Long Beach officials have agreed to pay $300,000 to the guardian of a child who was allegedly burned with soup while attending a camp at Silverado Park in 2021.
The 7-year-old girl was attending a day camp at Silverado Park on Aug. 23, 2021, and had brought a Nissin Cup Noodles for lunch, according to the complaint, which was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court last year.
Employees at the camp, which is run by the city, agreed to prepare the cup of noodles for the girl’s lunch, according to the complaint.
“As admitted to in deposition, the Long Beach City employee who prepared the cup of noodle inserted water directly into the cup and then microwaved it at very hot temperatures,” said Benjamin T. Ikuta, a representative of the law firm who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the girl. “This was directly against instructions on the packaging of the cup, which instructed to put hot water into the cup without microwaving the cup itself. ”
The girl was then handed the cup, which spilled all over her abdomen, burning her and causing discoloration and scarring, Ikuta said.
On Tuesday, the City Council agreed during its closed session meeting to settle the case and pay out $300,000.
“The City of Long Beach obviously should not have handed a small child essentially a styrofoam cup of boiling water,” according to Ikuta, who said the $300,000 was entirely for the girls’ pain and suffering. “However, we are happy that the City of Long Beach took responsibility for this avoidable incident.”
A representative for the city did not respond to a request for comment.
Editor’s note: This story originally included the girl’s name, but it was removed at her family’s request to protect her privacy.
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