Child wins $266k in 'too steep' playground slide lawsuit

The child's family claimed the slide was too steep.

A child won a US$170,000 ($266,000) settlement after she was injured while going down a playground slide.

The preschool-aged child was sliding down the playground equipment during a break at New Jersey school Griebling School in Howell Township in October 2014.

She suffered "significant injuries" to her hand and arm, personal injury lawyer Ciro Tufano told the New York Post.

The child's family claimed the slide was too steep.

Tufano argued the slide was steeper than the federal standard set in the "Handbook for Public Playground Safety."

He defended the suit, saying the slide was 5 degrees steeper than state rules allow.

"People think I'm a swarmy lawyer making something out of nothing but this was a significant injury. … She suffered some scarring," Tufano said. "It is going to affect her for the rest of her life, in one way or another."

In the public handbook the threshold for school slides was not more than 30 degrees. The slope of the slide at the school measured 35.2 degrees, according to the New Jersey Superior Court lawsuit.

Tufano declined to say how the girl's arm was scarred by the structure.

In the suit, he claimed the school district was negligent by failing to keep the playground equipment up to safety standards. It also noted the school failed to properly supervise the children using the slide.

In August, the girl's family filed paperwork agreeing to a settlement with the school, according to the Asbury Park Press.

Tufano said it was unclear if the school has since removed the play structure.

"My hope is that something good comes from this — that a little bit of extra effort will go into taking care of playgrounds," he said.