Several newspapers, including the New York Daily News, have reported that former Conn. State Rep. James O'Rourke has settled a wrongful death lawsuit out of court that had alleged he, along with a bar owner, had contributed to the freezing death of a Conn. woman.
In 2009, the woman, C.J.S., 41, died due to hypothermia. Allegedly, the last persons to see her alive were O'Rourke and staff at O'Leary's Digger McDuff's Tavern in Cromwell. The suit, now withdrawn by C.J.S.'s family members, alleged that both parties were guilty of negligence and recklessness by letting the woman wander off – without the benefit of shoes or a coat – in temperatures that hovered near 14 degrees.
Neither O'Rourke nor the tavern owners admitted any wrongdoing in the settlement. Lawyers stated that the defendant's insurance companies had paid an undisclosed amount of money to C.J.S.'s family.
The lawyer for the family, Pamela L. Cameron, said, "(C.J.S.'s) family continues to live with the pain of her loss every day, and they are relieved that they can put this lawsuit behind them."
The lawsuit, originally filed in February 2010, had asked for damages for at least $1 million from both defendants.
Alleged in the suit was the wrongful action of the tavern to throw C.J.S. from the premises because she wasn't equipped to face the cold weather. According to court rectors, the tavern allegedly tossed C.J.S. out because she had attacked one man in a wheelchair, and others.
At approximately the same time that C.J.S. left the tavern, O'Rourke, who was acquainted with the woman, claimed that she got into the back seat of his car, uninvited. O'Rourke stated he then tried to give C.J.S. a lift back to her home in the Rocky Hill area but she became argumentative with him also.
O'Rourke stated that C.J.S. then proceeded to knock on his rearview mirror, his garage door opener, and then his eyeglasses before suddenly jumping from the vehicle.
O'Rourke claimed that he did not know that C.J.S. wasn't wearing any shoes when he left her.
C.J.S. was discovered the following afternoon, covered in snow, near the train tracks in Rocky Hill.
O'Rourke told police that when C.J.S. got out of his car he thought "she was close to her home and knew where she was going."
Court documents revealed C.J.S.'s cause of death to be accidental hypothermia. She also had cocaine and alcohol in her system.
Steven Seligman, O'Rourke's attorney, said, "…All parties on the one hand want to have their day in court, and on the other hand all parties recognize there are virtues of resolving disputes short of a trial."
Joseph Andriola, the attorney for the tavern, added, "As the evidence developed during discovery, it became patently clear that the negligence allegations against the tavern were unfounded..."
Loosing a loved one is never easy. Yet, if your loved one died due to the neglect or recklessness of another party, you need to contact a personal injury lawyer and file a wrongful death lawsuit!