$26 Million Settlement for Toddler Burned in Over-Chlorinated Resort Pool

On Memorial Day 2020, a three-year-old boy spent the afternoon in the lazy river and pools at Caribbean Resort and Villas in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He seemed fussy on the drive home to North Carolina. That night he woke screaming. When his family checked, they found his groin and buttocks covered in blisters. His pediatrician and then the hospital confirmed what the family feared: the injuries were third-degree chemical burns from pool water with illegally high chlorine levels.

The boy, Ashtyn Douglas, was admitted to the UNC Chapel Hill Burn Center, where he spent a week in the burn unit undergoing debridement procedures. He was later treated at the MUSC Burn Center, where he completed at least five laser sessions in the years following the incident. Doctors told his family the scarring would be permanent.

As the lawsuit advanced toward trial, Kenneth Berger and co-counsel uncovered the full scope of the resort's misconduct. Pool maintenance employee Juan Rivera had falsified the chemical log reports submitted to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control for roughly three and a half years. Rivera was later arrested and charged with forgery. The resort did not terminate him until more than a month after he admitted the falsification during his deposition. A follow-up inspection found chlorine levels at the property still out of compliance three years after the incident.

Berger, representing the Douglas family through Trial Lawyers for Justice, pressed the case in federal court. As the trial date approached in early 2024, Brittain Resorts and its insurance carriers agreed to pay the $26 million policy limits. The pre-trial settlement required approval from a federal judge to ensure the funds would be protected for the child's long-term care.

The settlement was announced January 31, 2024. At that point Ashtyn was seven years old.