Revolving walls and door are always a fun experience for kids. But this time it turned out to be a nightmare for this family. Here are the details.
The family of a boy who died after his head was crushed by a rotating wall filed a lawsuit against the restaurant and hotel at which the accident occurred.
Charlie Holt, 5, died from a head injury at the Sun Dial restaurant on April 14. He was dining with his family when he became stuck between a wall and a rotating mechanism.
Attorney Joseph Fried filed suit Wednesday for Rebecca and Michael Holt of Charlotte, North Carolina.
“What started out as the best family trip, turned into the worst nightmare,” Rebecca Holt said.
They had chosen the Sun Dial restaurant “because it was recommended as a fun place for families with kids to see the Atlanta skyline and enjoy a meal,” Charlie’s father, Michael Holt, said in the statement.
Police had said the boy wandered away from his family’s window table at the restaurant and got his head stuck between tables. They also said the rotating floor shut off automatically when he was stuck.
But the lawsuit disagreed with police statements.
It said the family left along a path that various members had used without problems to go to and from the bathroom.
Charlie, a few steps ahead of his parents, “was too short to see past the booth and did not appreciate the danger until it was too late,” and was trapped in the “pinch point” between booth and wall, according to the lawsuit.
“To Michael’s and Rebecca’s horror, the rotation did not automatically stop when Charlie got trapped,” the lawsuit states, and there was no emergency button to stop it.
Rebecca Holt tried to pull her son free and Michael Holt “threw his body against the booth,” but both actions were futile, it said.
It said Michael Holt heard his son’s skull crack before someone finally stopped the rotation.
The Sun Dial had no protections to stop children from getting close to the pinch point or to stop the rotation of the floor if a child became trapped in the pinch point said the lawsuit.
“The family has filed this lawsuit to set the record straight about what happened and to make sure, to the best of their abilities, that no other family ever has to suffer the same fate,” Fried’s statement said.
Defendants include Marriott, as well as the chain that previously owned the Peachtree before Marriott bought the chain. Also named are other former owners and operators, and the architects, interior designer, and contractor in charge of renovations to the restaurant in 2012 and 2013.
The hotel reopened the restaurant in June.
“After Charlie’s death, Marriott has said that it won’t allow the restaurant to revolve again until it has addressed the dangerous pinch points,” Fried’s statement said. “Marriott should not have waited for this tragedy before acting to correct this hazard, especially while it held itself out as a safe place for kids.”
The Sun Dial restaurant is located in the Westin Peachtree Hotel, which is owned by Marriott International, Inc.
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