for a medical leave under the "Family and Medical Leave Act" then you can't be fired. But that's IF you qualify.
http://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/

Reasonable accommodation due to a "temporary disability"? Contact your local labor bureau to know if you qualify for some kind of legal protection.