The Alfred Firm recently finalized a $4,150,000 settlement on behalf of a minor that suffered a brain injury after nearly drowning in a Houston apartment pool.
The Alfred Firm was hired by a mother of a child who, at four years old, wandered to an apartment pool that had been left accessible by an apartment management company and their landscaping vendor. On this tragic day, the child had been visiting his father who resided at the apartment complex. After realizing that his son had managed to get out of the apartment the father immediately ran out of the apartment to locate his son.
The father searched throughout the entire complex without considering the possibility of the child being in the pool because: 1) the pool was closed for the winter months and 2) the pool was enclosed by a fencing system which was equipped with a latching device made to prevent young children from entering without an adult. Unfortunately, this father’s worst fears were confirmed when the child was found inside the pool enclosure, floating face-down in the pool.
The child was miraculously revived. However, the child suffered permanent brain damage after being without oxygen for over 25 minutes.
Houston Apartment Management Company and Commercial Landscaping Company’s Safety Failures Lead to Near Drowning
The Alfred Firm’s investigation revealed that obvious acts of negligence and gross negligence were committed by the apartment complex owner, the apartment management company, and a commercial landscaping company.
The Alfred Firm’s Founding Attorney Byron Alfred led a team of pool safety experts in inspecting the premises shortly after the incident. The investigation found that the pool enclosure had four entry gates, all of which were equipped with a self latching device. And after taking over 25 depositions and speaking with over 30 fact witnesses and apartment residents, Attorney Byron found that the pool was supposed to have been closed for the winter months. This meant that, in addition to the self latching device, the Texas Pool Safety laws required that the pool be locked by padlock.
Further investigation determined that the apartment management company had hired a commercial landscaping company to service the shrubbery and potted plants inside the pool enclosure on the day before the incident.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Department’s investigation found that one of the four pool entry gates (the gate closest to the apartment leasing office) was not locked or latched immediately prior to the incident. In fact, the pool entry gate’s self latching device had been bypassed by an improperly placed lock. The result of the landscaping company’s lock placement left the gate “locked open”, instead of locked closed.
The apartment management company’s employees left the premises the day before the incident and assumed that the commercial landscaping company’s employees would properly lock the pool enclosure when they completed their work. This obviously did not happen.
The Alfred Firm has received national honors for its aggressive investigation methods. In this case, The Alfred Firm was able to locate over 20 prior safety violations committed by the apartment management company, which was headquartered in Beaumont, Texas. Over 10 of the 20 violations committed by the apartment management company were related to the improper management of apartment pool enclosures.
As for the commercial landscaping company, The Alfred Firm’s investigation determined that the landscaping company was routinely hired by several Houston apartment complexes. However, after reviewing the training materials provided to the landscaping company’s employees, The Alfred Firm found the unthinkable. The commercial landscaping company taught its employees to “not attempt to close pool enclosure gates after completing work” because it may make them liable. This internal policy was never communicated to any of the apartment complexes that had hired the commercial landscaping company. In sum, the commercial landscaping company’s employees were following the training they had received by failing to ensure that the pool enclosure, meant to prevent minor children from freely accessing the apartment pool, was properly closed.
The Alfred Firm Secures $4,150,000 for Brain Damaged Minor
Realizing that it would be a horrible idea to take this case to trial against The Alfred Firm, the apartment management company and commercial landscaping company paid a $4,150,000 settlement. As a result of this settlement, the minor has received over $2,500,000 in a special needs trust that will provide top quality care for him throughout the remainder of his life.
This case was handled by The Alfred Firm’s Founder Byron C. Alfred and Chief of Staff Amanda Zubire.
Byron C. Alfred is a Board Certified Personal Injury Trial Lawyer that has received national recognition for his record-setting verdicts and settlements. Attorney Byron’s cases have generated over $100 Million in verdicts and settlements over the last 5 years. In 2019, after obtaining the second largest work injury verdict in the country, Attorney Byron became the youngest lead counsel and the first African American lawyer ever inducted to the prestigious Texas Verdicts Hall of Fame.