Settlement reached in sauna death suit

April 10, 2009

A woman whose husband died two years ago after being found unconscious in the men’s sauna at the Lafayette Family YMCA has settled a lawsuit she filed against the organization.

Berma L. Johnson recently accepted payment from the YMCA’s insurance provider, said her attorney, Jeff Cooke. He declined to release the amount because it was handled outside of court.

Johnson filed the civil complaint in February 2008 in Tippecanoe Superior Court 2, alleging that the YMCA failed to properly monitor the sauna and that employees may have removed or modified its timers.

Her husband, James “Jimmy” Johnson, 61, died at St. Elizabeth Medical Center on Jan. 21, 2007, two days after he was found. “Berma is satisfied. … We are pleased with the way it ended,” Cooke said. “We worked through the issues and came to a reasonable result that Mrs. Johnson approved.

Read Article: Journal & Courier Online

Posted By: Phoenix DUI Attorney