Trampoline parks have grown in popularity in recent years, as fun places for kids and families to spend an afternoon or, perhaps, host a birthday party. However, these attractions can be dangerous if they are not properly designed, supervised, or maintained. As experienced personal injury attorneys, we have seen children and adults alike suffer catastrophic, life-changing injuries due to trampoline park negligence.  Many parents are often unaware of the dangers present when the trampoline park or equipment manufacturer(s) providing the jump equipment are negligent. This blog series will discuss the following different types of trampoline park negligence:

1. Trampoline Park Injury Caused by Improperly Trained Staff
2. Trampoline Park Injury Caused by Defective or Improperly Installed/Maintained Equipment
3. Trampoline Park Injury Caused by Insufficient Staff Supervision
4. Trampoline Park Injury Caused by Failure to Warn or Enforce Safety Rules

Ways in Which a Trampoline Park Can Be Negligent:

Although jumping at a trampoline park comes with its own known risks, trampoline parks can be held liable for an injury you or your family suffers at the park if the park, or its staff, were negligent.  As we have explained previously, when a person or corporation is negligent, it means they had a duty to you—to provide a safe jump environment, for example—that they breached, and their failure to fulfill that duty caused your injury.  It is also important to understand how Florida's new comparative negligence law works. In the context of a trampoline park injury, if the park or its staff fails to meet certain standards of care and safety, and that negligence causes injuries or accidents, they can be found liable.  Here are some ways in which we have found a trampoline park might be considered negligent:

1.    Inadequate Staff Training: If the trampoline park fails to provide its staff with proper training, instructions, drills, or rules to enable them to adequately supervise and instruct jumpers how to use the equipment safely and/or respond to a dangerous or emergency situation, the trampoline park could be considered negligent.

2.    Defective or Improperly Installed/Maintained Equipment: If the equipment provided to the trampoline park is defective—meaning, it is not properly designed, or does not perform properly, to prevent injuries—the equipment manufacturer/distributor may be held liable.  However, even if equipment is defective, the trampoline park can still be found jointly liable if equipment such as trampoline beds, springs, or safety netting is not properly installed, inspected, or maintained as trampoline parks have a responsibility to regularly inspect and maintain their equipment.

3.     Insufficient Staff Supervision: Trampoline parks are responsible for ensuring that an adequate number of trained staff members are present at all times to supervise jumpers and enforce safety rules. Inadequate supervision can lead to unsafe behavior or delayed response to accidents.

4.    Failure to Warn or Enforce Safety Rules: Trampoline parks typically have rules and guidelines in place to ensure the safety of participants (e.g., limits on the number of jumpers per trampoline, restrictions on certain maneuvers). Negligence can occur if these warnings/rules are not enforced or communicated clearly to patrons.

How Can Staff Supervision be Insufficient and Who Makes That Determination?

Parks are generally required to maintain certain staffing levels based on their size and the number of patrons at the park.  Insufficient staffing can lead to a lack of proper supervision, increasing the risk of accidents.  Additionally, staff must be trained to monitor activities, enforce safety rules, and intervene when necessary.  Even if staff members are properly trained, it is possible the trampoline park has simply not employed a reasonable number of employees to adequately supervise the number of jumpers they are permitting inside the park or on a particular apparatus.  It is also possible, even if the number of staff employed is reasonable, that a particular staff member is not paying proper attention, or any attention at all, at a critical moment and this allows an accident to occur. 

Consider this: What if the trampoline park allows employees to be on their phones, or read a book, while supervising jumpers?  What if the park provides a comfortable seat for staff to sit in while supervising, as opposed to requiring they stand to maintain better focus and attention?  What if a large trampoline apparatus that can allow 15+ jumpers at a time is supervised by only one staff member?  Would these actions seem reasonable on behalf of the park to ensure adequate, safe supervision for all park patrons?  It is likely the park's decision, or inaction, in allowing this type of inadequate supervision could support a claim for negligence if the failure to supervise results in an injury. 

Whether a party is negligent in certain circumstances is always a tedious fact-intensive inquiry, but the beauty of our civil justice system is that the answer to that question is determined by people and parents just like you.  And people expect a trampoline park that is accepting payment to invite members of the public in to safely use their trampolines and other apparatuses, to act reasonably when supervising the dozens of jumpers that are playing and using their equipment simultaneously to ensure they are doing so properly and safely and avoiding dangerous behavior.

How a Trampoline Park's Failure to Provide Sufficient Supervision Can Cause Injury

Here is one example.  Let's assume Carter, a 28 year-old father, has joined a dodgeball game about to begin on the large trampoline area, called “the court.”  The rules for playing dodgeball forbid participants from sitting or laying down in the court during play as well as doing any flips during play.  The rules also limit the dodgeball participants to 16 players, 8 on each side, per game.  The park employs only one staff member to supervise the dodgeball game.  Although he has been adequately trained, the supervising employee has been allowed to keep his phone with him while working, and he was watching a TikTok video when three extra players ran onto the court and one of the dodgeball players laid down on the court during play. 

The employee was distracted and did not notice the additional players who entered the court during play or the player laying down and did not instruct her to stand up or otherwise stop the game to limit the number of players on the court and make sure they were all standing before allowing the participants to resume safe play.  Carter did not see the jumper who had laid down behind him when preparing to throw the ball, and he stepped on her knee—injuring the young girl—and then fractured his own ankle trying to avoid landing on her afterward.  In this scenario, we would ask the jury to find the trampoline park was negligent both in allowing its employees to look at their phones while supervising jumpers and by virtue of the employee's failure to adequately supervise the dodgeball game, allowing both Carter and the young girl to be injured during play.  The park can be held “vicariously liable” for the negligent actions of its employees, a concept we have defined and explained in our Glossary of Personal Injury Terms.

If You've Been Injured at a Trampoline Park – Know Your Rights

Trampoline parks can appear to be fun, adventurous places to spend a few hours, particularly on rainy or bad weather days.  However, the dangers are quite real, and the injuries can be expensive and potentially life-changing.  If you or your child has sustained a trampoline park injury, you may be able to seek compensation.  You should contact an experienced personal injury attorney like our attorneys at Taylor, Warren, Weidner, Hancock & Barnes, to discuss your case, your rights, and understand what steps you should take to preserve your claim.  We never require any fee, cost, or obligation to talk about your case and answer your questions.  Contact us.