When an excited Sean Talara jumped into his aunt's arms for a hug at his 8th birthday party, the duo took a tumble which resulted in his aunt, Jennifer Connell, landing roughly and breaking her wrist.
Four years later, Connell, who lives in New York City, decided to take her nephew, now 12, to court and sue him for $127,000 worth of damages over her injury.
The Superior Court in the town of Bridgeport Connecticut got to hear how Connell and her lawyer argued that 8-year-old Sean had acted "unreasonably" when he hugged his aunt, as his “forceful greeting” had caused her to fall to the ground and break her wrist.
She testified that she loves her nephew but thinks he should be held accountable. According to the Connecticut Post, Connell testified that her nephew had shouted “I love you” as he jumped on her. "All of a sudden he was there in the air, I had to catch him and we tumbled onto the ground. I remember him shouting, ‘Auntie Jen I love you,’ and there he was flying at me."
Connell's lawyer said that the nephew, who was eight at the time of the hug, should have known better. “We have rules for children. He was not careful. He was unsafe.”
As for her injuries, Connell argued in court, they were such that she had trouble at a recent social gathering. "I was at a party recently, and it was difficult to hold my hors d’oeuvre plate."
However, Connell found herself leaving the courtroom empty-handed when a six-person jury unanimously ruled against her late Monday afternoon.
We are a little lost for words with this one. Only in America...
