The family of Naya Rivera and ex-husband Ryan Dorsey reached a settlement in their lawsuit against Ventura County, California, in connection with the accidental drowning of the Glee star in 2020.
Ryan Dorsey had filed a lawsuit against Ventura County for their 6-year-old son Josey, who was in the boat along with his mom Naya Rivera.
Naya Rivera died on 8th July 2020 while she was rowing a pontoon boat along with her son Josey. She was 33-year-old.
Dorsey had filed a lawsuit in order to get compensation for their son. ‘Josey will receive just compensation for having to endure the drowning of his beloved mother at Lake Piru,’ the family’s lawyer Amjad M. Khan. ‘Though the tragic loss of Josey’s mother can never truly be overcome, we are very pleased that the monetary settlement will significantly assist Josey with his life beyond this tragedy.’
In the lawsuit, the family of Naya Rivera and Ryan Dorsey had claimed that the Ventura County and the United Water Conservation District and Parks and Recreation Management had not warned the people sufficiently regarding the danger involved in swimming and boating in the particular area of Lake Piru.
The family of the deceased actress also claimed that the pontoon boat which was rented from Step Up: High water did not have proper safety measurements and equipment onboard such as rope, anchor, or any other lifesaver or floatation device.
The Ventura County authorities claimed in the court that the documents prove that Naya Rivera had “declined to wear” a life jacket which was offered to her by the “parks management company’s boat rental agent.”
‘While Naya and Josey were swimming, the boat started to be carried away – likely by the current and wind, which gusted up to 21 miles per hour that afternoon,’ Rivera’s family’s legal team said in court. ‘Josey, who was closer, managed to get back on the boat by his own volition and braced himself on the boat, which was rocking back and forth forcefully in the current and wind.
‘Josey knew Naya was still in the water and heard her cry, “Help! Help!” in her struggle to get back to the boat and avoid drowning … Josey yelled for help and cried alone in the boat until he was found more than an hour later by a PMC boat leasing agent.’
Rivera’s family had demanded damages for Josey as well as funeral cost on the basis of suffering “substantial economic and non-economic damages as a result of Naya’s death, including financial support that Naya would have contributed to her son.’
The terms of the settlement are kept confidential and are to be released on the approval by the Ventura Superior Court on March 16, 2022.
