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What type of conditions may allow for a wrongful death action?

On Behalf of | Oct 20, 2020 | Truck Accidents

After losing a loved one, your family may need to find sufficient closure to move forward from a catastrophic event. Whether an injury prolonged your loved one’s pain and suffering or resulted in immediate death, you have a right to seek relief through legal remedies.

Connecticut’s laws allow you to hold companies, individuals and local government agencies responsible when they breach a duty of care. As noted by the Connecticut Post, a wrongful death claim generally asserts recklessness or negligence on the part of an individual or organization.

What may reflect recklessness or negligence?

Officials responsible for running a public university take precautions to prevent accidents by enacting rules that forbid underage student drinking. Rule violations, however, may occur due to officials’ negligence in enforcing them.

When students freely hold drinking parties without fear of incurring penalties, it reflects recklessness and may endanger the participants and other individuals. The school may find itself liable for damages if it negligently failed to enforce its rules and it resulted in an otherwise preventable death.

What is an example of a wrongful death suit?

As the Connecticut Post reported, the parents of a 19-year-old college student filed a wrongful death action against a university’s fraternity, the state and a local fire department driver. While attending an off-campus frat party, the student reportedly drank enough alcohol to cause her to fall asleep in front of a fire department garage door. When a campus fire alarm went off, a fireman responding to the call ran over the sleeping student on his way to a dormitory.

The driver did not stop after his truck ran over the student because he believed he had run over equipment and would check on it after responding to the fire. The lawsuit resulted in a settlement of more than $1 million.

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