Q: Do I have legitimate claim to seek personal injury expenses when child inhales chlorine leak from a city pool?
My child was receiving swimming lessons at a city pool when during the lesson there was a sudden overwhelming smell of chlorine which my child directly inhaled, which caused a lot of the typical symptoms from chlorine inhalation; difficulty breathing, coughing and stinging of the throat. The pool is used by a 3rd party company business that uses the city pool to conduct their swimming lessons. We ended up taking our child to the urgent care to receive medical attention. Will we be able to seek compensation for medical fees from the city?
A: You will probably have to file a claim with the city in order to do so. The City then has to accept or deny your claim. If they deny your claim, you have 6 months to file suit. If you file suit your results may depend on how bad the damages were to your child. If your child recovered quickly, then the City may offer you a settlement including reimbursing your medical bills. If the injury was ongoing, you may be entitled to more damages. Since your child is a minor, you may have more time to file your claim. I am not sure on that. Also, the claim must be filed by a Guardian of your child, which can usually be one of the child's parents. I would seek out a local attorney to help you with this.
Dale S. Gribow agrees with this answer
A: First, you have to file a Tort Claim with the responsible government entity. After denial of that claim, you can file a lawsuit on behalf of your child as the Guardian ad Litem. If you have a single urgent care visit, with no ongoing injuries, your lawsuit sounds like it would be Small Claims, at best.
Dale S. Gribow agrees with this answer
A:
need more info
you can always make a claim and with enough evidence you should be able to prevail in court.
if the injury is minimal you may want to consider small claims and you need to file right away b/c you are suing a governmental entity....and there are time restrictions which must be complied with or you lose your right to win/prevail.
Justia Ask a Lawyer is a forum for consumers to get answers to basic legal questions. Any information sent through Justia Ask a Lawyer is not secure and is done so on a non-confidential basis only.
The use of this website to ask questions or receive answers does not create an attorney–client relationship between you and Justia, or between you and any attorney who receives your information or responds to your questions, nor is it intended to create such a relationship. Additionally, no responses on this forum constitute legal advice, which must be tailored to the specific circumstances of each case. You should not act upon information provided in Justia Ask a Lawyer without seeking professional counsel from an attorney admitted or authorized to practice in your jurisdiction. Justia assumes no responsibility to any person who relies on information contained on or received through this site and disclaims all liability in respect to such information.
Justia cannot guarantee that the information on this website (including any legal information provided by an attorney through this service) is accurate, complete, or up-to-date. While we intend to make every attempt to keep the information on this site current, the owners of and contributors to this site make no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information contained in or linked to from this site.
