A sad story which is made even sadder by this lawsuit. Do you think the chaperone is responsible for the girl's death?
Verdict awarding $700,000 after teen dies on trip gives chaperones pause
17/06/2008 3:35:00 PM
When she travelled to China with her son's school choir, Teresa Cleary spent a fair amount of time worrying that a student under her supervision might become lost or ill.
She didn't consider another possible consequence: getting sued.
A nearly US$700,000 verdict against a chaperone of a cheerleading trip to Hawaii is enough to give a chaperone pause, said Cleary, of Cincinnati.
"Whether it's a trip to the zoo with the first grade or a trip to China with a group of high school students, there's always an anxiety," she said. "I'm responsible for someone else's child."
Add legal liability to the equation, and, "I definitely think it could impact some people's willingness to chaperone."
The Hawaii verdict came in the case of an 18-year-old high school student who fell to her death from a Maui hotel balcony.
Lauren Crossan, of Randolph, N.J., had travelled to Hawaii in 2004 with Susanne Sadler, Sadler's daughter, and another New Jersey cheerleader to perform in the halftime show of the Hula Bowl. Within hours of her arrival at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort, Crossan was seen drinking alcohol.
Her body was found the next day on the hotel grounds.
An arbitrator determined last month that Sadler was partially responsible for Crossan's death and ordered her to pay US$690,000 to Crossan's parents and her estate.