$55,000
Premises Liability
A 37 year old man was vacationing for three days with his wife and two minor children at campground in Massachusetts following a hurricane. The area was somewhat disheveled because of the hurricane but the campground, owned privately, opened up to the public one day late. After arriving and getting settled and spending the night at the campground, the man, along with his wife and two minor children, went to the playground in order that the children could utilize the slide. Initially the five year old daughter went down the slide. Subsequently, the wife, at the top of the slide, let their 18 month old son slide down the slide and the man was at the bottom to catch his son. As he caught his son he backed up catching his foot on a slightly raised area of grass, injuring his ankle and requiring surgery. It must be noted that the grass was a few inches higher than the sand in the playground area. Karns Law Group reviewed the case and had an engineer go to the area and the engineer indicated that the sand around the slide should have been a larger area and level with the grass. Suit was filed against the owner of the campground and the owner of the land that leased the campground. A summary judgment was filed by the defendants in the case and the plaintiff won against the playground owner and lost against the landowner. Subsequently, the case was settled for $55,000.00 as a very much disputed case.