LOGAN, Utah – Three students and several officials at Utah State University are named in a lawsuit regarding the death of a student on campus.
Eric Anderson, 24, was riding his bike on August 26, 2013 when he struck an unattended slack line and crashed, which caused him to go into cardiac arrest.
The slack line (a nylon strap used for activities similar to tight rope walking) had been tied to a tree and left unattended for about an hour—and the lawsuit alleges university officials should have recognized and mitigated the danger.
At the time of the accident, witnesses reported that bystanders performed CPR on Anderson before he was transported to a hospital, where he later died due to the injury.
The lawsuit alleges the three students and school officials were negligent and that that negligence led to Anderson’s wrongful death. The lawsuit states the plaintiffs are seeking no less than $2,022,000 in economic and non-economic damages from the students. They are seeking the same amount in regard to the school officials, and the lawsuit stated that number would be higher if allowed by the law.
The lawsuit was filed by attorneys for Carvel and Gayle Anderson on April 30 in the Third Judicial District Court in Salt Lake County, Utah.
