$200K Settlement in Boys & Girls Club Burn Case

Case Background

A civil negligence lawsuit arose from a painful injury sustained by an 11-year-old girl, Lyric Jointer, while she attended the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles Harbor. The incident occurred on September 30, 2022, at the Harbor City Club location. Lyric Jointer, a minor, filed the complaint through her mother and legal guardian, Troiesha Robinson. The lawsuit contended that the organization’s failure to properly watch over Lyric resulted in a severe, preventable scalding injury.

Cause

The Plaintiffs attributed the injury directly to the Defendant’s negligence, alleging a breakdown in supervision. The complaint stated that Lyric Jointer was left unattended by the club’s caretaker, who had too many children to watch at one time. While unsupervised, Lyric used a microwave to prepare a Maruchan Cup O’Noodle. The caretaker failed to notice the child cooking hot food, which the Plaintiffs argued created a foreseeable risk of injury from scalding water. Tragically, Lyric accidentally spilled the extremely hot soup and water onto herself.

Injury

As a direct result of the lack of proper supervision, Lyric Jointer immediately suffered a large, serious second-degree burn to her right thigh. The injury required prompt treatment at a specialized burn clinic. Beyond the immediate pain and trauma, the Plaintiffs claimed the injury left Lyric with permanent scarring and caused significant emotional distress. Furthermore, the complaint noted an aggravating factor: the club staff failed to immediately notify Lyric’s mother, who only learned of the severity of the incident when her daughter later contacted her from the bathroom.

Damages Sought

The Plaintiffs sought financial relief from the Court to cover the substantial losses Lyric Jointer endured. They requested judgment for compensatory damages, which included funds to pay for Lyric’s past and future medical care, the costs associated with the burn clinic treatment, and compensation for the long-term physical and emotional toll caused by the permanent scarring and distress. They also sought recovery for their attorney’s fees and legal costs incurred during the litigation.

Key Arguments and Proceedings

The lawsuit initiated a formal legal process in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, where the claims and defenses were prepared for presentation.

Legal Representation

Plaintiff(s): Lyric Jointer, a Minor, by and through her Guardian ad Litem Troiesha Robinson.

·       Counsel for Plaintiff(s): Benjamin Ikuta, Esq. | Heather Baker Dobbs, Esq.

Defendant(s): Boys and Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles Harbor.

·       Counsel for Defendant(s): Rudy Mark

Key Arguments or Remarks by Counsel

Claims

The Plaintiffs’ primary argument centered entirely on a single, compelling issue: General Negligence.

They contended that the Boys and Girls Club, as an institution specifically tasked with the care and protection of minors, owed a clear legal duty to Lyric Jointer. They breached this duty by allowing the staff-to-child ratio to become unmanageable, which directly resulted in a lack of effective supervision. The attorneys argued that the club must have known that allowing an 11-year-old to handle boiling hot contents from a microwave without direct observation presented an immediate and foreseeable danger. The incident, therefore, was not a mere accident but a direct consequence of a failure to maintain a safe environment and adequate standards of care, which was a substantial factor in causing Lyric’s debilitating injury.

Defense

While the Defendant’s formal answer was not detailed in the available documents, in general negligence cases of this type, the defense typically countered by arguing they met the required standard of care for a facility of this nature. Defense attorneys likely argued that general supervision was in place and that the injury resulted from an unforeseeable action or the Plaintiff’s own failure to exercise reasonable caution. The defense might have asserted that the act of warming soup was not inherently dangerous enough to warrant continuous, one-on-one attention, and that the organization should not be held liable for every unpredictable action taken by a child. Furthermore, they may have sought to assign some degree of comparative fault to the child.

Settlement

Before the case proceeded to a full jury trial, the parties engaged in intensive settlement negotiations to resolve the dispute privately and confidentially. Both sides had weighed the substantial costs and the inherent unpredictability of a public trial against the certainty of a financial resolution. On April 25, 2025, the plaintiffs and the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles Harbor ultimately reached terms to end the litigation. The case concluded with a $200,000 settlement payment by the defendant organization. This agreement resolved the claims of negligence and injury brought forth by Lyric Jointer and her mother against the Boys and Girls Club, avoiding a public verdict and providing financial compensation for the severe burn injury and emotional distress Lyric had experienced. The payment ended the organization’s legal exposure in this matter, and the plaintiffs subsequently dismissed their complaint against the defendant.

Court documents are available upon request at jurimatic@exlitem.com