Walt Disney World could be liable for death of boy snatched by alligator: Lawyers

Walt Disney World could be found liable and face a multimillion-dollar payout if the parents of a two-year-old Nebraska boy who was snatched and killed by an alligator at one of the amusement park's hotels decide to launch legal action, experts say.

"I believethe parents could potentiallyhave a wrongfuldeath action theycould bring against Walt Disney Worldforthe tragic loss of their son," said Orlando lawyerMatt Morgan, who has handledcases of negligence involvingFlorida theme parks.

"Disney has an obligationto warn their hotel guests of any and all dangerousconditions whichthey eitherknow about or should know about it."

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The boy, Lane Graves, was snatched by an alligator Tuesday evening as he waded in shallow water of a lake at a Disney hotel. Divers recovered his body 16 hours later and authorities believe the alligator drowned him.

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The beach, located at Disney's GrandFloridianResort and Spa acrossa lake from the Magic Kingdom, had "no swimming" signs but nowarning about alligators.

'Could not have appreciated the risk'

"This familyis from Nebraska and could not haveappreciatedthe risk of alligators in a closeproximityto the sandybeacheswhich were open to hotel guests," Morgan said.

According to Florida law, a property owner is not responsible for the actsof an animal on its property if those actsare consistent with the nature of the animal, saidLyrissaLydsky, a University of Florida law professor whose specialties include tort law.

"However, the real questionis not whether the alligator was doing what alligators do in Florida," she said."The real question is, wasthe family given sufficient warning so they would know to not lettheir child near the edge of the water."

Under common law, there can also be liability for injuries caused by wild animals in your possession, Jonathan Turley, a George Washington University law professor, wrote in his blog.

But Turleysaid that would raise the question of whetheralligators are in the legal possession or control of Disney if they occupy the lake.He noted that in a1997 casewhere a rabid mongooseattacked a guest at a Hyattin Puerto Rico, the hotel was not found to bestrictlyliable.

However, with respect to Disney,there would still "remain a powerful case of negligence," he said.

There havebeen reports of frequentalligator sightings at Walt Disney World. Mike Hamilton, a Floridian custodian, told the Orlando Sentinel that he was concernedabout alligatorsoccasionally swimming up close to the shore of Seven Seas Lagoon and that he hadwarned managers they should fence off the area.

One South Carolina man told the Sentinelhe alerted a Grand Floridian employeeafter seeing an alligator in the lagoon less than an hour before the boy was attacked.

'Foreseeable to warn guests'

"If there was any kindof notice thatthe pondhad alligators,then it was clearly foreseeable to warn guests of the dangers," Lydsky said.

"And even if not, in Florida, it is foreseeable an alligatorcould be in any standing body of water. It is a very common event to have any kind of alligator."

The company said it will add alligator warnings and temporary barriers at its beaches while it works on "permanent, long-term solutions." By Saturday, a report in The Orlando Sentinel said the barriers were being erected.

"We continue to evaluate processes and procedures for our entire property, and, as part of this, we are reinforcing training with our cast for reporting sightings and interactions with wildlife and are expanding our communication to guests on this topic," Jacquee Wahler, vice-president of Walt Disney World Resort, said in a statement.

Shawn Bayern, a law professor atFlorida State University College of Laws, saidsome states take violations ofwarning signsquite seriously, even if the warningsdon'tconvey the relative danger.

"So there are some courts thatadopt a formalistic view that violating a warningalmost means you'refairgame for injury," he said, but those courts are in the minority and aren't found in Florida.

If a case against Disney did make it to trial, a jury could award the family damages in the eight-figure range, Morgan said. He said he doesn't believe Disney would offer a large enough settlement, increasing the likelihood the case could go to trial.

But both Bayern and Lydsky disagreed, saying Disney has an incentive to keep this tragedy out of the courts.

"Liableis almost academic because I am positive that Disney is going towant settle with this family if they choose to pursue anything ...because of the public relations aspects of the case," said Lydsky.

"Disney is known to be a family friendly place and they are never ever going to want to go to court with a case like this. Regardless what the law is."

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