Kid felt down in a gym

[mzaslavsky]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MA

Me and my wife are members of the athletic club with nursery in it. We typically go there with our son who is almost 3 years old, and leave him with babysitters in the nursery room. That room is located behind the room with cycling machines, and the only way to get in and out of nursery is through the cycling room. Today we took our son from nursery, and, when he ran through the cycling room, he felt down by his forehead on the pedal of the cycling machine. We ended up in emergency room and stitches on my son's forehead, as well as huge medical bills, I guess. Could you, please, advice if we can make the gym to pay the bills, at least, as well as some compensation for my son's stitches that will be visible through his entire life. Thanks!

 

[Silverplum]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MA

Me and my wife are members of the athletic club with nursery in it. We typically go there with our son who is almost 3 years old, and leave him with babysitters in the nursery room. That room is located behind the room with cycling machines, and the only way to get in and out of nursery is through the cycling room. Today we took our son from nursery, and, when he ran through the cycling room, he felt down by his forehead on the pedal of the cycling machine. We ended up in emergency room and stitches on my son's forehead, as well as huge medical bills, I guess. Could you, please, advice if we can make the gym to pay the bills, at least, as well as some compensation for my son's stitches that will be visible through his entire life. Thanks!

How do you figure the gym is responsible for your child's fall?

 

[TigerD]

Ask the manager to pick up the cost of the treatment.
All he/she can say is no.
Then worry about making them pay.

DC

 

[mzaslavsky]

How do you figure the gym is responsible for your child's fall?

Because of weird location of nursery room. Moreover, if accident happens on particular premises then the owner is responsible for that, right? This accident, by the way, was recorded by ambulance and police who were called immediately by the gym.

 

[mzaslavsky]

Ask the manager to pick up the cost of the treatment.
All he/she can say is no.
Then worry about making them pay.

DC

Don't you know what is the typical practice of handling such cases by owner of the premises? That gym is rather large, and they probably have some kind of insurance for these cases, right?

 

[Ladyback1]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MA

Me and my wife are members of the athletic club with nursery in it. We typically go there with our son who is almost 3 years old, and leave him with babysitters in the nursery room. That room is located behind the room with cycling machines, and the only way to get in and out of nursery is through the cycling room. Today we took our son from nursery, and, when he ran through the cycling room, he felt down by his forehead on the pedal of the cycling machine. We ended up in emergency room and stitches on my son's forehead, as well as huge medical bills, I guess. Could you, please, advice if we can make the gym to pay the bills, at least, as well as some compensation for my son's stitches that will be visible through his entire life. Thanks!

And you, the parents, aren't responsible for letting Jr. run in what could be a dangerous environment??

If Jr. was at a public park, tripped and fell, hitting his head on a piece of equipment, would you think the entity that owned the park was responsible?

 

[justalayman]

If the child was injured while under the control of the babysitter the gym is likely liable for the damages. If, as it appears to be, you had taken control of the child, you are liable for failing to control your child in a known hazardous situation and are responsible for your child's injuries.

 

[sandyclaus]

If the child was injured while under the control of the babysitter the gym is likely liable for the damages. If, as it appears to be, you had taken control of the child, you are liable for failing to control your child in a known hazardous situation and are responsible for your child's injuries.

I concur.

You knew ahead of time about the location of the cycling machines right outside the nursery room. You knew, or should have known, of the danger to your toddler from the gym equipment. A pretty strong argument could be made that you knew of the hazard and allowed your child to run loose outside the confines of the nursery room, and right into the accident that landed him in the ER.

As a comparison, if your child care facility was located on a busy street, you wouldn't allow the child to run out the door on his own and into traffic, and then try to blame the city for allowing cars to drive up and down the street, right? Right.

 

[TigerD]

I concur.

You knew ahead of time about the location of the cycling machines right outside the nursery room. You knew, or should have known, of the danger to your toddler from the gym equipment. A pretty strong argument could be made that you knew of the hazard and allowed your child to run loose outside the confines of the nursery room, and right into the accident that landed him in the ER.

As a comparison, if your child care facility was located on a busy street, you wouldn't allow the child to run out the door on his own and into traffic, and then try to blame the city for allowing cars to drive up and down the street, right? Right.

That same argument can be made against the facility. They knew the nursery was being placed in a position where children would have to traverse a hazard area. They knew that kids being kids, it is only a matter of time until one of them jumped, ran, tripped, or did something else causing injury.

DC

 

[mzaslavsky]

I concur.

You knew ahead of time about the location of the cycling machines right outside the nursery room. You knew, or should have known, of the danger to your toddler from the gym equipment. A pretty strong argument could be made that you knew of the hazard and allowed your child to run loose outside the confines of the nursery room, and right into the accident that landed him in the ER.

As a comparison, if your child care facility was located on a busy street, you wouldn't allow the child to run out the door on his own and into traffic, and then try to blame the city for allowing cars to drive up and down the street, right? Right.

Sorry for layman question... I thought all the slip/fall cases are about the same thing. Of course, all the injured people saw where they're going, right? So they have to know that it is winter outside, for example, or that the stairways are rather steep. However, still most of them won these cases against homeowners. And all the liability homeowners insurances are precisely for that purposes. right?

 

[quincy]

Sorry for layman question... I thought all the slip/fall cases are about the same thing. Of course, all the injured people saw where they're going, right? So they have to know that it is winter outside, for example, or that the stairways are rather steep. However, still most of them won these cases against homeowners. And all the liability homeowners insurances are precisely for that purposes. right?

All slip and fall cases are fact dependent.

You have already seen expressed in your thread suggestions that you could be held entirely responsible for your son's injury, and that the athletic club could be held entirely responsible for your son's injury, and there is a chance that both you and club share responsibility for your son's injury.

This indicates to me that a personal review of your situation is probably warranted. When an injury occurs on someone else's property and the injury is severe enough that "huge medical bills" result, it is generally worth a visit to a local personal injury attorney to go over the facts.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Perhaps you should suggest the owner of the gym pave a road of gold, with bearers, to transition children back and forth from the main entrance and protect them from neglectful parents oblivious to their kids activities.

 

[TheGeekess]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MA

Me and my wife are members of the athletic club with nursery in it. We typically go there with our son who is almost 3 years old, and leave him with babysitters in the nursery room. That room is located behind the room with cycling machines, and the only way to get in and out of nursery is through the cycling room. Today we took our son from nursery, and, when he ran through the cycling room, he felt down by his forehead on the pedal of the cycling machine. We ended up in emergency room and stitches on my son's forehead, as well as huge medical bills, I guess. Could you, please, advice if we can make the gym to pay the bills, at least, as well as some compensation for my son's stitches that will be visible through his entire life. Thanks!

Your child was in YOUR custody and care when this happened. How is it the fault of the gym?

 

[Rwedunyet]

The title of this thread is both alarming and misleading!

 

[cbg]

Count me among the the-gym-didn't-cause-you-to-let-your-kid-run-wild crowd.