Child's case against Huron Clinton Metropolitan Authority and park rangers is summarily dismissed.
The parents of Aubry Pederson sued the HCMA and two park managers after their daughter was badly burned by hot coals left behind by another user of the park. They pointed to the fact that another child had been burned by the same hot coals--and the injury had been brought to the attention of the attendant at the Park toll booth--prior to their child's injury. They argued that it was gross negligence on the part of the Park's managers to fail to respond to the first burn complaint.
The trial judge refused to grant the rangers immunity, finding that it was a question of fact whether they were grossly negligent. The Authority was granted immunity. On appeal by the park managers, the Court of Appeals reversed the trial judge and summarily dismissed the burned child's case. The higher court judges ruled that there was insufficient evidence to support a claim of gross negligence, and that in any event, the primary cause of the burns was the negligence of the patron who dumped the hot coals without suppressing the fire.