(July 9, 2012)
A 19 year-old high school top-notch volleyball student from Ohio drowned in 2010, and now her mother is filing a wrongful death lawsuit. Investigators have determined that her drowning was linked to an alcohol-fueled drinking party while out on a 48-foot yacht along Lake Erie.
The lawsuit alleges that the boat operator and another person on board were negligent and had reckless disregard for the safety of the drowned victim, as well as the other underage women onboard by becoming “increasingly intoxicated,” and ultimately, “unable to reasonably operate the yacht” in a safe manner.
In fact, both men charged in this lawsuit were so intoxicated, the Coast Guard, upon arrival, refused to allow either individual to continue operating the boat, and had to come onto the boat and operate it back to the docks.
The lawsuit states that “without a personal floatation device and unable to get back to the unanchored rapidly drifting [boat], the victim was left to drown.” The lawsuit is asking for compensatory damage, which will be determined at trial, with the minimum amount to be $25,000, as well as punitive damages and attorneys’ fees.
The autopsy report stated that everyone on the boat “had been drinking booze heavily.” She was not wearing a life jacket.
For more information, contact a Gacovino Lake & Associates lawyer at 1-800-246-HURT(4878).
