The family of a 5-year-old boy whose skull was crushed in the rotating wall of a hotel restaurant has sued the Atlanta hotel, accusing it of negligence in his death.
Attorney Joseph Fried filed suit Wednesday for Rebecca and Michael Holt of Charlotte, North Carolina, whose son Charlie died April 14.
‘What started out as the best family trip, turned into the worst nightmare,’ Rebecca Holt said in a statement emailed by Fried.
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.
Charlie Holt, 5, was killed at the rotating restaurant Sun Dial at the Westin Atlanta, in April when his head became trapped between a table and a wall
The Holt family were reportedly the last customers in the restaurant when the boy wandered away from his parents to see the view of the Atlanta skyline
Marriott International, the hotel’s owner, didn’t immediately respond to an email and phone call requesting comment.
Police had said the boy wandered away from his family’s window table at the restaurant atop the Westin Peachtree Plaza hotel and got his head stuck between tables. They also said the rotating floor shut off automatically when he was struck.
The lawsuit disagrees 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. But this time, it said, a booth rotating near a stationary wall blocked their path.
Charlie Holt was visiting with his family from Charlotte, North Carolina, and they stopped to have lunch at the Sun Dial Restaurant located on the 72nd floor of the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel
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 family has filed this law suit 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.’
Charlie suffered the severe head injury in April when he got stuck between the table, which was rotating, and the wall at the Sun Dial restaurant on the 72nd floor of the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel.
Charlie was visiting with his family from Charlotte, North Carolina, when they stopped to have lunch at the venue which offers spectacular views from the top floor.
The Sun Dial spins slowly to offer 360 degree views of the city’s skyline and surrounding countryside and the youngster became lodged between a fixed wall and a table that was moving.
The restaurant spins to offer 360 degree views of the city’s skyline, and the boy reportedly became lodged in the five inches of space between the wall and a rotating table
The statement issued by a family spokesperson read: ‘The family asks for prayers and privacy right now to come to terms with this tragedy.
‘No words can express their loss. If you have a loved one, please give them an extra hug today.’
The family were the last customers in the restaurant when the boy wandered away from his parents to have a look at the views for himself, WSBTV reported.
The hotel’s security staff and employees scrambled to pull the boy out after realizing he was stuck in the narrow five inches of space between the wall and table.
‘His whole body was caught in between maybe 4 or 5 inches of space and his head took the brunt of the injury,’ police said to, WXIA. ‘It crushed his little small body.’
‘The amount of people who were helping was amazing,’ Atlanta Police Department spokesperson Warren Pickard said. ‘They were moving furniture, they were pulling chairs – chairs that were bolted to the floor – they were pulling them up to try to get the child out.’
They were eventually able to free him, but unfortunately it was too late.
Although the moving floor immediately stopped, Charlie suffered severe head trauma.
He was taken to Grady Hospital after the incident around 3.30pm, and was later pronounced dead.
‘There was a tragic accident at the hotel involving a young boy,’ Westin Peachtree Plaza Manager George Reed said.
‘Words cannot express the depths of our sorrow. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.’