When a child is harmed in a horrific accident, there’s always pressure to find a solution to help ease the suffering of the child and their family. When an Altadena, California toddler, then 2-year-old Adelaide Palmstrom, was struck with a falling tree branch in 2017, the reaction was the same. The child was at the Pasadena Day Center in 207 when the incident took place. With the case now finally concluded, the family will receive a $7m lawsuit settlement.
The parents first filed the lawsuit in a California state court in 2018, suing the city of Pasadena as well as the day care center. They also sued a local arborist as well as the Pasadena Unified School District. The property for the care center was leased from the PUSD, with the city controlling “a portion of the location involving the tree”.
Palmstrom was hit in the head by the falling tree branch, and suffered a fractured skull, neck, and the legs. The children were playing on their lunch break when the incident took place. Two other children, aged 3 and 4, were also hurt with minor injuries and their respective families joined in with the lawsuit. With this two-year lawsuit now finally coming to an end, though, it’s been noted that “multiple notices” were made regarding the condition of the tree.
With $7.3m in settlements paid out to the three families, the majority will go to the Palmstrom family. They will receive $2.4m from the city of Pasadena alone, with the other two families receiving a split of $100,000. The school district tree trimming contractor, Merchant’s Landscape Services, will pay around $2.48m, with $20,000 awarded to the other families affected. The Linda Vista Children Center will pay around $1.97m in compensation, with $30,000 to the other families.
The last party to settle, Pasadena Unified, paid out around $300,000, though there is no public information on the disbursements exactly. The award will be doled out to the child as she ages, with the aim to help cover the cost of medical bills and provide compensation and the loss of future earnings.
With a seven-week halo and leg cast experience, Adelaide also had to undergo plastic surgery for some of the scarring. She’s also believed to have had a traumatic brain injury from the incident.
By settling the lawsuit, though, no parties admitted liability.
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