WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — 12-year-old Easton Oliverson of Saint George, Utah, is back at home with his family now.
Easton was the little leaguer who fell from a bunk bed on August 15th at the Little League World Series Complex in South Williamsport. He suffered a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain.
"He has had three craniotomies, a staph infection on his brain, his face is swollen, and he has got a PICC line. So, they have a long road ahead of them," said Ken Fulginiti, Duffy & Fulginiti Law Firm.
The Oliverson family filed a negligence lawsuit through Duffy & Fulginiti Law Firm based out of Philadelphia after Little League would not let the attorneys see the room where Easton fell.
"I was contacted by counsel for Little League, and they canceled the inspection. They told us they were refusing an inspection and would not let us see the room or the bed, and they wanted us to file a lawsuit," Fulginiti said.
The lawsuit seeks more than $50,000 for the boy's care, along with punitive damages. Lawyers say Easton's medical bills total over $1,000,000.
The suit alleges that Little League Baseball "failed to equip the upper bunks with rails to protect its occupants, causing Easton Oliverson to fall."
Also being sued is Savoy Contract Furniture of Montoursville. The company manufactured the beds in Little League Baseball's dormitories.
The company released this statement regarding the lawsuit: "Our standard operating procedure when quoting single beds that have bunking capability is adding guard rails and ladders to the quotation. In addition to the quoting procedure, there are two warning labels affixed to each bed recommending the use of guard rails and ladders to any bed bunked or lofted."
"Products should not be sold with optional safety equipment. You can't buy a car and then say for $150, we will throw in an airbag or a seat belt. Equipment, when it's sold, has to have every element necessary to make it safe for its intended use," said Fulginiti.
Oliverson's lawyers also mentioned two prior incidents of little leaguers falling off beds. One in 2019 and the other just a week before Easton's fall in August.
"One of the children suffered a concussion, and another child suffered a broken arm from falling out of the top bunk of a bunk bed with the Little League organization. So, they were aware of both of these, and certainly could be more, before Easton's incident happened," said Fulginiti.
Newswatch 16 reached out to a spokesperson with Little League International for comment, but the organization says it is against its policy to comment on pending litigation.
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