PITTSBURGH – A Mount Lebanon mother and son have sued their town’s school district for negligence after the son allegedly sustained a broken bone in his right foot in an on-field accident during football practice.
Dylan Heim (through his parent and guardian, Tamara Halpern) filed suit in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on May 15 versus the Mount Lebanon School District.
“On or about July 21, 2016, Dylan Heim, then age 14, was participating in pre-season football practice for the ninth grade Mount Lebanon team, and in particular was participating in sprint drills around the football field. In the midst of one of the springs, Dylan’s right foot contacted a metal turf-covered hole cover, and at that time, the cover gave way, causing Dylan’s foot to go into the hole and causing Dylan to twist his foot and fall to the ground. The metal cover was intended to cover subsurface electrical equipment and the cover was in an area where people would be expected to walk and was meant to be stepped on and should not have collapsed as occurred,” the lawsuit reads.
“As a result of the fall, Dylan sustained a Jones fracture of the fifth metatarsal on his right foot, which required surgical fixation and a lengthy recovery, which caused Dylan to miss the 2016 football season, which required physical therapy and which kept Dylan on restrictions until January 2017. The aforesaid hazardous condition existed on the real property of the Mount Lebanon School District and falls within the exception to governmental immunity,” the suit adds.
Per the litigation, Mount Lebanon School District allegedly failed to properly secure and cover the hole, warn of or repair the unsafe condition on the football field, where a person would be anticipated to run and walk.
For a single count of negligence, the plaintiffs are seeking damages in an amount in excess of the jurisdictional limits for arbitration in this matter.
The plaintiffs are represented by C.J. Engel of Swensen & Perer, in Pittsburgh.
Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas case GD-17-7348
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nickpennrecord@gmail.com