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NYC Sues Family Of Girl Burned On Playground Mat

danarhea

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You are not going to believe this story at all, but here it is:

A little girl from Queens spent a week in the hospital, after severely burning her feet at a New York City playground.

So, why is the city suing her family?

Isabella Kern is 4 years old, and once again feels comfortable playing at Annandale Park in Forest Hills. When she was 1 ½ years old she was at the park with her grandmother, took off her shoes to play in the sprinkler and when she ran toward the slides her bare feet touched the black rubber matting.

"As soon as she had put her feet on this mat, ultimately the second that her feet had touched that ground it immediately melted the skin on her feet," said Chris Kern, Isabella's father.

Isabella spent five days at the Cornell burn unit and couldn't walk for nine days. Her parents are concerned about other kids getting burned on these mats that can reach temperatures of more than 160 degrees, so they sued the city.
So how does New York City respond to the lawsuit? By suing the victim's grandmother, charging her with negligence.

I have no words to describe this. Perhaps someone can come up with the proper words to describe New York's actions without being banned from DP? Good luck with that.

Article is here.
 
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You are not going to believe this story at all, but here it is:

So how does New York City respond to the lawsuit? By suing the victim's grandmother, charging her with negligence.

I have no words to describe this. Perhaps someone can come up with the proper words to describe New York's actions without being banned from DP? Good luck with that.

Article is here.

Sounds like the City has hired a private firm who are more likely to engage in typical legal bully tactics. Unless the family attorney is working on a contingency, then the meter is running with every filing and every deposition.

They would be smarter to get together a group of ten children who were injured in a similar way and file it as a class action. There is strength in numbers.

NYC -- it's a tough, no-nonsense city.
 
They didn't sue the city because they were concerned about other kids getting hurt. They were sueing the city, because right after it happened, they saw dollar signs.
 
You are not going to believe this story at all, but here it is:

So how does New York City respond to the lawsuit? By suing the victim's grandmother, charging her with negligence.

I have no words to describe this. Perhaps someone can come up with the proper words to describe New York's actions without being banned from DP? Good luck with that.

Article is here.

It doesn't really surprise me. We are a very litigious country. NYC will probably win too.
 
They didn't sue the city because they were concerned about other kids getting hurt. They were sueing the city, because right after it happened, they saw dollar signs.

Do you have proof that they are just opportunists or is this just another baseless claim? I can't speak for everyone, but if this happened to my kid you'd better believe I would sue the city.
 
You are not going to believe this story at all, but here it is:

So how does New York City respond to the lawsuit? By suing the victim's grandmother, charging her with negligence.

I have no words to describe this. Perhaps someone can come up with the proper words to describe New York's actions without being banned from DP? Good luck with that.

Article is here.

Usually I think these lawsuits are bull****, but the family has legitimate beef here. And the city is just being a bunch of yellow bellied douche bags by trying to deflect the blame.
 
They didn't sue the city because they were concerned about other kids getting hurt. They were sueing the city, because right after it happened, they saw dollar signs.
Yeah, because I bet they didn't have any medical expenses or anything ... :rolleyes:
 
Do you have proof that they are just opportunists or is this just another baseless claim? I can't speak for everyone, but if this happened to my kid you'd better believe I would sue the city.

Is there a new rule against expressing an opinion on this forum, or is this just harrassment? If there's a new rule, I would appreciate you directing me to it, because I definitely missed it.
 
Is there a new rule against expressing an opinion on this forum, or is this just harrassment? If there's a new rule, I would appreciate you directing me to it, because I definitely missed it.

I simply asked you to back up your claim. If you can't do that, feel free to ignore or report my posts rather than complaining about it. If you can't take the heat, don't discuss it. :2wave:
 
I simply asked you to back up your claim. If you can't do that, feel free to ignore or report my posts rather than complaining about it. If you can't take the heat, don't discuss it. :2wave:

Oh, no, the last time I reported a staff member I was banned from the thread. I've learned my lesson.
 
