New York Accident News
Slide and Fall Accident:
A six year old slipped from a wet ladder rung while climbing the slide when it was wet and fractured her elbow. Her elbow healed in a misaligned fashion and will cause her pain, swelling, and episodes in which her arm will lock up almost every day. The mother of the child filed suit against the City of New York for negligently failing to create slip resistant rungs on the slide. The jury decided in favor of the child and her mother and awarded her $3,200,000 for both past and future pain and suffering.
The court found the City had failed to comply with its own specification calling for slip resistant rungs for the protection of the children. Testimony of the architect established that the city not only had agreed on the protection standard but had approved of the plans for the playground that included slip resistant protection. This was considered especially necessary because near the slide was a set of spray showers that the children often played in before enjoying the slide. Therefore the jury found in favor of the plaintiffs and awarded damages to the child for the past and future pain that she would suffer from her injuries. (Carrasquillo v. City of New York, 2008 NY Slip Op 28400).
Playground Accident: Monkeying Around:
On July 30, 2009, the parents of David M. Gray lost on appeal the dismissal of their lawsuit against their local school district. Their six years old boy fell off the monkey bars and broke his elbow. The parents claimed that the height of the bars was too high and that the cushioning underneath was insufficient to cushion the fall of their child. In addition, the parents claimed that the school was negligent in their supervision of their child.
The Supreme Court found there to be no issues of disputed facts and granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment. Both the lower and the appellate court held that the defendants presented a prima facie argument to merit a judgment as a matter of law. The defendants successfully present that the playground met the safety standards. In addition the plaintiffs failed to present sufficient evidence that there were any issues of material fact. Therefore the court issued a summary judgment for the defendants finding that the playground met safety standards; also the court held that the school was not negligent because there was an afterschool counselor there supervising and the child had been on the monkey bars a few times prior to the injury. The plaintiffs failed on appeal and the case has been dismissed. (Dean Gray, V South Colonie Central School District, 2009 NY Slip Op 6069)
Updates on Our Law Firm:
Recently Trolman, Glaser & Lichtman successfully appealed the dismissal of Nestor Perez’s suit against the City of New York. The plaintiff slipped, fell, and broke his leg while playing soccer in a playground owned by the defendant city. The Supreme Court had denied the plaintiffs request for a continuance and had dismissed the case because the plaintiffs had not continued with the commencement of trial. However the plaintiffs and their counsel successfully appealed to the Appellate Division and had the order reversed. The Appellate Division found that the continuance should be granted and the trial should continue because the plaintiffs had exercised due diligence in their trial preparation. The appellate court found that the delay in the trial was actually caused by the defendant’s failure to promptly disclose all the requested documents during discovery. Therefore the lawsuit could continue because of this successful appeal. The action is still proceeding. (Nestor Perez, v the City of New York, 2009 NY Slip Op 4270).
Trolman, Glaser & Lichtman: Don’t settle for less!
