This was a lawsuit for the wrongful death of a 5-year-old girl from Clifton, who on Aug. 31, 2007, drowned in a swimming pool at the defendant’s Life Time Fitness Center in Centreville, Virginia. The child drowned at or around the time of a swim break for the leisure pool after neither of the defendant’s two teenage lifeguards saw her in the water. 

In fact, the girl’s father was the person who ultimately saw her submerged in the water, jumped in and pulled her out. She was pronounced dead at the hospital after she could not be revived with CPR and other attempted lifesaving measures.

Plaintiff designated Dr. Jerome Modell as an expert prepared to testify that the child was submerged for at least four-and-a-half to five-and-a-half minutes before she was discovered at the bottom of the pool. He would have explained that drowning is a slow process that takes several minutes before a victim goes into cardiac arrest and into a state from which she cannot be resuscitated.

Plaintiff intended to prove that the drowning was the result of multiple violations by defendant, through its lifeguards and employees, of the standards of care in the aquatic industry. Plaintiff designated Thomas Ebro as its aquatics safety forensic specialist who was prepared to testify and demonstrate multiple breaches of the standard of care that could have resulted in her death.

Those breaches included the failure of lifeguards to observe and/or guard the girl; the failure to maintain a rope to divide the shallow end from the deep end of the pool; the failure to have an elevated chair, as required by county regulations, so that lifeguards could best observe patrons; the failure to conduct a quick search of the pool after her father noticed she was missing; and the failure to enforce a prohibition against flotation devices.

Defendants contended that the girl drowned as a result of her father’s failure to adhere to the posted pool rules regarding the supervision of children under the age of 12 while using the pool.

The matter was vigorously contested by a large national defendant and its insurance company. It ultimately was settled on the eve of trial, and the settlement was approved by Judge Charles Maxfield on Dec. 1, 2008. [09-T-008] 

Type of Action: Wrongful death

Injuries Alleged: Death by drowning of a 5-year-old child. Surviving beneficiaries included child’s 29-year-old mother, and 3 brothers ages 11 months,6 years and 11 years at the time of the incident.

Name of Case: withheld

Court: Fairfax County Circuit Court

Case No.: 2007-13666

Settlement Date: Sept. 3, 2008; approved by the court Dec. 1, 2008

Amount: $1,750,000

Insurer: Lexington Insurance Company

Plaintiff’s Attorneys: Jeffrey M. Schwaber, Ivonne C. Lindley, Jolie S.Deutschman, Rockville, Md.

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