Dad Settles Suit Against Crocs Over Daughter’s Escalator Injury
The father of a 4-year-old girl has settled his Tennessee lawsuit against Crocs for an escalator injury that mangled the girl’s foot.
The amount of the settlement was not disclosed, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports.
The multimillion-dollar suit by Jason Barnes of Virginia claimed his daughter was wearing Crocs as she rode an escalator at a Belk store in Johnson City, the story says. According to the suit, one of the girl’s shoes brushed against the side of the escalator, the Croc began to soften, and it got stuck in the gap between the escalator step and the side rail, injuring the girls’ foot.
Crocs began placing warning labels on its shoes last year, although it claims poor escalator maintenance is responsible for injuries. A Japanese study has found that Crocs and other rubber shoes are “prone to entrapment” when pressed against the sides of escalators, the story says. Children’s Crocs are a particular risk because they are smaller, thinner and more elastic, the study says.
New York lawyer Andrew Laskin represented Barnes. He has filed dozens of other Crocs escalator cases, the story says. Some have settled and some are pending.
