ZK Results – Attorney John W. Zotter Obtains Dismissal for Product Manufacturer
In a lawsuit filed in the Court of Common Pleas of Erie County, Pennsylvania, it was alleged that the 11-year-old Plaintiff was injured as she exited a five story, one hundred twenty-foot-long outdoor tube slide at a YMCA Camp and crashed into a hard-plastic mesh net at the end of the landing platform. The Minor-Plaintiff sustained an open bi-malleolar fracture of the left ankle. The Minor-Plaintiff was initially treated at a local hospital but was then transferred to the Cleveland Clinic where she underwent open reduction internal fixation of the ankle fracture. Suit was filed against the YMCA. Thereafter, the YMCA joined the manufacturer of the tube slide as an Additional Defendant. In its Complaint to Join, the YMCA essentially alleged that if the YMCA is liable for injuries resulting from the use of the slide, then the manufacturer of the slide is ultimately responsible. On behalf of the slide manufacturer, it was argued that the Minor-Plaintiff’s injuries were caused by the landing platform for the slide that was built and installed by the YMCA and not the slide itself. Also, it was argued that the YMCA should not have allowed the slide to be used during the winter when the slide was wet and the landing platform was covered with ice because these conditions allowed the Plaintiff to travel too fast. Zimmer Kunz Shareholder, John W. Zotter, on behalf of the slide manufacturer, filed a Motion for Summary Judgment and argued that the YMCA failed to produce any evidence that the slide itself was defectively designed or manufactured and, in particular, failed to produce an opinion from an expert that the slide itself caused the incident giving rise to the lawsuit. Following oral argument on the Motion, President Judge Walsh of the Erie County Court of Common Pleas granted the Motion for Summary Judgment and dismissed the slide manufacturer from the lawsuit.
