Story Archive

The Party is Over

Sean Tarala of Westport, Conn., was overjoyed when his aunt, Jennifer Connell of New York City, came to his 8th birthday party. “ Auntie Jen, Auntie Jen! I love you!” he cried, dropping his brand new bicycle on the ground so he could rush to hug her. And that, Connell says, was the problem. The “very loving, sensitive” boy “acted unreasonable” by jumping into her arms, knocking her down and breaking her wrist. She sued Sean, claiming $127,000 in medical expenses. The case went all the way to trial — about a year after the boy’s mother died. “I live in Manhattan in a third-floor walk-up so it has been very difficult,” Connell, 54, testified in the trial as the bewildered boy sat with his father. “And we all know how crowded it is in Manhattan.” It was so bad, she says, that “I was at a party recently, and it was difficult to hold my hors d’oeuvre plate.” It took the New York jury just 20 minutes to rule that Sean, now 12, was not negligent in Connell’s injury. (RC/Connecticut Post) ...One positive result that will come out of this: he’ll never hug her again.