Father of Notre Dame student who died says family never considered suing
Barry Sullivan knows the death of his son Declan could have been prevented. He knows bad decisions were made and the best safety practices weren't followed. He knows his oldest child never should have been filming a University of Notre Dame football practice from an elevated scissor lift amid a severe wind warning.
And he knows that no lawsuit, finger-pointing or public outrage can change any of it.
In his first extensive interview since his son's death a year ago, Barry Sullivan told the Tribune that his family was never interested in suing the university and has not received a financial settlement from the school. He does not blame the storied college football program for the accident, either.
Rather than allow their grief to manifest itself as anger or legal vengeance, he and his wife, Alison, have devoted the last 12 months to making sure something beneficial comes from their very public tragedy.
"It was not our first impulse to go out and hire a lawyer. That's not the way we're wired," Barry Sullivan said. "We never really felt a reason to pursue any kind of legal action. Why would you do that? ... We didn't want to take resources and energy away from other positive things that might happen by tying up people with lawsuits and other actions."
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Forbes.com last year estimated it could cost the university $30 million if Sullivan's parents sued. The mere suggestion seemed unfair to Declan's father.
The family — whose ties to the campus and its sister school, St. Mary's College, go back several decades — witnessed how much his death distressed the Notre Dame community and had no desire to compound that grief with a lawsuit or public criticism, Barry Sullivan said.
A week after the accident, the university's president, the Rev. John I. Jenkins, sent a letter to students and alumni, expressing his sorrow and accepting personal responsibility for the accident. "Declan Sullivan was entrusted to our care, and we failed to keep him safe," Jenkins wrote.
The letter's sentiment set the tone for Declan's parents' dealings with the university, Sullivan said.
"We saw people that were obviously suffering," he said. "They felt a great sense of responsibility for what happened. How could we add to their pain with displays of anger or anything like that?"
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Entire article:
https://www.chicagotribune.com/spor...an-notre-dame-anniversary-20111027-story.html
Just sayin': ND really dodged a $30M bullet there. In this country 99.99% percent of the parents/families would have sued.
