The Cleveland Indians have settled a lawsuit with the widow of a Pennsylvania man who died nine days after an inflatable slide collapsed on him.
The 54-year-old man was attending an Indians game on June 12, 2010 at Progressive Field in Cleveland when a “Kids Fun Day” slide fell on top of him. He broke three bones in his back and nine days later he suffered a pulmonary embolism, caused from inactivity, which resulted in his death. He never made it inside the ballpark.
A security camera recorded the tragic accident. As the victim walked by the huge, inflatable slide, it collapsed right on top of him.
The slide was set up right in front of the ballpark with no anchoring whatsoever. It was three stories high, approximately 400 pounds in weight. Too many kids were allegedly climbing it at one time. It is alleged that the weight of 7-9 children who gathered into a corner of the slide may have caused it to topple over.
An investigation by the Ohio Department of Agriculture determined the slide wasn’t set up properly. The owner of National Pastime did not return two calls seeking comment.
His widow sued the Indians, National Pastime, the manufacturer of the slide, and Progressive Insurance Company, which was operating the slide, claiming negligence and wrongful death.
The widow also settled with Progressive Insurance, which had solicited volunteers to assist with the Kids Fun Day event in exchange for free tickets to the Indians game. It was reported that an employee of Progressive Insurance, who was off the clock at the time, was on the slide when it collapsed.
A settlement was reached just before the trial began. The amount is unknown, but the family’s attorney stated that all parties were satisfied. The Indians declined to disclose the amount of the settlement. Separately, a county judge ordered the company that set up the slide for the Indians to pay the widow $3.5 million. Whether she will receive any of the $3.5 million from National Pastime Sports is unclear.
It was stated that National Pastime had also sued its insurance broker, claiming that the broker did not arrange for the proper insurance to cover the inflatable slide, and as a result, they received a $750,000 settlement.
The company had a $5 million insurance policy, which covered the event, but that insurance company denied coverage and a federal judge upheld the denial. That decision has been appealed.
A common pleas judge ordered the default judgment against National Pastime Sports last week after representatives for the company failed to show up for trial.
There is no amount of money that can replace the life of a loved one.
It is so unfortunate that what was supposed to be such a fun day turned into a tragic fatal accident. This never should have happened. Feel free to comment on this blog post. Contact one of our Gacovino Lake attorneys at 1-800-246-HURT (4878).
