According to the Star Tribune, a settlement has been reached in a young boy’s drowning death. On February 27, 2014, Abdullahi Charif was found floating in the deep end of the pool at his Minnesota middle school. Charif died a few days later.
Charif was a student at the St. Louis Park, MN public school’s middle school. He was in gym class when he drowned in the pool. The gym teacher, James Bigot, was supervising twenty-eight children in the pool at the time. The teacher was allegedly aware that Charif did not know how to swim.
An investigator from Hennepin County, Minnesota found that Charif and other classmates were roughhousing in the pool, taking turns knocking each other off an inflatable raft. The students told the investigator that Charif was knocked off the raft and fell into the deep end. It was not until the end of class that the teacher found him and attempted to revive him.
Charif’s family filed their lawsuit in the Hennepin County, MN state court. The family has settled for $3 million and was represented by attorney Eric Hageman. The lawsuit alleged that if Charif’s teacher had followed basic safety rules, his death could have been avoided. Since the accident, gym classes at the school have cut the use of the pool out of the curriculum.
After Charif’s death, many Minnesota school districts re-examined their pool safety policies and procedures. Most of the schools require a lifeguard or certified water safety instructor to be watching over the pool while students are swimming. Other than that, the schools had many different policies.
If your loved one has passed away due to the negligence of another, contact our expert Boston wrongful death attorneys 24/7 at 617-787-3700.