Municipality Found Liable in Summer Camp Drowning
by
Joseph C. Maya on May. 01, 2017
Accident & Injury Personal Injury Accident & Injury Wrongful Death Government State and Local
Summary: Blog about a municipality that was found liable for the death of a minor child who drowned on town property.
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The jury could have inferred that the decedent's drowning was an "active" drowning and it would not have been unreasonable for the jury to infer a causal connection between the "supervisory" negligence of defendants and the drowning. Defendants, the city and certain city camp counselors, moved to set aside the jury's verdict rendered after a trial in which plaintiff administratrix of the estate of her five year old son claimed that the negligence of those defendants and five others caused the drowning death of her son at a day camp operated by the city. Defendants also moved for judgment notwithstanding the verdict.
The administratrix's son drowned while participating in a city camp. Defendants argued that the administratrix failed to prove beyond the realm of surprise and speculation that defendants' negligence caused decedent's death. The court held that evidence had been introduced that defendants were informed that the decedent could not swim and that adequate measures had not been in place to ensure that none of the children in their care would drown. The court held that the jury was allowed to rely on circumstantial evidence and to draw inferences from that evidence to conclude that defendants had been negligent when the decedent drowned. The court held further that the applicable standard of care was a question of fact based on the circumstances in the case and the verdict was not against the weight of the evidence. The court denied the motion to set aside the verdict and the motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and ordered that judgment be entered in favor of the administratrix.
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Source: Spruill v. Downing, 1995 Conn. Super LEXIS 2542 (Conn. Super. Ct. Sep 05, 1995)
