Notre Dame Accident: The Value of a Young Life

It was, of course, a tragedy of monumental proportions that sent waves of shock and grief through the university community. Sullivan was buried in his hometown of Buffalo Grove, Ill., and now both the university and the Sullivan family face a thicket of legal and moral issues. What is the responsibility of the university for the death of a student-employee who was put in harm's way? Is the family willing to make demands on a university that it clearly loves? (Declan's sister is a freshman at Notre Dame.) What does the legal system provide?

The Indiana laws that apply to this tragedy might not be helpful to the Sullivan family, if it wishes to seek redress for Declan's death. Notre Dame paid him for his work; so as an employee who was killed while on the job, his family is limited to what is available under Indiana workers' compensation law.

And it isn't much.

As a worker who had no dependents, Sullivan is limited to a payment of a $7,500 death benefit, according to Brad Varner, a workers' compensation specialist in Mishawaka, a town located adjacent to South Bend. If Notre Dame decides to adopt a highly technical and legalistic approach to the tragedy, it could easily try to limit any settlement to the $7,500 death benefit.

Notre Dame officials are not discussing the matter as they await the results of investigations by a state safety agency and insurance adjusters.

Is there any way for the Sullivan family to move beyond the limits of workers' compensation into a more equitable claim for damages, if they so desire?

There Are Options
The answer is a qualified "yes." There are some legal options; but all of them are difficult, if not impossible, to pursue successfully. They include a) a products liability claim against the manufacturer of the scissor lift that Sullivan rode to his death; b) a claim against the company that leased the lift to the university; and c) a claim against anyone who repaired or serviced the device. But according to Kenneth J. Allen, a highly successful trial lawyer in Valparaiso, these claims are not likely to succeed.

"Indiana law is not favorable to consumers and protects big companies and insurance companies," Allen said.

Looming over any attempt to go beyond the workers' compensation death benefit is an Indiana safety regulation that provides, "Work from scaffolds is prohibited during storms and high winds unless a competent person has determined that it is safe for employees to be on the scaffold and those employees are protected by a personal fall arrest system or wind screens."

It is not yet clear whether any Notre Dame officials directed Sullivan to use the lift in the high winds. But any attempt to blame anyone but Notre Dame for his death would collide with that state safety regulation. Only a Notre Dame official at the practice could have "determined that it [was] safe" for him to use the lift.

What will Notre Dame do? Will it rely on the law that limits the family to $7,500? Let's hope not. This is an issue that should be resolved between the university and the family. Rev. John Jenkins, Notre Dame's president, has taken the first step toward a reconciling settlement. In an open letter to the Notre Dame community, he took responsibility for the tragedy.

"Declan Sullivan was entrusted to our care, and we failed to keep him safe," Jenkins wrote. "We at Notre Dame, and ultimately I, as president, are responsible."

The responsibility that Jenkins describes is not a legal responsibility. It has nothing to do with the laws of Indiana or rules of liability or insurance coverage. His acceptance of responsibility is, instead, an act of grace and compassion and love that will allow university officials and the Sullivan family to begin to talk and to find an equitable conclusion.

Lester Munson, a Chicago lawyer and journalist who reports on investigative and legal issues in the sports industry, is a senior writer for ESPN.com. This article was originally published at www.espn.com.