CA Jury Awards Drowning Victim's Family $14 Million

A Santa Barbara jury awarded the family of Yoni Gottesman nearly $14 million in compensatory economic and non-economic damages after he drowned in a Cathedral Oaks Athletic Club swimming pool in 2005. The health club group, Cal-West, was named along with 10 other defendants in the wrongful death lawsuit by the lawyers representing the four-year-old boy.

The defendants were accused of negligence, which led to the drowning on the first day of the Cathedral Oaks children's camp.

Attorneys for the Gottesmans proved Cathedral Oaks was further negligent because they did not hold a license to operate a children’s camp.

If you or someone you care about has been injured or killed by a negligent children's camp, swimming facility or other premises intended for the use of children, please contact SMSH at (800) 282-2122 for a free evaluation of your case.