Settlement Roundup: Wrongful Death Lawsuit against Former Coach Settled for $900K Posted on May 12, 2014 by Andrew Findley Settlements reached in four lawsuits Wrongful Death Lawsuit against NJ High School, Former Coach Settled for $900K A settlement for $900,000 has been reached with the estate of a New Jersey teen who killed himself by jumping in front of a train just before he was to testify about alleged sexual misconduct by his former high school baseball coach. The 18-year-old’s estate settled with “Coach Bart” Bartholomew McInerney, St. Rose High School in Belmar, NJ, and The Diocese of Trenton. The coach is awaiting retrial on charges of child endangerment in Middlesex County, NJ after a 2010 conviction on 10 counts of child endangerment in Monmouth County, NJ was overturned. McInerney is accused of encouraging his players to masturbate, send texts to him with details, and in some cases, videotape it. Pennsylvania Resort Owner Reaches Partial Settlement in Wrongful Death Lawsuit for $200K A Fayette County, PA judge has approved a partial settlement of $200,000 between the parents of a teen killed in a drunk-driving accident and the founder of a resort in Farmington. Zack Nelson died five days after a car he was riding in crashed into a tree on the resort. The teenage driver of the car had a blood alcohol content of 0.136 percent. Resort founder Joseph Hardy and his daughter Paige were named in the lawsuit. According to the lawsuit, Hardy knew his daughter hosted underage drinking parties, but didn’t do anything about them. Undisclosed Settlement Reached in Wrongful Death of Virginia Woman Who Choked to Death in Jail A settlement was reached this week in the wrongful death lawsuit of a Virginia woman who choked to death on her plastic jail ID bracelet. Jacquelynn Schwartz, 31, was found dead in her cell in the Virginia Beach Correctional Facility where she was being held on contempt charges after having a blood alcohol level of 0.21 during a court appearance for a driving offense. The late woman’s husband, David LaClair, filed the lawsuit against Conmed, a privately-owned medical company used by the jail. Three of Conmed’s nurses were also named in the lawsuit for failing to take Schwartz’s vital signs or reviewing her intake forms which might have alerted them to Schwartz’s condition. An autopsy revealed Schwartz was likely suffering from “alcohol withdrawal with seizures and delirium,” and ruled Schwartz’s death accidental. $625K Settlement Reached for Rhode Island Woman Injured in Wreck A Rhode Island attorney has reached a $625,000 settlement for his unidentified client after she was injured in a wreck in January 2013. Her car was struck by another vehicle traveling at an estimated 60 mph that had run through a red light. The plaintiff, a West Warwick, RI resident, suffered multiple fractures, bruises and lacerations, and was hospitalized for two weeks. Emergency responders worked for more than an hour using the “Jaws of Life” to extract the woman from her vehicle. She was then airlifted to the trauma center at Rhode Island Hospital.
