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Mom awarded $1.8 million in lawsuit

From Wire reports 
Posted September 5, 2003 

MIAMI -- A North Carolina woman whose daughter died in a parasailing accident near a Bahamas hotel was awarded $1.8 million by a federal jury, which found that a water-sports vendor at the resort was negligent during windy conditions.

The jury Wednesday ruled in a wrongful-death lawsuit against the management company of the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Paradise Island in Nassau, Bahamas.

The jury found that Sea & Ski Ocean Sports, the water-sports vendor operating the parasail, was an agent of the Sheraton Grand's management company, Wedge Hotel Management Bahamas Ltd. The hotel had been advertising parasailing as one of its amenities, and Sea & Ski had an office on the property.

Tosha Walker, 27, of Upper Marlboro, Md., was on a cruise stop in Nassau on Aug. 21, 1999, when she and her friends went to the beach and decided to try parasailing, in which a parachute is towed behind a boat and soars above the water.

The vendors required Walker and a friend to ride together because of an approaching storm, lawyers said. During the ride, it began to rain, and wind speeds reached 20 mph with higher gusts. A damaged tow rope failed, and Walker and her companion were dragged through the water, the suit said. The friend suffered minor injuries, but Walker drowned.

No instructions had been given to the tourists on how to unclip themselves from the parasail harness in an emergency, the jury ruled. The operator also failed to retract the rope, letting it become entangled in the boat's propeller and delaying the rescue, the jury agreed.

Walker's mother, Lanita Walker, sued Wedge Hotel Management. Although Walker was not a guest of the Sheraton, the verdict affirmed that the hotel should be held accountable for the vendor.

The hotel is a franchise extended directly by Sheraton to Wedge Hotel Management, which is contesting the verdict. Sheraton Hotels and Resorts was not named in the lawsuit. Attorneys for Wedge would not comment.