AUBURN — A Lewiston woman who said she was hit in the face with a puck during a hockey game last year is suing the city of Auburn.

In a complaint filed this week at Androscoggin County Superior Court, Jennifer A. Richardson, 39, said she was at a hockey game between Messalonskee High School and Leavitt Area High School at Ingersol Arena on Jan. 5, 2008. Her son played for Leavitt, which used the arena as its home base.

Richardson served as timekeeper and scorekeeper during the game. When a puck lifted from the ice surface, it struck Richardson in the face, according to the lawsuit. She sustained "serious bodily injury," the suit says. She has incurred medical expenses as a result of the accident and will incur more. She also has lost income because of the injury and will continue to lose pay. She has suffered pain, mental anguish and loss of enjoyment of life. She is permanently impaired by the injury, the suit says.

Richardson's attorney, Anthony Ferguson of Lewiston, said his client suffered several fractures to bones under her eye socket, requiring surgery. She also suffered mild, traumatic brain injury, he said.

The accident resulted in permanent scarring and numbness, Ferguson said.

The complaint alleges that the city "negligently" built, designed, operated and/or maintained the timekeeper/scorekeeper's box where she sat during the game. The arena, in Pettengill Park, has been renovated since then.

City Manager Glenn Aho said Tuesday he hadn't read the complaint. It was forwarded to the city's insurance representative at the Maine Municipal Association. A spokesman for MMA said lawyers who handle such cases for the association don't comment on claims in process.

Richardson already sued the school's insurance carrier for payment of medical expenses, Ferguson said. The two parties reached a settlement, he said.

In 2004, Richardson filed suit against the Mid-Coast Recreation Center in Rockland, seeking damages in connection to injuries she received at a hockey game at the recreation center's ice arena in 2003. At the time, Richardson was attending a game and, as she moved to sit on the stands, stepped in some fluid, slipped and landed flat on her back on the concrete, according to that lawsuit.

Richardson, who was suing for medical bills, lost wages and impaired earning capacity as a result of the incident, settled that claim.

cwilliams@sunjournal.com