Tennessee’s Dollywood Responds to Personal Injury Lawsuit

By Staff Writer

In December 2013, Tedi A. Brown was vacationing in Tennessee with her family at the popular amusement park Dollywood in Pigeon Forge.  She was riding the Waltzing Swinger, a swinging chair ride that lifts swings up to 25 feet in the air, when she claims she fell head first from the ride and suffered serious personal injury.

The plaintiff filed a lawsuit against Dollywood in late 2014, claiming the park was negligent and that the ride should not have been operating in the slick and wet weather conditions.  Brown declares she fell at the end of the ride when she lifted the lap bar in order to leave her seat, but the wet conditions caused her to slip and fall headfirst onto the pavement and cause severe back, neck and brain injuries.

Dollywood has responded to the lawsuit claiming that Ms. Brown thought the ride was over when it wasn’t and so she jumped from the ride prematurely rather than fell from it.

According to a November 1, 2015 article in The Daily Mail, Dollywood claims that Brown had to “intentionally unlatch” her lap bar in order to get out of her seat before the ride was finished.

The defendants have asked for the case, which is Tedi A. Brown and Derryl D. Brown v. Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation (case number 3:14-cv-00593) in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, to be dismissed.

However, Ms. Brown claims she asked an employee if the ride was safe due to the weather conditions and was told not to worry.  She and her husband are seeking $475,000 worth of damages from Dollywood.  Only time will tell how this personal injury lawsuit will play out.

Have you or a loved one suffered an injury due to what you believe was negligence of another individual, manufacturer or third party of any kind?  If so, discuss your case with an experienced Tennessee personal injury attorney at Gilreath & Associates for a free consultation.

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