HERSHEY — Hersheypark’s ownership group is asking the court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a New Jersey woman who was injured in a slip at the park in 2015, according to Pennlive.com.
Denise Spicuzzo is asking a federal judge to award her more than $75,000 in damages for a fall that shattered her ankle. She claims she was injured while dismounting from a wave runner on display at the park’s Shoreline Sprayground area.
But Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Co. is asking U.S. Middle District Senior Judge Sylvia H. Rambo to dismiss the lawsuit.
Spicuzzo claims in her lawsuit that she was visiting the park with her family when she saw a display featuring the wave runner — a cross between a motorcycle and a small boat — near the park’s water rides.
She decided to get on the immobilized wave runner, which was mounted in front of an aquatic backdrop on the boardwalk, to have her picture taken. The foot well of the machine was filled with water, Spicuzzo says. She claims that when she was trying to get off of the display, her wet foot slipped on the side of the wave runner, causing her to fall and suffer the injury to her ankle.
The injury required surgery, Spicuzzo says.
She says in her lawsuit that Hershey Entertainment officials are responsible for her injuries because they didn’t make sure the wave runner display was dry and safe.
In answering the suit and seeking its dismissal, the park owner claims, among other things, that the wave runner display was “reasonably safe” and that Spicuzzo was injured because of her own “comparative negligence.”
