The parents of a Wheaton (Ill.) College student who was killed by an errant hammer throw in April 2017 have filed a lawsuit against the NCAA, according to ESPN.com.
Ethan Roser, then a 19-year-old freshman, was killed while working as a volunteer at a track and field event when the accident occurred. Now, Roser’s parents are claiming in a suit filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago that the NCAA was negligent.
The Daily Herald reports that the seven-page suit claims the NCAA failed to enact minimum size requirements for safety cages, that it failed to require trained officials at track and field events, and that officials failed to warn Roser of the risks posed by the cage meeting only minimum height requirements.
Related: Wheaton College Student Killed by Hammer Throw
Roser was reportedly struck while he was standing in a designated safety zone. In the wake of the accident, Wheaton police investigated and found that Roser was watching other volunteers at the time, and not focused on the hammer throw as he had been instructed to do.
From AB: Catastrophic Injuries Pull Focus On Field Event Safety
While catastrophic injuries have resulted in some changes to equipment and safety rules in the past, field events involving the throwing of heavy implements necessarily involve some level of risk.
The Herald reports that the suit seeks at least $75,000 for each of the three negligence allegations it describes.
