Hawaii Resort And Crocs Sued over Child’s Escalator Injuries

By | August 23, 2016

A couple is suing footwear maker Crocs and a Hawaii resort after their 2-year-old son’s foot got caught in an escalator while the family visited Hawaii for an oral surgeon convention.

The lawsuit says the Crocs shoes were “negligently and improperly designed,” while the Hilton Hawaiian Village was also negligent in maintaining the escalator’s safety.

According to the lawsuit, the escalator tore off an extensive section of skin from the toddler’s left foot, requiring emergency surgery.

Flora Kim and David Kang were attending the annual meeting of the American Association of Oral Maxillofacial Surgeons in September 2014 with their son. Their lawsuit said they were leaving the convention’s opening ceremony in a resort ballroom when the boy’s foot became entangled and sucked into a space between a step and the sidewall of the escalator.

“Eventually a bystander was able to activate an emergency stop button, but not until (the boy) had traveled almost the entire distance between floors while his foot was painfully trapped in the moving escalator,” said the lawsuit, initially filed in Hawaii state court in June but transferred to federal court this week.

LawsuitThe boy’s foot was trapped for nearly an hour before a rescue team arrived with proper equipment. He spent two days at Honolulu hospital after emergency surgery and received additional medical care in Texas. The boy had two more surgeries – one to repair skin on his injured foot and one due to complications from the skin graft site, the lawsuit said.

A Honolulu attorney representing the shoe company known for its colorful plastic clogs didn’t respond to a phone message seeking comment. Hilton representatives also didn’t immediately return messages.

Crocs knew as early as 2008 that children suffered severe injuries when the shoes got trapped in small spaces on escalators, the lawsuit said.

According to reports appearing across the United States and as far away as Singapore and Japan, entrapments occur because of two of the biggest selling points of shoes like Crocs: their flexibility and grip. Some report the shoes get caught in the “teeth” at the bottom or top of the escalator, or in the crack between the steps and the side of the escalator.

The reports of serious injuries have all involved young children.

Topics Lawsuits Hawaii

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Latest Comments

  • August 25, 2016 at 2:17 pm
    Franklin says:
    Carry a 2 year old on an escalator? Ridiculous! This was a freak accident. Stuff happens. I would no sooner carry my 2 yr old on an escalator than I would prevent them fro... read more
  • August 24, 2016 at 1:45 pm
    Mrbob says:
    See the attached reported by ABC news in 2006 http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Consumer/story?id=2530368&page=1
  • August 24, 2016 at 11:11 am
    OasisCalm says:
    Hey Croc-a-Dial it back. Maybe it was the ups and downs of life. Getting kids to do what you want is like pulling teeth at a oral surgeon convention? Perhaps the shoemaker is ... read more

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