Parents of 6-year-old who drowned at Altadena summer camp file lawsuit
By Bradley Bermont | bbermont@scng.com |
PUBLISHED: December 13, 2019 at 6:03 am | UPDATED: December 13, 2019 at 2:07 pm
The parents of Roxie Forbes, a 6-year-old from Pasadena who drowned at the Altadena-based Summercamp Kids, have filed a lawsuit against the camp and its owners, alleging the group’s “negligent hiring, retention, supervision and training” practices led to the wrongful death of their daughter.
Lawyers for the camp and its owners, the DiMassa family, did not respond to requests for comment. A spokeswoman for the camp declined to comment.
Roxie died June 29. Her parents are asking the court for an as-yet undetermined sum, pointing to the extreme emotional damage of losing a child unexpectedly. They called for additional “exemplary and punitive damages to make an example of and punish” the camp and its owners, according to the complaint filed in state court last month.
The DiMassas’ “conduct should be the subject of shame, scorn and rebuke,” it says, calling it “clearly despicable and done in conscious disregard for the safety of others.”
Roxie, who the camp had designated as a nonswimmer, was found floating face down in the pool despite the presence of lifeguards and counselors, according to medical and detective reports.
“Such an outrageous lack of care represents an extreme departure from the ordinary standard of conduct in the context of this situation,” the suit says. “This conduct resulted in Roxie’s death.”
Roxie had a gross motor delay, which her parents, Doug Forbes and Elena Matyas, said that meant she walked a little slower, ran a little less gracefully and jumped a little lower. Doctors told them Roxie would live a normal life, but it would take a little longer for her to reach normal developmental milestones, they told a reporter in an earlier interview.
The camp knew about this delay, according to the suit. Matyas told Associate Director Jaimi Harrison about it on one of Roxie’s first days of camp, it says. Harrsion assured the family that “she would personally speak with the counselors to ensure they were aware of Roxie’s medical condition and status as a nonswimmer.”
Director Cara DiMassa — daughter of the camp’s founders, Joe and Maria DiMassa — acknowledged to Matyas that her daughter “needed special attention and assured her that (the camp was) qualified and able to provide this special attention,” the suit says.
Citing witness accounts, the lawsuit says Roxie entered the pool between 9:20 and 9:25 a.m alongside her designated “‘buddy’ counselor,” Daniel ‘Hank’ Rainey, who the camp represented as a certified lifeguard. There was another lifeguard also on duty, Joseph Natalizo, who was watching over the entire pool.
The staff “knew it was unsafe for Roxie to have full access to the pool, but the Summerkids Camp staff … did nothing to actually restrict Roxie to the steps or shallow end. Rather than safeguard Roxie, Rainey and (Natalizo) were distracted and preoccupied with other campers prior to the tragic drowning.”
Maybe 10 or 15 minutes after Roxie entered the swimming pool, neither Rainey nor Natalizo saw Roxie floating face down, it says. Instead, another counselor working with campers about 30 to 45 feet outside the gate of the swimming pool saw Roxie floating “approximately 20 feet away” from the steps and the shallow end of the pool, in about 4 feet of water.
“The lifeguards and/or counselors present … were completely oblivious and demonstrated a conscious disregard for Roxie,” the suit says. But, ultimately at fault was the DiMassa family, it concludes. Their “negligent hiring and incompetent personnel” failed to adequately provide a safe environment for campers.
Roxie’s parents, Forbes and Matyas, are confident about their case going forward.
“We’ve tried to be extremely patient about gathering the facts,” Forbes said in an interview. “We weren’t going to issue any kind of complaint until we felt absolutely positive about the outcome.”
Forbes said they believed it was important to issue the complaint now because “camps are already recruiting for next year, and we just wanted parents and guardians to do a lot of due diligence before they even begin to entertain the possibility of sending their kid off to camp.
“In this case, … clearly we believe there was extremely egregious behavior. We just want to make sure that’s out in the open” so people can make an informed decision.
Forbes said he and his wife were also working with local state Sen. Anthony Portantino, D-La Cañada Flintridge, to introduce legislation that would license summer camps. Right now, there are some state regulations for overnight camps, but Forbes says it’s “woefully deficient.” For day camps, like Summerkids, it’s virtually nonexistent.
“We are hoping to change the landscape,” Forbes said. “Our point is not that camping is not good. Camping is not regulated or licensed, and that puts children in harm’s way every day they’re at camp in California.”
Forbes expects the legislation to be introduced in the legislature’s next session sometime next year. It’ll be called the Roxie Rules Act.