$900,000 Settlement for Brain Damage Suffered by 3-Year-Old Child in Unsecured Swimming Pool

A 3-year-old child, Doe, was on vacation with his family in a vacation rental home that included a fenced-in swimming pool. After dinner one night, family members found young Doe floating face down in the pool.

Doe was resuscitated and air-lifted to a children’s hospital where he remained for one month before being transferred to an inpatient rehabilitation facility.

Doe is now 7. He suffers from hypoxic brain damage that has resulted in cognitive and physical impairments, including an abnormal gait and speech difficulties. Doe’s medical expenses were $294,000.

Doe’s parents sued the homeowner of the rental property and the realty company that leased the house to Doe’s family. The lawsuit alleged that the homeowner and realty company violated the state law that requires vacation rental landlords to provide a fit and habitable premise that complies with all applicable building and housing codes at the time of the rental.

The Doe family asserted that the applicable building code mandates that all swimming pools be secured by self-latching gates. In this case, Doe’s parents claimed that the latch on the pool’s fence was unreliable because it was rusted and easy to open.

The defendants claimed that Doe’s injuries resulted from a lack of parental supervision. Before trial, the parties settled for $900,000.

In pre-trial discovery, the Doe family presented experts in pool safety, radiology, pediatric neurology, neuropsychology, life care planning, economics and vocational rehabilitation.

The attorneys who handled this tragic lawsuit for Doe and his family were Richard N. Shapiro, Randy E. Appleton and Eric K. Washburn.

Doe v. Roe Homeowner, Confidential docket.

Kreisman Law Offices has been handling premises liability lawsuits, defective swimming pool cases, brain injury lawsuits and birth trauma injury lawsuits for individuals, families and loved ones who have been injured, harmed or killed by the carelessness or negligence of another for more than 40 years in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas, including Lemont, Wood Dale, Rosemont, Des Plaines, Mount Prospect, Glenview, Glencoe, Gurnee, Northbrook, Highland Park, Hinsdale, Deerfield, Buffalo Grove, Long Grove, Hawthorne Woods, Mettawa, Bannockburn, Fort Sheridan, Wilmette, Evanston, Rolling Meadows, Park Forest, Berwyn, Chicago (Gage Park, Back of the Yards, McKinley Park, Little Village, Garfield Ridge, West Lawn, West Englewood, Lithuanian Plaza, Parkway Gardens, Grand Boulevard, North Kenwood, Oakland, Bronzeville, Printer’s Row, Greek Town, Rush and Division, Gold Coast, Old Town, Mid-North District, Sheffield Neighbors, Wrightwood Neighbors, Lakeview East, Park West, Saint Ben’s, Uptown, Magnolia Glen, Edgewater Beach, Hollywood Park), Wheaton, Arlington Heights, Elgin, North Aurora, Carol Stream, Carpentersville, Algonquin and Bolingbrook, Ill.

Robert D. Kreisman has been an active member of the Illinois and Missouri bars since 1976.