Trial Magazine

Kyzr Willis, 7, attended a municipal summer recreational program that involved swimming activities in the ocean behind a community center operated by the city of Boston. Willis asked a camp counselor for a life jacket and was told there were only pink ones for the girls. Willis, who was never provided a life jacket, subsequently drowned while swimming in deep water. He is survived by his parents and sibling.

Willis’s parents, individually and on behalf of his estate, sued the city, alleging it failed to keep Willis safe; conduct adequate staff training; and comply with Christian’s Law, which required it to provide campers with appropriate personal flotation devices, test children before allowing them to swim at beach facilities, and issue color-coded ­wristbands based on the results of each swimmer’s test. The plaintiffs also alleged that the defendant deprived Willis of his constitutional rights.

The defense denied that it had violated Willis’s constitutional rights and asserted that the plaintiffs’ recovery was limited to $100,000 under Massachusetts law.

The parties settled for $5 million.

Citation: Willis v. City of Boston, No. 1:17-cv-11815-JCB (D. Mass. Apr. 6, 2018).

Plaintiff counsel: Vikas Dhar and Robert Griffin, both of Charlestown, Mass.