Rickwalt v. Richfield Lakes Corp.

This wrongful death action arises from the drowning death of plaintiffs decedent at defendant’s vacation resort. The decedent, who was sixty-six years of age at the time of his death, went swimming with two grandchildren early one evening in August 1995. Notwithstanding that ten to fifteen individuals were present on defendant’s beach, the decedent drowned, unnoticed by anyone, including defendant’s on-duty lifeguards. The decedent’s body was discovered just below the water surface, approximately fifteen feet from shore and almost directly in front of defendant’s two lifeguards. After an…