Aunt sues pre-teen nephew for $127k over 'exuberant greeting'
A New York woman says her 12-year-old nephew should pay her $127,000 because of his 'exuberant greeting' at his birthday party when he turned 8.
Jenneifer Connell says her nephew, Sean Tarala, was so excited on March 18, 2011 that he knocked her over, breaking her wrist in the process. The 54-year-old said the boy's father looked on as the boy jumped into her arms.
"All of a sudden he was there in the air, I had to catch him and we tumbled onto the ground," Connell testified Friday at Connecticut Superior Court in Bridgeport, where she recounted arriving at the Tarala home to attend Sean's birthday party, according to the Daily News. "I remember him shouting, 'Auntie Jen, I love you!' and there he was, flying at me."
She says her nephew is a "very loving, sensitive" boy but thinks he should be held accountable. The boy is the only defendant in the case. He seemed confused in court with his father. His mother died in 2014.
"I live in Manhattan in a third-floor walkup so it has been very difficult," Connell said. "And we all know how crowded it is in Manhattan," she testified. "I was at a party recently and it was difficult to hold my hors d'oeuvres plate."
So why did she wait more than four years to say something? She said she 'didn't want to upset him' because it was his birthday party.
It's unclear what Connell's relationship with the boy is now, but the legal language of her lawsuit makes little accommodation for the feelings of a little boy excited at the sight of his beloved aunt.
"The injuries, losses and harms to the plaintiff were caused by the negligence and carelessness of the minor defendant in that a reasonable eight years old under those circumstances would know or should have known that a forceful greeting such as the one delivered by the defendant to the plaintiff could cause the harms and losses suffered by the plaintiff," the lawsuit claims.
Patrick D. McCabe, an injury attorney in Connecticut who is not working on the case, said, in general, people "including minors" are responsible for their actions. But these minors are likely covered by their parents' homeowner's insurance. It would be a tough assignment for an attorney to convince a jury, that doesn't know there's insurance, to come down on an eight-year-old who may have been showing vigorous affection for his aunt.
"Good luck," he said, jokingly.
The Associated Press and FOX News contributed to this report.