Homer School Has Dangerous Playground Equipment: Joliet Lawyer

JOLIET, IL - Outdoor lunch recess is when happy children to like to run around and play on their school's playground equipment. However, a recent lawsuit filed against Homer Community Consolidated School District 33C accuses school officials of willful and wanton disregard of the safety of children. Joliet lawyer Michael Bolos brought the civil lawsuit against Homer on behalf of the injured child's mother, Lisa Mikolajczak.

The plaintiff's child was playing at Young School, the lawsuit contends, when the mishap occurred around 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 6, 2016. The elementary school's bright-colored jungle gym set contained ladders, slides, swings, elevated hanging bars and chain ladders, the lawsuit stated.

According to the lawsuit, the manufacturer of the jungle gym set had provided Homer school officials with specific instructions to reduce the risk of injuries to children. Homer is accused in the lawsuit of failing to maintain "the level of fall/shock absorbent mulch at the depth and level indicated by the manufacturer's instructions prominently displayed on the vertical legs of the apparatus."

Moreover, the school district is also accused of failing to inspect the playground set with regular frequency to ensure the cushioning material was adequate.

"The absence of adequate cushioning material beneath apparatus such as that at Young School was not a mere negligent oversight limited to Young School, but rather a manifestation of a district-wide willful and wanton disregard for the safety of children," stated Bolos, the plaintiff's lawyer, arguing there was also a "substantially similar absence or inadequacy of cushioning material ... at (the) district's other schools, Butler School, Goodings Grove School and Schilling School."

Last fall, the child at Young School fell from the gym set and suffered a fractured left upper arm, requiring "operative intervention," Bolos stated, adding that the injuries caused the child "great physical and mental suffering, impaired (the child's) day to day and educational activities and limited ... participation in appropriate activities."

Image via Joliet Patch Editor John Ferak