We were able to settle a case last month involving the drowning death of a six-year-old boy. As part of the settlement agreement, at the defendants’ request, the amount of the settlement and the names of the parties are confidential. The child was attending a birthday party of a classmate at an Alabama country club on the last day of school.  The club manager knew there would be 20-25 children attending the pool party and informed the person having the party there was no need to hire additional lifeguards because the club would have a sufficient number of lifeguards. Although there had been as many as four lifeguards on duty earlier in the day, there was only one lifeguard in the lifeguard stand watching the deep end when the child drowned.  There were no lifeguards watching the shallow end although many children were in that area, including the child who drowned.  The pool was open to other swimmers during the pool party.  Witnesses estimated that between 20-25 people were in the pool. Approximately 15 of those were children.

The pool manager, who was new on the job and responsible for scheduling and supervising lifeguards, was not present at the time. The club failed to make the pool reasonably safe for children. The pool manager was at fault in that he failed to schedule an adequate number of lifeguards to watch and monitor the children. This was a very sad case involving the death of a small child. All commercial swimming pools – including those at country clubs – have a responsibility for safety. Julia Beasley represented the family for the firm and did a very good job in getting this case settled