Posts Tagged ‘ Juliet Breitman ’

3 Reasons why a 4 Year Old shouldn’t be Sued for Negligence

November 1st, 2010. By AbiK

So, did you know a four-year-old can be sued for negligence. It’s a mommy alert if I ever heard one. And even though the decision to allow such to happen is rooted in precedent (see below), there are three reasons why it just seems silly to consider a four-year-old old enough to be a defendant in a negligence lawsuit. Here’s what happened.

It’s sort of a Cindy Adams “only in New York, folks, only in New York” moment. Just last week, Justice Paul Wooten of State Supreme Court in Manhattan ruled that a four-year-old can be sued for negligence. He, of course, is basing this on what’s gone on before in such cases when a four-year-old is being brought to task in our court system—including one case in particular that he cites which dates back to 1928.

You may wonder what in heaven’s name a four-year-old could do to find herself being sued for negligence? Well, little Juliet Breitman and Jacob Kohn were four years old in April, 2009 when they were racing their bikes—as four-year-olds sometimes do—on a New York City sidewalk. They were apparently caught up in the excitement of it all when they accidentally hit an elderly woman, thereby causing the woman to fall and sustain a hip fracture that required surgery.

Reason #1: Uhh…She’s Four Years Old

Let’s just flash back to the age of four for a moment. You probably don’t remember what it was like, so here’s a refresher look at the “official” developmental milestones for a four-year-old…

This list comes the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) where they list these cognitive Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 4 year old, bicycle, Juliet Breitman, Justice Paul Wooten, Negligence, NYC
Posted in Personal Injury | 11 Comments »