City, Hotel Settle Suit Over Girl’s Facial Injury At Beverly Hills Garden

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — A settlement has been reached in a lawsuit filed against the city of Beverly Hills on behalf of a Newport Beach girl who fell on a shallow light post at the Beverly Canon Gardens in 2022, leaving a gash in her chin.

The Santa Monica Superior Court lawsuit also named as a defendant Maybourne Beverly Hills, identified in the complaint as the company that manages and oversees the Beverly Canon Gardens. The suit alleged negligence/premises liability and dangerous condition of public property.

On Friday, the girl's attorney filed court papers with Judge Mark A. Young notifying him that the case was resolved, but no terms were divulged. In their previous court papers, lawyers for the city of Beverly Hills denied liability on the city's part and cited multiple defenses, including that the plaintiff waited an unreasonable time to sue, a delay prejudicial to the city.

An attorney for Maybourne Beverly Hills also denied any responsibility on the company's part for the plaintiff's alleged damages.

According to the girl's suit, the lighting fixture at issue had several spikes on top, creating a "potential skewering hazard" and an unreasonable risk of harm at the garden that was likely to be overlooked by a visitor who would find it difficult to see the lighting fixture due to its low height. The complaint called the fixture a "dangerous trap."

The plaintiff, now 9 years old, was 6 when she was hurt on Aug. 14, 2022. Photos of the injured girl and of the lighting fixture are included in the lawsuit pleadings.

"As (the plaintiff) was walking in the garden in the area near the fountain ... (she) fell into the short (spiky) light fixture, causing severe injuries to her face," the suit stated.

The fixture was located in a planter next to the garden's central fountain and the defendants knew that the attention of visitors entering the patio area, including small children, would be drawn to the fountain, making it all the more imperative to keep the area free from hazards, the suit stated.

The defendants allowed the allegedly dangerous condition to exist for years and failed to either remove the fixture or put some kind of barricade around it with a warning, the suit brought in September 2023 stated.

City News Service