Say What!?
Parents Sue Grandma for Accidentally Falling Down Stairs With Baby
In January of 2006, grandmother Hannalore Hoffmann offered to help her daughter by taking her 6-month-old granddaughter Molly when the child didn't go back to sleep after an early morning feeding. It was 5:30 a.m., and the Australian family was on vacation together at a rental cottage. Hoffman held the baby in her arms as she headed downstairs, but she stumbled on the stairs -- and unfortunately, she fell to the bottom, still grasping little Molly.
The baby was badly injured, and today the 5-year-old girl is severely disabled as a result of the fall.
It sounds like a tragic, random accident ... but shockingly, Hoffman's daughter and son-in-law sued her for tripping on those steps in 2006. Even more shocking: this week the court ruled against the grandmother and found her legally responsible for the child's head injuries.
In court, Hoffman claimed that she had been to the holiday home several times and knew the staircase well. She'd asked her daughter to keep the light on in the room to illuminate the stairs—but she didn't turn on the staircase lights themselves, out of concern she'd wake other family members.
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Although she says she descended slowly and carefully, she still lost her footing towards the bottom, and although she reached for the balustrade it didn't stop her fall.
In his court decision on Tuesday, Justice Robert Shallcross Hulme said,
Did (Hoffmann) exercise such care in this case? In my view she did not. I accept that she thought that she was being careful. I accept that often babies are attended to in the middle of the night, and in order that other members of a household are not disturbed, without lights being turned on. Nevertheless, when regard is had to the totality of circumstances ... I am persuaded that she did not take that reasonable care.
So now liability has been established and I assume they'll move on to damages, and this grandmother—who has surely lost any kind of family connection with her daughter and granddaughter by now, not to mention dealing with the guilt—will probably lose every last cent show owns.
I don't know about you, but I think it's unbelievably awful the family sued this woman. I mean, assuming she wasn't DRUNK or something, this sounds like the sort of accident that could have happened to anyone. Yes, she probably should have turned on the light, but it was a mistake made at 5:30 a.m. while she was trying to help the whole family get some sleep—and who's to say that would have stopped her from falling anyway?
The accident is tragic enough on its own, I can't imagine how it could possibly help anyone to break up the family for the sake of a lawsuit. I feel terrible for everyone involved, but maybe especially for Mrs. Hoffman, who surely would give anything to go back to that morning ... and let her daughter be the one to deal with her wakeful baby.
What do you think of this story? Can you imagine suing your own parent for an accident that happened on their watch?
Image via Flickr/lilzeto
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navywife0204
WOW....
EmmaFromÉire
Jonie Elizabeth Binni
Michele Anderson
R u freaking kidding me this is horrible .Everyone has accidents but being a grandparent I would give my life for grand child in a second ! This is how much this world cares bout family how sad ! I feel awful for the grandmother this was her daughter that sued her I hope they chock on the money ,thats whats important to daughter and son-in -law !
Jonie Elizabeth Binni
rightside
While I am surprised that the man sued his mother, I'm not surprised she was found guilty. She is eldery, was in unusual surroundings, it was dark, and she opted to descend in the dark instead of turning on the light. Falling was foreseeable. She was negligent.
lovinallofthem
i think its sad and horrible for the parents to have sued the grandmother. it could have happened to ANY ONE OF THEM , ANY ONE of those adults could have tripped down the stairs with the baby, EVEN with the lights on... i think there is much much more to the story about the interpersonal relationships between all these people than we will ever know-- and honestly, these kinds of accidents happen EVERY DAY- E V E R Y W H E R E .. she wasnt the first person ever to trip down stairs with a baby, and sadly she wont be the last....
PonyChaser
So NOBODY EVER slips and falls on a staircase when the lights are on?
This is pathetic, all the way around. The lesson here is apparently, that danger lurks in every corner, and you never let your child out of your hands until he is 30. And even then, you move into his house so you can continue protecting him.
Such a sad state of affairs. It was an accident. Accidents happen. It was not negligence, it was a case of Grandma being NICE to her own daughter, who wanted or needed to get some sleep.
Why isn't the daughter negligent for not forseeing that baby could be restless, and Grandma might have to descend that staircase?
This case should have been laughed out of the courtroom.
Jonie Elizabeth Binni
Amanda
This case is heartbreaking and the parents were just looking for somewhere to put the blame. If the daughter really
Thought her child was in any danger of neglect in anyway she should have refused the offer and stayed awake sleepy eyed with her own child. Money will not change the outcome and she should jut be glad her daughter lived after a fall down those stairs. She lost her mother in the process of all of this and one day he will regret this.
It makes me sad to know that this grandmother will never forgive herself and now it truly is ruining her life. Some daughter.
To me this just sends the message for grandmothers to steer clear of providing care to their grandchildren.