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The family of a young boy killed in a tragic accident at a rotating restaurant in Georgia is now suing the establishment.
Charlie Holt, 5, died from a head injury at the Sun Dial restaurant on April 14 after he allegedly wandered a few feet away to have a look at the view on the 72nd floor of the building in downtown Atlanta.
He somehow became lodged in a five-inch space between a table, which was rotating, and a wall.
Holt’s parents allege in the lawsuit the restaurant failed to prevent a “longstanding safety hazard” that led to the child’s death, New York Daily News reported.
They also disputed claims that the boy wandered away from his family.
“The Sun Dial had no protections to stop children from getting close to the pinch point or to stop the rotation of the floor if a child became trapped in the pinch point,” the lawsuit reportedly said.
I don't understand why the restaurant didn't have an inspection done for possible safety hazards. Something like that should have been noticed a long time ago.
I don't understand why the restaurant didn't have an inspection done for possible safety hazards. Something like that should have been noticed a long time ago.
I read this article and--if it is accurate--the restaurant is legally culpable under a negligence theory.
I would encourage those who wish to express an opinion here to first read the article. The child's parents were right there with the child. This not an issue of parents failing to supervise a child. Its a question of the restaurant set up in a way that creates a dangerous safety hazard. Anyone ought to know that when one surface moves and another surface stands still there is danger to anyone or anything who gets pinned in between.
Its a shame it took such a horrible death to spotlight this problem.
Tragic death, but children in restaurants should be sitting on chairs, not exploring. A rotating restaurant is a giant machine with obvious risks.
As sad as I feel for the parents and the poor child, I think a counter suit by the restaurant against the parents for letting their child wander is not without merit.
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Originally Posted by ABQConvict
Tragic death, but children in restaurants should be sitting on chairs, not exploring. A rotating restaurant is a giant machine with obvious risks.
As sad as I feel for the parents and the poor child, I think a counter suit by the restaurant against the parents for letting their child wander is not without merit.
I would like to see the set up of how exactly this happened. The parents say they were within feet - and were finished eating and were leaving. The child went to the window to look out (certainly acceptable behavior, IMHO, and in fact that's what the circulating window view is for - so you can enjoy the view) and at that moment the rotation was just so that he was crushed. It doesn't sound like an adult would fit in that area, so it hadn't been a hazard before.
I would think that if what they were saying is true, there is no bad parenting involved. Everyone likes to get close to the window to look down and they were within a few feet of the child.
Tragic death, but children in restaurants should be sitting on chairs, not exploring. A rotating restaurant is a giant machine with obvious risks.
As sad as I feel for the parents and the poor child, I think a counter suit by the restaurant against the parents for letting their child wander is not without merit.
Please read the CNN article. It states they were finished with their meal and walking to exit the restaurant when the accident happened. They were within feet of the child - a perfectly acceptable distance. The child would not be expected to still be in his chair....
Truly sad that this child has died, but I have a few issues with their statement.
"If Marriott had acted responsibly in the face of this known safety hazard, this tragedy would have been prevented. It is never acceptable for a business to needlessly endanger patrons," the statement says.
How did the hotel and restaurant know this was a safety hazard? I highly doubt they thought to themselves that yes, it is a safety problem but don't worry about it. Also, have there been other accidents in the same spot? Lastly, I don't think the hotel "needlessly" endangered their patrons. I believe the hotel would have to willfully disregard any previous notion that this was a safety issue for them in the first place. Now, if they were inspected and told that this was a hazard, then it is completely different.
They should have had their restaurant inspected for safety problems. Most businesses do this. Someone should have noticed that a small person or child could get pinched between the table and wall when the restaurant was revolving. I do feel the business is liable, not the parents. The parents were simply dining out at a restaurant. They had no idea there was a "booby trap" in the restaurant. It's certainly not their fault as they appeared to be doing nothing out of the ordinary.
Tragic death, but children in restaurants should be sitting on chairs, not exploring. A rotating restaurant is a giant machine with obvious risks.
As sad as I feel for the parents and the poor child, I think a counter suit by the restaurant against the parents for letting their child wander is not without merit.
If that statement is true, then your second statement is without merit. There should never be an unguarded pinch point in a giant rotating machine where people will be congregating. Quite frankly there should be no risks inside the normal accessible area of the restaurant. Any areas where they can be risk should only be accessible with LOTO in place.
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