NYC School Staff Rigged Water Fountain to ‘More Easily’ Prepare Hot Beverages But ‘Shockingly Failed’ to Warn Students Despite an 8-Year-Old Girl Getting Burned and Disfigured, Lawsuit States

An 8-year-old girl was badly scalded while trying to use a water fountain running hot water at her New York City elementary school, a new lawsuit claims. According to the complaint filed last week by her father, Luis Espinosa, staff members at Dos Amigos Elementary, a public charter school located in upper Manhattan, had connected a water heater to the drinking fountain to “more easily make coffee and other such hot beverages.” A year ago, on Jan. 10, 2024, the third grader, identified as “L.E.” in the lawsuit, allegedly went to the fountain, located in a high-traffic area of the school next to the gym, and tried to take a sip. The fountain “sprayed scalding hot water on her,” causing the girl to suffer “severe burns on her lips, mouth and face.” Young girl drinking water from a water fountain – stock photo/Getty Images The injuries required medical attention and caused “serious, permanent, disfiguring, and disabling bodily injuries and disability from usual activities,” the lawsuit says. Staff at the school initially “failed to send L.E. home or even call her parents to let them know what happened,” the complaint alleges. Instead, they “denied the incident in its entirety” and suggested...