Legal Question in Personal Injury in North Carolina

Trampoline Laws

I am a home owner, and I was at work, my husband was getting ready to leave for work. A friend of my son (both 12) called my son and asked if he could come over (the friend was being kept by his adult sitter). I would have been home within the next hr., but my son didn't ask his father or myself and told the friend that he could. The sitter brought the friend over and also left his lil bro without seeing if an adult would be there or getting our permission. The kids were jumping on the trampoline and the older bro jumped on his younger bro's back hurting him. The parents are now wanting to sue me for the bills. Isn't he going after the wrong person since his sitter left their kids at my house w/out asking for my permisson and taking the ''yes'' of a 12 yr old that his friend could come over? I feel like my rights are being violated since I wasnt asked or had no knowledge of the kids coming over and it was the adult sitter that left the kids without asking me or even the kids she was keeping parents to drop them off. Shouldnt the parent of the kids go after his ownsitter for leaving them at someone's house without anyone else being aware of this except the 12 yr kids. Where are my rights and my protection.


Asked on 6/25/07, 9:45 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
David Daggett Daggett Shuler, Attorneys At Law

Re: Trampoline Laws

Thank you for your inquiry.

You have a bit of a compound complex set of questions. Please remember that it is very difficult to give full advice on limited information, and by e-mail. As is the case many times under the law, there is not necessarily a clear answer. Cases like this cases be very fact specific and further information may be helpful.

This may or may not be a major issue depending on how badly the child was injured. If the child's family has a lawyer, you should probably turn this over to your homeowner's insurance company as soon as possible. As a homeowner you undoubtedly have insurance and it would be their job to further investigate and evaluate the claim. You may also want to get private legal advice particularly if the injuries are severe.

Also note that many homeowner's policies also have what is called "medical payments coverage" which is sort of like health insurance for those injured on your property. This type of coverage is incident based, not fault based, and may be sufficient enough to handle the issues.

Thank you again, and please feel free to contact us if we can provide further information.

Best Wishes,

David D. Daggett

(I apologize in advance for poor typing skills)

Winston-Salem Office

[email protected]

www.lewisdaggett.com

www.safeandsober.com

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Answered on 6/26/07, 10:34 am


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