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LOGAN — The three students named in a wrongful death and negligence lawsuit involving a slackline accident on Utah State University’s campus have been dismissed.
The lawsuit was filed in April by the parents of 24-year-old Eric Anderson, who died after hitting a slackline while riding his bike down Old Main Hill on Aug. 26, 2013. Three of the students who set up the slackline — Tyler Bladen, Brandon Burger and Kellen Bell — were named in the lawsuit filed.
The students all reached similar settlements with the Anderson family, according to Bell’s attorney Rafael Seminario. The exact details of the settlement are confidential, but Seminario said a lot of consideration was given to the parties’ desire to avoid having to rehash the entire experience in court. Additional consideration was given to the cost of ongoing litigation.
USU is the last remaining defendant in the lawsuit. Numerous university officials — whom Anderson’s parents said did nothing to order the removal of the slackline — were also named in the original lawsuit, but they were dismissed earlier in 2014.
As with the settlement of all three of the young men, obviously liability is still being disputed. (The settlement) is not an indication that any of them have agreed or accepted that they had any fault in the accident, but it is more a reflection of the economic considerations.
–Rafael Seminario, attorney
“So far the state has been disputing liability,” Seminario said. “As with the settlement of all three of the young men, obviously liability is still being disputed. (The settlement) is not an indication that any of them have agreed or accepted that they had any fault in the accident, but it is more a reflection of the economic considerations.”
Seminario said it was a tragic accident, but that he doesn’t think there is any animosity among the parties involved. He said the families were able to have conversations about what happened.
“It’s also I think a good opportunity to reflect on how fragile life is,” he said. “This was a young man (who) had his whole future ahead of him, and just based on not seeing this slackline, it affected the lives of many people.”
The parents asked for a little more than $2 million in the lawsuit, saying they expected their son to earn at least $2 million throughout his life.
Contributing: Pat Reavy
