This is not the first time I’ve seen this: Our fear of litigation or making people mad allows someone to die.
Posted: July 27, 2010 Filed under: Swimming | Tags: Adventure travel, Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, Outdoor recreation Leave a commentLawsuit filed over death of 4 year old drowning victim
The family of a four year old boy who drowned at Wilderness Hotel and Golf Resort in Lake Delton Wisconsin has filed suit against the resort. The boy was swimming in the pool allegedly noticed by the lifeguards but not rescued. Allegedly the boy was not rescued because the supervisor said not to. The quote in the article “guests get angry when lifeguards enter the pool for non-emergency situations” was the reason the boy was not rescued.
Many years ago, and I can’t find a citation to it, a lawsuit was filed over the death of an employee when the supervisor prevented co-workers from performing CPR.
Are we so afraid of litigation that we can’t react to save someone or are we so “dialed” into customer service that allowing someone to die is better than making our customers mad.
Probably a stupid supervisor did not understand the situation and a young lifeguard is feeling guilt.
Two issues jump out here. The first is watch who says what when an accident occurs. The media is effective at finding the scared, the talkative or the person with the worst thing to say. As Jeff Foxworthy always says, after a tornado the media always finds the lady in the mow maw with curlers in her hair who starts off with “oh mygod it was awwwwwfffffulllll!”
Eliminate those people two ways. Train your staff on what do in an emergency and what to do after one. Second appoint one person to be the voice of the organization and make sure everyone knows that one person is the voice.
Second. Don’t’ hire stupid people.
See Wrongful death lawsuit filed in drowning at Wilderness Hotel
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Why do people sue? Not for the money.
Posted: July 20, 2010 Filed under: Swimming | Tags: Adventure travel, Attorney at law, city, drowning, Lawsuit, Outdoor recreation, parents, summer camp, swimming pool Leave a commentAnswer their questions and you don’t give someone a reason to find a lawyer.
The headline is Parents file suit against city and club. The lawsuit is over the death of a 6 year old boy who drowned in a city pool less than a month before.
Could you predict this lawsuit was going to happen? I think you could if you were the city. Here are four hints that maybe you are going to be sued.
Hint #1 Even the attorney says the lawsuit is to get information.
“From the family’s point of view, it has been three weeks (since their son died) and they have no information on what happened,” Whitaker said.
“They still don’t know what actually happened.”
He said the lawsuit seeks monetary damages for wrongful death, but a big part of the filing is to have access to information about how the child died.
“All my clients are hearing right now is second-hand,” he said. “It’s terrible for them.”
Hint #2 If you plan to get sued you will get sued.
City officials referred all questions regarding the lawsuit to City Attorney Allen Betz. An employee at Betz’s office said he was out of the office Friday and could not be reached for comment.
Hint #3 If you don’t answer a parent’s questions you are going to get a lawsuit.
“We just want to know what happened. The family feels the only way they will get answers is through the lawsuit.”
Parents wanted to know what happened to their child and the only answers they received was “call the city’s attorney.” There are three major and stupid reasons for doing this.
1. The attorney was not there and therefore, can’t answer any questions.
2. Attorneys don’t answer questions anyway.
3. Attorneys intimidate people. Who wants to talk to an attorney?
I know, I’m an attorney!
What was another hint?
Hint #4 The lawsuit was filed 25 days after the death. People never file lawsuits that soon.
Within three weeks of the death, the family has all ready hired an attorney. Whether because they felt so frustrated that they felt they had no choice, or because they had to fight fire with fire (attorney v. attorney) or a combination of reasons, that should be a hint you need to do something or pay attorneys!
The only real legal issue in the article is the miscommunication between the parents and the pool employees.
In the lawsuit, Whitaker said Terry Lavka told a woman stationed at the sign-in table when he took his son there for the summer day camp that Samuel Lavka was afraid of water, could not swim and should not be allowed near the big pool.
“They didn’t want him in the pool because he couldn’t swim,” Whitaker said. “They were told that, and the parents believed those instructions would be followed.
If someone tells you or one of your employees something about their concerns, fees or beliefs about what you are going to do, you need to correct them or pay attention to them. Here the parents believed that because they had told the pool employees something that was the way it was going to be.
This is a tragic accident. A six year old boy drowns in a city pool. The tragedy is compounded because the parents still don’t know what happened to their son. Their grief will not end but be compounded for years as the litigation drags on, and they grasp tidbits of answers about what happened.
For other articles about this issue see: It’s Not Money and Serious Disconnect: Why people sue.
What do you think? Leave a comment.
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It’s always sad when someone dies, but sometimes the facts can be…..interesting
Posted: March 26, 2009 Filed under: Swimming | Tags: Lifeguard, Naturism, Nudism, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Recreation, Resort Leave a commentThe Pittsburgh Post Gazette is reporting a lawsuit between the widow and the owner of the pool where the man drowned. The widow argues that the pool should have provided a lifeguard as required under state law. The pool owner argues that a 1984 agreement requires the organization that rented the pool to provide their own life guard.
The interesting part is the organization that rented the pool is a nudist group. The victim was a retired 72 year old man. Can you imagine the issues of getting a teenager or twenty-something to work as a lifeguard, let alone telling a teenage lifeguard’s parents. “Mr. Smith I need Johnny to work a private group next Saturday night. Yes, Yes, the nudist group. Click!”
See Man dies during private nudist party
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