PITTSBURGH – A local middle school student alleges that negligent placement of a metal bleacher bench by the Upper St. Clair School District resulted in his suffering a series of severe leg injuries when he collided with that same bench.
M.B. (a minor, by his parents and natural guardians, Robert Bruno and Adriene Bruno) of Pittsburgh filed suit in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on March 27 versus Upper St. Clair School District, of Upper St. Clair Township.
“On or about May 10, 2022, plaintiff-minor, a student at Fort Couch Middle School, played and/or participated in a supervised recess playing catch on the school’s football field. Plaintiff-minor, attempting to catch the football, without warning, ran into and struck his right thigh into one of the end sides of the metal bleacher bench that was attached and located on and/or near the playing area on the subject field,” the suit says.
“At all material times hereto, defendant-USC exercised care, custody, and control of the football field, and specifically, the subject bench located on and/or at the field. At all material times hereto, the subject bench: 1) Did not have safety caps and/or any other type of protective cap and/or material over the sharp edges of the subject bench; and/or 2) Was affixed and/or located dangerously and unreasonably close to the nearest boundary of the playing field. As a result, there existed dangerous, hazardous, and/or unsafe conditions on the subject field of defendant-USC’s premises.”
The suit adds that as a result of the dangerous, hazardous, and/or unsafe conditions, plaintiff-minor sustained serious injuries, which resulted in him being transported by ambulance to Children’s Hospital for emergency care and/or treatment.
“As a direct and proximate result of defendant-USC’s negligence and/or carelessness, set forth more fully throughout this complaint, plaintiff-minor sustained injuries and damages, including, but not limited to, the following, all or some of which may be permanent in nature: Deep laceration to right lateral distal femur above the knee 10 cm long and 1 inch deep, which required surgical intervention; soft tissue injury of the anterolateral distal thigh with superficial soft tissue defect; cortical defect of the distal femoral diaphysis/metadiaphysis; 32 stitches to right thigh; permanent scarring; right leg pain; pain and suffering; overall soreness; inconvenience and disruption of daily activities; past and future medical expenses and residual injuries and complications from incident-related injuries and medical treatment necessitated by incident-related injuries,” the suit states.
For one count of negligence, the plaintiff is seeking damages in excess of the applicable arbitration limits, exclusive of interest and costs.
The plaintiff is represented by Wayne M. Chiurazzi, Donna M. Flaherty and Sarah M. Benedetti of The Chiurazzi Law Group, in Pittsburgh.
The defendant has not yet obtained legal counsel.
Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas case GD-23-004253
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com