Have a problem with a buddy? Sue him/her

[ReefGuy]

collected from CDNN.info

Note that the accident was ruled BC failure when the air hose (which hose it was is not identified, I assume the inflator) became disconnected.

So the buddy is responsible?

(please note, that the emphasis below is mine)

Dive buddy killed scuba diving husband says widow


SANTA ANA, California (24 Mar 2005) -- The widow of a Laguna Niguel man who died while scuba diving is suing his "diving buddy" for $4.5 million, alleging her husband's friend caused his death.

Brenda Palmer-Shatz filed a suit in Orange County Superior Court, saying Daryll Shatz's drowning on Nov. 30, 2003, was because of Steve Feldman's actions, "whether negligent or intentional," and done to cover up an unreported traffic accident by Feldman's daughter.

Feldman of Mission Viejo vehemently denied the allegations, saying he tried to help a panicked diver as best he could.

"Tragedies do happen without the other person being at fault," Feldman said Thursday. "I grieve for the loss of a very dear friend, a close and dear friend. I grieve for my friend's family and his wife, as well as for the impact of the tragedy on my own family and friends."

Daryll Shatz, 55, died while diving with Feldman 20 yards off Montage Beach, near Laguna Beach. Shatz had just completed 100 dives and was a member of the South Orange County Dive Club.

According to a preliminary investigation done at the time, Shatz's air hose became disconnected and his buoyancy compensator failed, said Capt. Danell Adams of the Laguna Beach Police Department. The Orange County coroner ruled the death an accidental drowning, she said.

"Nothing out of the ordinary was discovered," Adams said.

The wrongful death lawsuit alleges that Shatz didn't die because of equipment malfunction or because he panicked after a medical problem. Feldman failed in his role of dive buddy, a "special relationship" that required him to come to the aid of his diving partner, the suit says.

"Darryl Shatz was a meticulous, careful diver who's a computer programmer, analyst and scientist by profession, a person who took the most meticulous care of his equipment and his scuba dives just as he constructed his computer sites," said Lon B. Isaacson, Palmer-Shatz's attorney.

Palmer-Shatz believes Feldman removed some of Shatz's equipment so he would drown, the suit says. That would prevent Shatz from telling authorities about a hit-and-run that Feldman's daughter had been involved in, the lawsuit alleges.

The suit alleges that Feldman confided in Shatz before the dive that Feldman's daughter, who was on probation, had been involved in a hit-and-run accident. Feldman asked for Shatz's advice on how to handle it, the suit says, and Palmer-Shatz believes that her husband told Feldman to report his daughter to the police.

"Feldman wanted to keep Shatz from telling others, including the authorities, that Feldman's daughter had been guilty of committing an illegal hit-and-run accident," the suit says.

But Feldman said he told Shatz about the accident months before the dive and it was, in fact, just a "fender-bender."

 

[CBulla]

I can see the "bad buddy" posts ranting on this one - we weren't there, so we don't know... lets not debate that bit. What I can't believe is that the widdow is thinking this guys friend and dive buddy would do such a thing.

 

[archman]

Another reason for me to solo dive...

 

[O2BBubbleFree]

...what a world we live in. Something like that never even crosses a sane mind.

'Course, now that it's been brought to mind, if I had a buddy worth $4.5 mil...

 

[wedivebc]

Every open water student is taught how to orally inflate a bcd. You would have to do more than remove the power inflation hose to kill a competent diver. I would assume if that was the primary cause of the man's death he was more at fault than his buddy.

 

[pennypue]

I think the jury should be made up entirely of certified experienced divers.

And these should be the same jurors that would sit on a countersuit against the widow. Ridiculous some of the suits that people will file.

 

[Stirling]

Every open water student is taught how to orally inflate a bcd. You would have to do more than remove the power inflation hose to kill a competent diver. I would assume if that was the primary cause of the man's death he was more at fault than his buddy.

A lot of things about this story didn't make sense to me, but if I am remembering it correctly, the article suggested that the problem was that the deceased diver or his buddy closed the deceased diver's tank valve to turn off the air while they fiddled with the power inflation hose and tried to reconnect it. I had the impression that turning off the air is what caused the problem, as the deceased diver somehow submerged (I assume they were on the surface when the air was turned off) and then presumably could neither inflate his bc underwater nor breathe through his regulator, while his buddy couldn't find him because of the poor visibility. But the sequence of events was not entirely clear.

 

[MikeFerrara]

Is this one of the accidents we read about a while back where they were just getting in or just getting out on a shore dive? In one, I think they were trying to get the inflator hose hooked up or something and thought it would be easier with the air off and the guy sunk and drowned...maybe he had his fins off too.

 

[SoCalAngel]

Is this one of the accidents we read about a while back where they were just getting in or just getting out on a shore dive? In one, I think they were trying to get the inflator hose hooked up or something and thought it would be easier with the air off and the guy sunk and drowned...maybe he had his fins off too.

Darryl passed in November 2003. Here's the thread: http://www.scubaboard.com/t42164-.html
hopefully I pasted it right?

This is what I posted on OCdivebums:

This makes me sooo sad. Steve is and always has been
a great dive buddy. Everyone can only do their best
when confronted with an unexpected challenge. What
happened to Darryl is a tragedy. Unfortunately, it
isn't something that can be changed.

My family is aware that everytime I dive, something
bad could happen. Almost did back in October, too.
My family and myself didn't blame what happened on my
dive buddy. People make choices, dive or not to dive,
most of the time everything goes fine. Occassionally,
it doesn't.

We, as a society, can't go around blaming others for
evethything bad in our lives. We need to accept our
own responsibility. In Brenda's case, it means
accepting her husband's decision and fate. It means
not grasping at straws to try to place blame where it
doesn't belong. It means getting help and letting
your friends (and God) console you.

We all feel Brenda's loss. We feel our own loss with
the death of our dear friend Darryl. This lawsuit
isn't going tobring Darryl back or make anyone feel
better about the loss of Darryl. It will simply go on
to divide our dive community further.

My prayers are with Darryl, Brenda, Steve, Kathy,
their families, and for our entire dive community.

This is all I can say now, 'cuz it really does make me sad! :crying2:

 

[Ayisha]

This case seems so strange to me. It seems that what the widow is alleging is murder, since Feldman's actions were "done to cover up an unreported traffic accident by Feldman's daughter".

So then why is the widow not pushing for a murder investigation and criminal charges? Has she exhausted all criminal avenues but we're just hearing about the civil lawsuit?