Defective Swimming Pools

Many children drown in swimming pools each year, while many more are treated for injuries caused by near-drowning, such as brain trauma, lacerations, or spinal cord injuries. Even experienced swimmers may be hurt or killed in a swimming pool accident in East Tennessee. When some part of the swimming pool has a defect that causes your accident or your child's accident, you may be able to bring a claim against a manufacturer with the assistance of a product liability attorney. At the Hartsoe Law Firm, Maryville swimming pool accident lawyer Mark Hartsoe can represent you in a claim or lawsuit for compensation.

Sometimes swimming pool accidents are caused by defects in drain covers, pool design, diving boards, sump pumps, flotation devices, or slides. In that case, you may bring a product liability lawsuit against the manufacturer of the item. The Tennessee Product Liability Act allows you to bring a product liability lawsuit based on theories of strict liability, breach of warranty, negligence, breach of express or implied warranty, failure to warn, concealment, misrepresentation, or nondisclosure.

To recover compensation under any of these theories, you will need to prove certain elements. To be strictly liable, for example, a manufacturer or seller would need to sell the product at issue in an unreasonably dangerous condition. Under the Product Liability Act, an unreasonably dangerous product is either a product that is dangerous to a degree beyond what an ordinary consumer would contemplate or a product that would not be put into the marketplace by a reasonably prudent manufacturer or seller if it were aware of the dangerous aspect of the product. There are three types of defects that may make a product unreasonably dangerous: manufacturing, design, or marketing defects.

While Tennessee has abolished the doctrine of joint and several liability in most personal injury claims, defendants in the chain of distribution that are liable under a theory of strict liability have joint and several liability. This means that you may sue multiple parties for design defects and recover the full amount of your economic and noneconomic damages from any single party.

If a defective product was altered after the manufacturer stopping having control of it, the manufacturer may present the alteration as a defense to strict liability. For example, if the pool drain was designed defectively such that it was too strong and trapped a child below the water, the manufacturer of the drain probably could be held strictly liable for the child's injuries or death. However, if the property owner tried to jerry-rig the drain to fit in place better, and then a child became trapped by the jerry-rigged drain, the manufacturer might be able to escape strict liability. A premises liability lawsuit against the property owner of the poorly maintained swimming pool might be appropriate in those circumstances.

If you are injured or a loved one is killed in a defective swimming pool, Maryville swimming pool accident attorney Mark Hartsoe can evaluate the facts of your case and represent you in a claim. Damages that may be pursued include medical bills, lost income, loss of enjoyment of life, and pain and suffering. Call the Hartsoe Law Firm at 865-804-1011 or contact us via our online form to set up your free consultation. Mark Hartsoe assists people throughout East Tennessee, including in Blount, Knox, Monroe, Loudon, Jefferson, Grainger, Cocke, Campbell, Hamblen, Greene, Anderson, Cumberland, and Fentress Counties.