Massey v. Arcadia Unified School District

CASE:

Massey v. Arcadia Unified School District

 

THE SETTLEMENT:

$3,750,000

 

ATTORNEYS:

Candice Klein, Tom Schultz, Sarah Kim and Rahul Ravipudi

 

PRACTICE AREAS:

Dangerous Condition of Public Property, Brain Injury, Government Liability

 

CASE SYNOPSIS:

Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP attorneys Candice Klein, Tom Schultz, Sarah Kim and Rahul Ravipudi obtained a $3,750,000 settlement for a young girl who suffered significant permanent disabilities and deficiencies as a result of injuries she sustained during a fall from a swing that had broken from its swing set at school.

 

On April 25, 2014, Madeline Massey was swinging on a swing while attending a district run after-school program at Hugo Reid Elementary School when the S-hook connecting the swing chain to the top of the swing set disconnected. As a result, the 6-year-old girl fell from the swing and violently struck her head on the ground resulting in fractures to her skull and a traumatic brain injury.

 

The Arcadia Unified School District failed to provide adequate safeguards against this known dangerous condition of the swing set by failing to check and replace the S-hooks with U-bolts as well as take the swings out of commission until the S-hooks had been repaired or replaced. The District admitted liability and the case settled prior to trial.