Chaperones must consider risk of lawsuit
According to the Associated Press, a $690,000 verdict against a parent who accompanied cheerleaders on a trip to Hawaii should give parent chaperones pause. Susanne Sadler escorted her daughter and two other New Jersey cheerleaders to Hawaii to perform at the Hula Bowl in 2004. Lauren Crossan, an 18-year-old high school student, was one of those cheerleaders. Crossan was seen drinking the night they arrived; the next day, her body was found on hotel grounds. She had fallen from the balcony of her room. Sadler was found partly responsible for her death. This incident, and the ensuing lawsuit, should not be taken lightly by parents considering chaperoning. Sometimes it takes an event like the Crossan lawsuit to draw attention to a potential risk, said Lisa Soronen, a senior staff attorney with National School Board Association in Alexandria, Va. "Many parents do chaperone and don't think a think about it for a second," she said. "Almost everything a school does involves some amount of risk." And Duke University law professor Neil Vidmar warned, “It’s a tragic case, but it doesn’t seem to me to be particularly unusual.” Some school districts purchase liability insurance to protect parents, which may encourage them to chaperone. In addition, homeowners insurance policies that cover accidents outside the home may protect chaperones.
Source: The Associated Press, 6/17/2008, By Melissa Kossler Dutton