$30M EMPIRE JUMP SUIT

January 15, 2008 -- The dopey daredevil who tried to parachute off the Empire State Building is coming down on the landmark with a $30 million lawsuit.

In the suit, which is expected to be filed today in Manhattan Supreme Court, Jeb Corliss says the security guards who thwarted his 2006 attempt at jumping off the building endangered his life and caused him "severe emotional distress."

Corliss' lawyer, Mark Jay Heller, said the suit also charges that the building's brass defamed him by claiming his conduct was illegal, when they knew the criminal charge against him had been thrown out of court.

The incident happened April 27, 2006, when Corliss, a highly experienced BASE - building, antenna, span or earth - jumper, tried to leap off the observation deck.