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123
C
ASE: 16
ISSUE BEFORE THE COURT
Whether the trampoline was unreasonably dangerous at the time that it
left the manufacturing plant, and whether the Defendant manufacturer
had a duty to warn the Plaintiff of the risks involved in using the
trampoline.
THE FACTS
You Be the Judge!
You Be the Judge!
Over 90,000 children
are taken to the
hospital every year for
trampoline injuries.
In May 1997, the Plainti , Kathleen Sollami, then 15 years old,
injured herself while jumping on a large, recreational trampoline lo-
cated in her neighbor, Lawrence Eaton's yard. Defendant, Icon Health
and Fitness, Inc., doing business as Jumpking, manufactured the
trampoline. Because Kathleen Sollami was a minor, her father, Phil-
lip Sollami, sued Jumpking, among others, on Kathleen's behalf for
money damages resulting from her injuries.
Kathleen, a friend of Lawrence Eaton's daughter, went to the
Eatons' house on the day in question to see her friend. e girls called
two boys and another girl to come over and jump on the trampoline.
A er a while, all ve teenagers were jumping at the same time
on the Eatons' trampoline, which was located in the side yard. e
trampoline was described as a "Backyard Round 14' Diameter Tram-
poline." Neither Lawrence Eaton nor his wife was home at the time.
e group decided to do "rocket jumps," a game where one jump-
er is propelled higher than the other jumpers. Completing a rocket
jump requires three or four persons to jump simultaneously on the
perimeter of the trampoline mat while one person jumps to the center
and is thereby propelled higher than the other jumpers.
A er watching one of her friends successfully complete a "rocket
jump," Kathleen took a turn at being the "rocket." As Kathleen landed
on the trampoline mat, she felt her knee pop.
Lawrence Eaton purchased the trampoline in 1992 and assembled
it according to written instructions provided by Jumpking. Pursuant
to those instructions, Eaton a xed decals to the trampoline mat and
frame warning that the trampoline should be used only by properly
trained participants with direct supervision of a quali ed gymnas-
tics instructor. e decal warnings did not include any limit as to the
For Evaluation Purposes Only