They didn't sue the city because they were concerned about other kids getting hurt. They were sueing the city, because right after it happened, they saw dollar signs.

You don't know that. You have no way of knowing that. What an asinine thing to say.

As a parent, I can say that we do look out for other peoples kids. It becomes part your nature once you have your own child. I can't watch shows like Law and Order any more where kids are put in harms way.

The article states that the girl was in the hospital for 5 days? Knowing how hospitals work, the burns must have been severe. And, knowing how big cities work, replacing all those mats could be pricey. But Bloomberg is mayor who banned smoking in bars and restaurants. Maybe if this story gets some traction, the suit against the family will be dropped, and the city will do the right thing.

They should be publishing the name of the contractor or playground company in every article if they really want to get some movement.

The way this story is being framed, unless grandpa was boozing at the park or hitting on a jogger, then it looks like bully tactics and big PR problem.
 
You don't know that. You have no way of knowing that. What an asinine thing to say.

As a parent, I can say that we do look out for other peoples kids. It becomes part your nature once you have your own child. I can't watch shows like Law and Order any more where kids are put in harms way.

The article states that the girl was in the hospital for 5 days? Knowing how hospitals work, the burns must have been severe. And, knowing how big cities work, replacing all those mats could be pricey. But Bloomberg is mayor who banned smoking in bars and restaurants. Maybe if this story gets some traction, the suit against the family will be dropped, and the city will do the right thing.

They should be publishing the name of the contractor or playground company in every article if they really want to get some movement.

The way this story is being framed, unless grandpa was boozing at the park or hitting on a jogger, then it looks like bully tactics and big PR problem.

How much did they sue the city for? If was for a larger amount than what the hospital bill would reasonably be, then they were walking around seeing dollar signs, like Richy Rich.

They were like

157675_f260.jpg
 
There's real damages here, and stuff which should be awarded past the medical bills. I don't think we have to go McDonald's coffee bad, but this is 100% the city's fault. They should have tested this, and a child got severely injured due to their negligence. It's most likely beyond that, but not provable, in that someone in the city probably gave a contract to some buddies, who put in this playground material. But that's speculation and is rooted in my inherent distrust of government. Also, I think most government is run like a mafia. Chicago certainly is.

Regardless, in what is being reported, the family did nothing wrong and everything was the result of the city. As such, they need to provide compensation and fix the playground problem.
 
How much did they sue the city for? If was for a larger amount than what the hospital bill would reasonably be, then they were walking around seeing dollar signs, like Richy Rich.

They were like

157675_f260.jpg
Ever heard of punitive damages?
 
Ever heard of punitive damages?

Oh yeah, and I think in most cases punitive damages shouldn't be allowed. The laws governing punitive damages needs way more reform than healthcare, IMO.

Wanted to make sure ya'll saw the IMO. Did'ja?
 
There's real damages here, and stuff which should be awarded past the medical bills. I don't think we have to go McDonald's coffee bad, but this is 100% the city's fault. They should have tested this, and a child got severely injured due to their negligence. It's most likely beyond that, but not provable, in that someone in the city probably gave a contract to some buddies, who put in this playground material. But that's speculation and is rooted in my inherent distrust of government. Also, I think most government is run like a mafia. Chicago certainly is.

Regardless, in what is being reported, the family did nothing wrong and everything was the result of the city. As such, they need to provide compensation and fix the playground problem.

It's not the city's, "fault". It was an accident. I doubt that anyone working for the city put that mat on the ground, knowing that someone could hurt.
 
It's not the city's, "fault". It was an accident. I doubt that anyone working for the city put that mat on the ground, knowing that someone could hurt.

The accident part is for criminal charges, no one is being charged with a crime. If it wasn't an "accident", there would be charges. But the city is still at fault, they put it in there without proper testing. They are liable for the damages, all of them.
 
