Meyers & Flowers represents Illinois Family in University of Notre Dame Catastrophic Injury Lawsuit

Meyers & Flowers represents Illinois Family in University of Notre Dame Catastrophic Injury Lawsuit

Meyers & Flowers, working with Indiana-based law firm Hovde, Dassow & Deets, filed a lawsuit against the University of Notre Dame on behalf of Gurnee, Illinois resident Sean Tennant and the Tennant Family due to catastrophic injuries Sean sustained as a result of the wrongful conduct by the University.

Meyers & Flowers Founding Partner, Peter J. Flowers, spoke with the Chicago Tribune about the case.

“This is a kid who never drank in high school was introduced to alcohol at Notre Dame. They encourage the kids to act like the dorms are fraternities, where you’ve got kids of legal age mixed in with underage kids and inadequate policies and procedures in place, creating an unreasonably dangerous environment.”

The full text of the Chicago Tribune article can be found here - https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-met-notre-dame-lawsuit-20200721-w6toeecmovbu7ovfwikbvc3ba4-story.html

 

On January 27, 2019, Sean was a Notre Dame freshman living in Sorin Hall when, during a party at his residence hall, he sustained a severe traumatic brain injury after falling approximately 30 feet over a stairwell balcony from the second floor to the concrete basement floor.

Sean has spent more than a year in hospitals and rehabilitation facilities. He is unable to perform some activities of daily living and will require a lifetime of care.

 

The case, filed in Indiana’s St. Joseph’s Circuit Court, outlines how Notre Dame actively encourages the quasi-fraternity atmosphere among its student-residents of Sorin Hall, and other residence halls on the Notre Dame’s campus. 

Sorin Hall, built-in 1888, has long been known for its "carnival funhouse" atmosphere, which the University actively promotes and encourages, given the fact that Notre Dame has no fraternity or sorority presence on campus and requires upperclassmen to live on campus. Because of this, the University has a duty to not only supervise the student-residents of Sorin Hall but also to protect their health and safety.

The University specifically employs Rectors and others to monitor and oversee the residence halls on campus. However, despite knowing about a party, the assigned rector was not present in Sorin Hall the night of January 27, 2019, and failed to take reasonable precautions to ensure the safety of the student-residents under his care, custody, control, and supervision the night Sean Tennant was catastrophically injured.

According to the suit, the University should have known that drinking, particularly underage drinking, without proper supervision and adequate safeguards in place regarding the interior infrastructure of Sorin Hall created a dangerous situation and environment where serious injury or death was probable or likely.

If you or a family member needs additional information on Meyers & Flowers’ experience in catastrophic injury litigation, connect with us today at [email protected] or 877-221-2511.