As seen in the San Francisco Examiner and SF Gate , The Veen Firm filed a lawsuit against the City and County of San Francisco on behalf of Emma Zhou and her family. A negligently pruned pine tree in Washington Square Park caused a 100-pound tree branch to break off and fall on top of her, and as a result she experienced extensive injuries including a severed spinal cord, brain damage and permanent paralysis below the waist.
Represented by Jeremy Cloyd, the Zhou family hopes to bring awareness to the negligence of the City and County, protect others from being hurt and urge the city to inspect other pine trees in the park.
“At least one of these pines was reported to have dropped multiple branches on the playground in 2008 and then in 2009 the playground was taped off because of hanging branches,” said Cloyd. “The City knows that trees pruned like this must be watched closely and pruned frequently because they will continue to develop branches that are too heavy and large for the tree to support.”