A 15-year-old boy was attending a school-sponsored football camp in Maine, which provided a lifeguard.
After practice, the camper swam beyond an enclosed dock area, struggled and called to the lifeguard. According to the plaintiff, the lifeguard did not appropriately respond, instead telling the boy to stop fooling around. The camper drowned before the lifeguard could come to his aid.
The plaintiff claimed that the camp failed to properly monitor the waterfront and that the lifeguard did not react reasonably to the boy’s cries. The plaintiff also alleged that the town that sponsored the trip negligently supervised the camper.
The plaintiff successfully defeated the municipality’s motion for summary judgment based on sovereign immunity. Maine’s wrongful death cap of $500,000 applied to the camp.

Case Dtails

Action: Negligence & tort
Injuries alleged: Drowning death
Case name: Withheld
Court/case no.: Withheld
Jury and/or judge: N/A (settled)
Amount: $1.2 million
Date: Jan. 18, 2011
Most helpful expert: Francesco A. Pia, waterfront safety expert, Larchmont, N.Y.
Attorney: Robert E. Mazow, Mazow & McCullough, Salem (for the plaintiff)

Published: 2:06 pm Thu, May 26, 2011 2:06 pm Thu, May 26, 2011
By Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly