On October 23rd, a kindergarten student at Double Tree Elementary School in Memphis, Tennessee was burned so badly by her school cafeteria lunch that she had to seek treatment at a local hospital. Now, her mother has filed a lawsuit against the school seeking compensation for a list of damages.
The child in question was served mashed potatoes during her October 23rd school lunch. While walking back to her table, she slipped on a wet spot on the cafeteria floor and fell. The hot food landed on her bare arms and “resulted in severe burns…that required medical treatment,” the lawsuit reads, per local news Fox 13.
Rodney Harper, the student’s father, took to Facebook to share his upset. “It’s crazy they said school mash potatoes burned my baby like this and the school wanted to know why we were taking her to the hospital man I’m pissed,” he wrote on the 23rd. Harper also posted photos of his child’s burn, which at that point presented itself as large welts on the girl’s arm. The post has been shared over 100 times.
According to Fox 13, the family’s lawsuit claims the child did not realize the potatoes were so hot, nor did she see the wet spot on the ground. It also claims Shelby County Schools is liable because the entire incident could have been avoided.
The family is seeking compensation for damages that include physical pain and suffering, emotional pain and suffering, medical bills and expenses, permanent disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life, post-judgement interest, statutory and discretionary costs, and all such further relief to which she may be entitled, as Fox 13 reports.
“A child should not suffer second-degree burns at a school,” Attorney Thomas Greer of Bailey and Greer Law Firm told Fox 13. “I don’t think anybody would expect a burn like to happen. [It’s] just something that should not happen.”
According to Greer, the student has returned to school, but she now brings her lunch and avoids the cafeteria line entirely.
