On Tuesday, we recounted the tragic death of young Declan Sullivan, who fell to his death while on the job from a scissor lift while videotaping a Notre Dame football practice. Kenneth J. Allen’s expert comments to ESPN about the products liability and workers’ compensation lawsuit possibilities for the Sullivan family were included, and they weren’t optimistic.
In a separate interview with John Williams at WGN, Kenneth J. Allen also provided his expert analysis to the question of the email letter sent by Notre Dame’s president, Rev. John Jenkins, to the entire Notre Dame community on Friday, stating, “Declan Sullivan was entrusted to our care, and we failed to keep him safe. …We at Notre Dame, and ultimately I, as president, are responsible.”
There are those that will urge Notre Dame to limit the responsibility referenced in Rev. Jenkin’s letter to the $7500 amount that is the extent of their legal responsibility under Indiana law. However, according to Ken Allen, that’s not the moral responsibility of Notre Dame (and its $1 billion endowment) to this boy’s family.
Let’s give Rev. Jenkins the benefit of the doubt here, and assume that he meant the best of things in that letter sent out last week. And, let’s hope that the defense attorneys don’t sway Notre Dame away from doing the right thing for Declan Sullivan.
