Drowning

A teenage boy was trapped underwater by the suction of a pool pump and nearly drowned. The jury found that product defects in the P2R single-horse-power suction pump, manufactured and distributed by Sta-Rite Industries, Inc, was responsible for the accident causing the victim to suffer irreversible brain damage. It was found that the pump was unsafe and that Sta-Rite Industries made no effort to change its design to make it less dangerous or to warn distributors about risks it created for swimmers. The $104 Million Verdict is the largest single personal injury jury verdict awarded in Florida’s History.

Premises Liability / Near-Drowning. A toddler sustained irreversible brain damage after nearly drowning in her apartment complex pool. The owners of the apartment complex were found negligent for not repairing a broken gate around the pool area and not securing the pool area with the proper pool fencing. The apartment complex manager admitted at trial that he knew the gate had been “destroyed” for some time. The $100 Million verdict is one of the largest single personal injury jury verdicts awarded in Florida’s history.

Drowning/Suction Entrapment. While attending a family graduation party, the 7-year-old granddaughter of former Secretary of State James Baker drowned in the pool/spa in the backyard.The forceful suction of the spa pump at the bottom of the whirlpool, entrapped and held the girl underwater causing her to drown. This is one of several suction entrapment cases where the defendant was negligent in manufacturing an unsafe and defective pool/spa pump. This was the identical pump involved in the Peterson case listed above.

This case involved twin toddlers who were involved in a tragic drowning and near drowning on Thanksgiving Day 2015. This occurred at a residential home that was managed by one of the largest single family home operators in the country. The residential home was rented out to the twin toddlers parents on a one-year lease, which was managed and operated by the defendant. On the day of the incident, the twin toddlers were in a crib, but escaped unbeknownst to their mother who was asleep in the same room. The twin toddlers then got into the living room and were able to access the swimming pool through the sliding glass doors. John Doe tragically drowned while Alex Doe suffered an anoxic brain injury due to the depravation of oxygen to his brain during the drowning incident. The parents of the toddlers had complained to the owner of the home that a pool fence should be placed there.In addition, there were problems with the locks on the sliding glass doors. The case settled for $11.8 Million.