4th lawsuit filed against Westmoreland County over Giant Slide
A New York woman claims she was injured on the Giant Slide at Westmoreland County’s Mammoth Park when she stopped by for a ride in July 2020.
Nicole Freiburger of Lockport, N.Y., near Buffalo, suffered substantial foot and leg injuries as a result of riding the 100-foot steel racing slide that had just opened at the park in Mt. Pleasant Township, according to a lawsuit filed late last week.
“Many people have been hurt on these slides. The (county) kept them open even though hospital emergency rooms kept loading up on people who have been hurt,” said Freiburger’s lawyer, Michael J. Cooper of Buffalo.
In the lawsuit, Freiburger claims the county was negligent and knew the slide was unsafe. She claims she broke her ankle and suffered other injuries when her family stopped at the park on the way to Washington, D.C.
“She’s a mother, and she went on it first and got hurt. She was the sucker,” Cooper said.
Cooper said the county has refused to engage in settlement negotiations.
County solicitor Melissa Guiddy declined to make a statement Monday, saying the county does not discuss cases where litigation is ongoing.
The Giant Slide attraction at the 408-acre park includes two 100-foot steel racing slides along with a smaller 50-foot slide for kids. The current $1.1 million configuration opened July 2, 2020, replacing a single 96-foot slide that had been at the park since 1973.
The county closed the new slides a month after they opened after several riders claimed they were injured. County officials blamed the injuries on riders who did not properly follow safety guidelines, but they added extra safety precautions, including netting, and posted more detailed instructions about how to use the slide before it was reopened in June 2021.
Freiburger’s lawsuit is the fourth filed against the county. Two Allegheny County women filed lawsuits — one in September and another in October — claiming they were injured on the slide Aug. 1, 2020. A third lawsuit was filed by a Fayette County woman in November.
All of those women claim the new slides are unsafe.
Rich Cholodofsky is a TribLive reporter covering Westmoreland County government, politics and courts. He can be reached at rcholodofsky@triblive.com.
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