Seaside communities, lifeguards aren't liable for beachgoer's injury

Seaside communities and their lifeguards aren’t liable when their lifesaving equipment injures vacationers, a New Jersey appeals court held Dec. 15, and according to a story from Herald Newspapers in Cape May County.

Under New Jersey tort law, the city is a public entity and cannot be held liable “for an injury, whether such injury arises out of an act or omission of the public entity or a public employee or any other person.”

Unfortunately for Kelly, tort law states that a “public entity (and its employees) is not liable for the exercise of discretion when, in the face of competing demands, it determines whether and how to utilize or apply existing resources, including those allocated for equipment, facilities and personnel unless a court concludes that the determination of the public entity was palpably unreasonable.”