A televised lawsuit against a Mississippi YMCA and a host of other defendants completed settlement late last week. (Terms of the settlement, no doubt motivated in part by the threat of a request for punitive damages, were not disclosed, but the lead plaintiffs’ lawyer, Dennis Sweet (see May 7 and Oct. 25, 2000), implied the total was almost $10 million.) The plaintiffs did not just sue the YMCA over their son’s drowning, but also sued a local television station’s charitable foundation because it had provided funding for the YMCA’s swimming program–which no doubt explains why the press coverage was more skeptical than it usually is when plaintiffs go after deep pockets.
Monte Barton, who represents the Y.M.C.A., says, “The Y.M.C.A. relies on [its] donors and volunteers. If they get scared away, because of the threat of lawsuits, it will definitely [affect] not only the Y.M.C.A., but other organizations like that.”
Charlene Priester, who represents the TV-3 Foundation, says, “That may indeed be something that is discussed in board rooms of charities throughout Jackson, the state and the nation since it was broadcast all over the country.”
Priester represents the TV-3 Foundation, the separate non-profit organization that helps the community. It is also out of the lawsuit now. But Priester says she’s still troubled by it.
Priester says, “Once someone has been sued in this type of lawsuit, it will always make you wonder before you do something to help. Do you subject yourself to this type of litigation?”
That’s why Priester says there needs to be some self-examination in the legal system.
Priester says, “This case might have been the poster child for tort reform…when you start suing charitable organizations when you know all they did is donate money and volunteers.”
(Dawn Russell, “Drowning Suit Draws Community Concern”, WLBT, Nov. 13; “Final defendant settles lawsuit over Jackson YMCA drowning”, AP, Nov. 15; Jimmie E. Gates, “Lawsuit over drowning settled”, Mississippi Clarion-Ledger, Nov. 15; “Three defendants agree to settle lawsuit over Jackson YMCA drowning”, AP, Nov. 14; Joanna Gaitanoglou, “All but One Defendant Dropped from Drowning Suit”, WLBT, Nov. 13; Rochelle Steinhaus, “Most parties in drowning suit settle, but trial goes on”, CourtTV, Nov. 13; complaint).
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