12-year-old girl seriously injured in 2023 fall at Elk Grove school playground, lawsuit says
Reality Check is a Sacramento Bee series holding officials and organizations accountable and shining a light on their decisions. Have a tip? Email realitycheck@sacbee.com.
An Elk Grove mother recently filed a lawsuit against the Elk Grove Unified School District after an incident last year caused an injury to her child she says will result in permanent disability.
According to the civil lawsuit, the incident occurred in March 2023 when her then-12-year-old daughter fell from a playground structure at Franklin Elementary School, landing on the surrounding surface below the play structure.
The district is being sued for dangerous conditions of public property, negligence and failure to discharge the duty in charge during the incident, according to court documents. The lawsuit was filed March 28 in Sacramento Superior Court and seeks more than $25,000 in damages.
According to the lawsuit, it was alleged that the playground created a substantial risk to injury due to “the combined effect of one or more of the following: unsafe height, unsafe height differentials, inadequate or unsafe area for queuing of students, inadequate or absent signage, inadequate or absent warnings, inadequate or absent maintenance and repair, inadequate, unsafe or absent hand gripping components, inadequate or unsafe stepping surfaces - including surfaces that were not level, stable and clean, inadequate, unsafe or absent barriers and guardrails and inadequate or unsafe protective surfacing - including inappropriate fill material and loose fill surfacing at an improper depth.”
The lawsuit also alleges that the child was unsupervised at the time of the incident, according to the complaint.
In an email to The Sacramento Bee, Elk Grove Unified spokesperson James Tan declined to comment, saying the school district “does not provide comments on ongoing litigation.”
According to court documents, the student’s fall has caused her to sustain bodily injury and physical pain, including a shock to her nervous system.
The lawsuit alleged that her health, strength and activity has been compromised, causing mental, physical and nervous pain and suffering. In the court documents, the mother alleged that some injuries will result in “some permanent disability.”
Attorney Tim Spangler of Demas Law Group, who is representing the family, did not immediately respond to The Bee’s request for comment.
According to the lawsuit, the Elk Grove parent is seeking economic and non-economic damages, including past and future medical expenses, and any incidental and compensatory damages.
