Buck Wargo
CITY HALL - A routine school tour of the city's power plant has cost
Glendale nearly a quarter-million dollars.
The Glendale City Council voted Tuesday night to pay a 9-year-old La
Crescenta student and his mom $233,500 after the boy suffered second- and
third-degree burns on his right hand when he was shocked by 18,000 volts
of electricity. He has full use of his hand but some disfigurement, said
his attorney, John West of Los Angeles.
The accident happened Oct. 8, 1998, when the boy, third-grader
Raymundo Barcena, and his mom, Penny, were on a tour with students from
Lutheran School of the Foothills in La Crescenta.
The students had just gotten a demonstration on a device called a
Jacobs Ladder that shows students how electricity is conducted. The
device shows arcs of electricity between points.
The device was turned off and students remained in the area while a
city power employee conducting the tour showed another student the
restroom, said Chief Assistant City Atty. Ron Braden. School chaperons
remained with the students, he said.
One of the students turned the device back on and Raymundo stuck his
hand in the arc, officials said.
The lawsuit filed in Superior Court in Burbank said Raymundo, with his
mother standing nearby, began shaking uncontrollably and suffered deep,
painful burns in his hand. His legs buckled, he fell to the floor and
fluids ran from his eyes, nose and mouth, the lawsuit said.
He required hospitalization, two surgeries, skin grafts and
medication. The injuries also caused nervous pain and suffering, the
lawsuit said.
"It was a very frightening episode for the young man. I am glad he has
been able to recover from the serious injuries," West said.
Both sides called the settlement a fair one. The money will be paid
out of the city's self-insurance fund.
"We thought there was potential exposure," Braden said of the city's
settlement. "You never know how it is going to sort out in front of a
jury."
Of the $233,500, Raymundo gets $64,000 of that amount in a trust fund.
An annuity will be bought that gives him $30,000 a year for four years
when he turns 18 to help pay for his college education.
Another $105,000 goes to the mom for her mental anguish. The remaining
$64,500 goes for medical expenses.
Glendale received $3,000 from the Lutheran School of the Foothills for
its claim against the school that the students should have been properly
monitored.
Tours for schools continue and there are no plans to stop them, Braden
said. The device that led to the boy's injuries has been removed from the
plant. It belonged to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
