HOUSTON – Alleging her fall from a rock wall resulted in her suffering a “severely” shattered left ankle, Harris County resident Katy McLaughlin has pursued legal action.
McLaughlin’s lawsuit, which was filed on Sept. 26 in the Harris County 165th District Court, blames the Apr. 14, 2017 incident on MMB Trampoline Investments, LLC, doing business as Altitude Trampoline Park.
According to court documents, the defendant’s approximately 20-ft. rock wall is not equipped with a rope-and-harness safety system but “designed so that guests climb over a large pit filled with foam blocks.” These blocks are intended to act as “both a ‘safety net’ for climbers who fall and a means of egress for climbers who reach the top and are ready to come down.”
The suit asserts that the foam blocks did not stop McLaughlin’s fall as planned since she discovered the pit “was incredibly shallow” and the floor concealed beneath the blocks “was a hard, unpadded surface.”
Altitude purportedly directed the complainant not to wear her shoes when accessing the rock wall, to which the original petition insinuates rendered her feet “completely” unprotected.
McLaughlin says her left ankle required nine screws, a metal plate, and a bone graft “to piece it back together.”
Consequently, the plaintiff seeks unspecified monetary damages and a jury trial.
She is represented by Dustin T. Sullivan and Thomas K. Brown of The Brown Law Firm, LLLP in Houston.
Harris County 165th District Court Case No. 2018-68194