The Walford (Litigation guardian of) v. Jacuzzi Canada Inc. court decision was released by the Ontario Court of Appeal on October 23, 2007.

Marion Walford’s family owned an aboveground backyard pool which they bought in 1994. Ms. purchased a second-hand slide for the pool which she found in a classified ad.

After purchasing the slide, Mrs. Walford loaded it into her van and drove directly to a Pioneer Pools store in Hamilton. There she showed to the store manager and asked whether it was all right to use this slide with her 4-foot pool. She was told that there would be no problem and thus she installed the slide.

Ms. Walford’s daughter Correena was 15 years old when she went down the slide head first. She hit her chin on the bottom of the pool and broke her neck. Correena Walford was rendered quadriplegic by the accident.

Ms. Walford hired a  personal injury law firm and sued Pioneer Pools for negligence, claiming they failed to warn her of the potential catastrophic injury.

The Court noted Pioneer Pools held itself out as having expertise regarding pools and pool accessories. Therefore, Ms. Walford reasonably viewed Pioneer Pools’ employees as pool experts whom she trusted and who were prepared to provide her with advice about her slide. The court found that Pioneer pools was obligated to provide a non-negligent answer in accordance with their duty to warn.

The court found that Pioneer Pool employees should have told Ms. Walford that although a slide could be used with a 4-foot pool, this was the minimum permissible depth for sliders above 13 years of age, and that if sliders did not go down feet first, they risked catastrophic injury

The court then applied the “but-for” test: but for the failure of Pioneer Pool’s employees warn Mrs. Walford’s of the risks of installing the pool slide, she would not have installed the slide and Correena would never have been injured going down it. As a result, the majority of the Court of Appeal found the defendant to be liable for Correena’s injuries.

However, the court found that Correena was 20% at fault for the accident, as she failed to listen to her mother’s instructions to slide down feet first.

The Walford family was awarded $4,515,521.00 in damages.

Do you have a similar case? We can find you a top personal injury lawyer in your area.