Can you sue a pool company for an injury?

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Can you sue a pool company for an injury?

My 2 year old son was standing near a sliding door at a pool and someone came through it which made it slide over my son’s feet causing a bad injury. We then went to the hospital. There where no signs warning of the risk.

Asked on February 4, 2017 under Personal Injury, Alaska

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 7 years ago | Contributor

You can only sue the pool company if you can show that the door was unreasonably unsafe as it is designed, so that it either needs warnng signs, etc. or needed to be redesigned. If it is not unreasonably unsafe, there is no liability--they are not at fault and therefore not liable or economically responsible for the injury. A "freak" or unusual accident does not show that the door was unreasonably unsafe--people can be injured by anything under the correct circumstances, without those things being defective or requiring warnings. For example, someone can have their fingers mangled or possibly severed by a car door if they have their hand on the door frame and someone else slams it shut; the fact that can happen, and has in fact happened, has not meant that car manufactuers need to put warnings on car doors to not have your hands on the frame when closing them.
In the case you describe, it is unlikely that you can show that the sliding door was unreasonably unsafe: there  are many sliding doors all over the place, and the fact that they can possibly slide over someone's feet has not made the law or society consider them unsafe.
In addition, if your son's injury was caused in whole or even in part by your negligence, such as in not keeping better control over your 2-year old and keeping him away from a door, that would also tend to negate your ability to recover compensation. Based on what you write, there are serious obstacles to you successfully suing.


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