Oh yeah, and I think in most cases punitive damages shouldn't be allowed. The laws governing punitive damages needs way more reform than healthcare, IMO.

Wanted to make sure ya'll saw the IMO. Did'ja?

"IMO" doesn't give you the right to make baseless claims with immunity. I could say "cats are dogs IMO" or "Christians are Muslims imo" doesn't mean it's true. If you have an opinion on a public forum, other members of the forum have the right to call you out on it. We're not stopping you from doing it (blah blah blah Free Speech) but we will correct you when you're wrong. The fact that you don't even try to defend yourself and instead say "it's just my opinion, golly gee whizz" means that you acknowledge that you can't back it up.
 
The accident part is for criminal charges, no one is being charged with a crime. If it wasn't an "accident", there would be charges. But the city is still at fault, they put it in there without proper testing. They are liable for the damages, all of them.

In order for the city to be held liable it must be demonstrated through an objective standard that a reasonable person should have forseen such a possibility. That doesn't seem very likely.
 
Oh yeah, and I think in most cases punitive damages shouldn't be allowed. The laws governing punitive damages needs way more reform than healthcare, IMO.
That's a pretty ridiculous stance, but whatever.
 
It's not the city's, "fault". It was an accident. I doubt that anyone working for the city put that mat on the ground, knowing that someone could hurt.
That's something we'll never know unless there's a trial, which is a pretty good reason to have one.
 
In order for the city to be held liable it must be demonstrated through an objective standard that a reasonable person should have forseen such a possibility. That doesn't seem very likely.

What about the makers of the mat material or the playground contractors?

I get that these mats are supposed to be a soft but durable padding, but to become heated to the temperature describe in the article seem like they may be unsafe.

Our kids are always kicking off their sandals at the park. It's reasonable to foresee that a barefoot child may happen onto a playground before an adult could test the temperature of the 'safety' mats. I mean, I would not even think to test the temperature of modern playground equipment and safety flooring.

If this is happening a lot and there is a paper trail of complaints and injury reports then there's a problem. The article doesn't go into a lot of detail, so I don't know.
 
In order for the city to be held liable it must be demonstrated through an objective standard that a reasonable person should have forseen such a possibility. That doesn't seem very likely.

Any property owner would be held accountable, if this were a private park somehow, the company in charge would be getting sued and rightfully so. If you demonstrate that you did standard testing of the material and found nothing wrong, then you'd have a point. But you just don't throw some **** on the ground and call it good. You're making a playground surface, flesh will come in contact with it. You should do heating and cooling tests in the least to figure out how well the material contracts/expands for upkeep reasons and how well it holds on to heat energy or radiates it away. Because it's going to be outside and its black, you have to make sure it won't get to dangerous levels. That's common sense, and I have a feeling that had these tests been done they would have found that the heat capacity of the material is too poor and that it can't properly radiate away the heat energy in summer sun to avoid dangerous temperatures.
 
So let's see....the Great and Wonderful City of New York, Liberal Mecca and Failed Laboratory Experiment, is suing the family of a little girl injured in a Great and Wonderful City of New York, Liberal Mecca and Failed Laboratory Experiment, playground who feet were burned when she stepped on a black mat (note: The Great and Liberal Grammar Checker did not request "African American" as an appropriate alternative to the word "black", something's wrong with my computer) the Great and Wonderful City of New York, Liberal Mecca and Failed Laboratory Experiment itself placed in that playground to either protect children in that playground or provide business to the cousin of a city alderman who provides rubber mats.

Regardless of whether or not the victim's family "saw dollar signs", they have a case, and the Great and Wonderful City of New York, Liberal Mecca and Failed Laboratory Experiment, is apparently choosing to play "Who's Got the Deeper Pockets" Game instead of settling the lawsuit.
 
So what idiot of a parent would let their child take off their shoes at a rubber park on a hot ass day and assume that she wont get burned. What ever happened to common sense in this country?
 
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