Ruling that allowed parents of adults to sue for wrongful death is overturned
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One couple’s son died after a sport utility vehicle hit him as he pedaled his bike across a downtown Seattle crosswalk, and one couple lost theirs in a plane crash. One couple’s son died from an aneurysm after a hospital sent him home, and another’s died after police tried to subdue his schizophrenia-induced violence. Yet because each son was an adult and did not financially support his parents, the state Supreme Court ruled yesterday, the parents cannot sue for wrongful death. The 7-2 ruling answered an important question that’s lingered ever since a King County Superior Court jury’s landmark decision in 2002 to award $1.8 million to the parents of Yianni Philippides, a 22-year-old bicycle messenger who was struck by the SUV near Seattle’s waterfront. Justices overturned the verdict yesterday, leaving Philippides’ parents, George and Kathryn, crushed that they have no legal recourse for the death of their son. “They’re really upset. We think the argument we put forth was the right one,” said daughter Zoe. “We believe that a child doesn’t stop having importance or value to the parents when they reach 18.” More : seattlepi.nwsource.com |