Family wants $990,500 for student's 'severe' basketball injury

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Family wants $990,500 for student's 'severe' basketball injury
Corona del Mar High School boy suffered deep cut to hand, claim says.
By JEFF OVERLEY
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
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NEWPORT BEACH – A high school student and his parents are seeking nearly $1 million as compensation for a "severe laceration" they say the boy suffered during a freshman basketball tournament.
The injury, according to a legal claim filed against the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, occurred during a game at a Corona del Mar High School gymnasium.
The boy's right hand hit a "protruding electrical outlet with a dangerous, oversized sharp-edged metal faceplate located on an unpadded wall directly behind the basket," according to the claim, which must be filed before a lawsuit can be pursued.
A deep cut as well as "scarring and possible nerve damage" resulted, the claim says.
Laura Boss, district spokeswoman, said review of the claim is ongoing but that she could not comment on specifics of the case.
Because the student is a minor, the district redacted the names of the boy and his parents from a copy of the claim. An attorney for the family did not return a call for comment.
The injury occurred in December, and district is liable because it "violated its duty to take reasonable steps to protect students and its duty not to increase the risks inherent in the game of basketball by placing, or allowing to be placed, dangerously sharp obstructions close to the basketball hoop, where it can be reasonably foreseen that participants are likely to fall," the claim says.
The boy is seeking $785,000, of which $35,000 is for current and future medical bills, $250,000 is for lost future earnings and $500,000 is for damages.
The parents seek $205,500, mainly for damages linked to what the claim calls "emotional distress arising from witnessing the harm to their child." All told, the family is seeking $990,500.