Estate of Yale Tailgating Victim Suing School, City

The estate of a Massachusetts woman who died after she was struck by a U-Haul truck while tailgating before the Harvard-Yale football game in 2011 has filed a suit against Yale University, as well as the city of New Haven, and a Yale fraternity.

Nancy Barry, 30, of Salem, Massachusetts, was killed in the crash on Nov. 19, 2011.

You can read the complaint, which was filed on March 28, here.

Her estate has also named the city of New Haven, U-Haul, as well as the Yale students who rented and drove the truck, the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and Contemporary Services Corp., an event security and crowd management company hired to provide services of the Yale Bowl.

The complaint states that the injuries, death and losses were the result of the “negligence and carelessness” on behalf of the defendants named in the complaint.

“I expect that even Yale will agree that it was foolish to permit and encourage the use of these U-Haul trucks for student tailgating parties,” Paul Edwards, an attorney for Barry’s estate, said in a statement.

The complaint said Barry and other people who were struck were at Contemporary Services Corp’s checkpoint when the accident happened.

The attorneys said the city of New Haven had an obligation to provide police protection and witnesses described the scene that morning as chaotic and disorganized.

They are asking for monetary damages in excess of $15,000.

Sarah Short, of New Haven, who was also injured in the crash, also filed a suit against the driver, http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Yale-Student-Injured-in-Yale-Harvard-Tailgating-Crash-Sues--147003985.html Brendan Ross. That case is ongoing. http://civilinquiry.jud.ct.gov/CaseDetail/PublicCaseDetail.aspx?DocketNo=NNHCV126028521S
 

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