Legal Question in Personal Injury in Texas

My 2 yr old Fell and cut his eyebrow with the metal step of the inside playground at McDonalds. He had 5 stiches at the ER. What process should we follow with McDonalds.


Asked on 9/26/09, 11:54 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Dan Street Street Law Firm

I'm sure your motivation for asking this question is just to gather information on your options in order to do the best thing for your son, and no one can blame you for that. Therefore, my comments below are not directed at you personally, but are simply a general statement directed toward others who might use this unfortunate accident as an opportunity to abuse the system.

There is an attitude of "entitlement" these days whereby people expect to be compensated whenever ANYTHING bad happens to them. They do not seem to realize that entitlement to compensation is based upon your ability to prove that the injury was caused by the "negligence" of the other party. A person is not entitled to compensation just because their child got hurt, and certainly not because it just happened to be on the property of a business. It's always a sad occasion when a child gets hurt, but, in this case, for instance, I do not believe this accident could be blamed on negligence on the part of McDonald's. I suppose it could be claimed that McDonald's failed to cover every square inch of every surface with rubber, but this seems to me to be stretching it a bit.

As a personal injury lawyer, I am constantly faced with the challenge of convincing juries (and insurance companies) to award money on LEGITIMATE injury cases. This is becoming more and more difficult. One of the reasons, I believe, is because juries and insurance adjusters see so many people trying to take advantage of the opportunity to obtain money whenever and wherever they can, whether they are legitimately entitled to it or not. This, in the long run, hurts all of us. Again, I'm sure that is not the parents' motivation here, so my observations are meant to be just a general statement of an overall problem.

McDonald's may carry what is called "Med-Pay" that will reimburse your son's medical bills up to a certain point (usually either $1,000 or $5,000). Other than that, I would suggest you use your own medical insurance. While McDonald's may be willing to pay a little through its liability coverage (especially since a child is involved), it is my opinion that this is not a claim that should be litigated because I think it doubtful a jury would find any negligence on the part of McDonald's.

I hope your son heals well from his injuries. Good luck to you.

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Answered on 10/01/09, 12:49 pm


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