NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - The parents of a 6-year-old Greenwich boy who drowned after his arm was trapped in a powerful suction drain in their swimming pool filed a lawsuit Monday alleging the pool violated safety code requirements designed in response to a rash of similar tragedies around the country.
The lawsuit was filed in Stamford Superior Court by Brian Cohn, who recently resigned as president of one of the world's largest hedge funds, and his wife, Karen, against the town of Greenwich, Shoreline Pools and others.
Police said the boy was trapped when his arm became stuck in an intake valve on the wall in the deep end. Water entering an intake valve is pumped through the filtering system under suction before being pumped back into the pool.
When the boy, Zachary, became trapped under water on July 26 in the in-ground pool, his father and another adult jumped into the pool to try to free him but the pool's suction was too powerful, according to the lawsuit.
The boy's parents could not find a mechanism to turn off the suction pump, so Karen Cohn ran and shut off power to the house, including the pool's drain pump. Brian Cohn was then able to free his son and perform CPR, but it was too late.
'Nothing will ever bring our son back, but we hope that through these legal proceedings other families will be spared the horrible tragedy we have suffered,' the Cohns said in a statement. Brian Cohn recently resigned as president of SAC Capital Advisors.
John Wayne Fox, attorney for Greenwich, said he had not seen the lawsuit yet so he could not comment. Telephone messages were left with the other defendants.
Since 1985, there have been more than 150 reported cases of swimming pool drain entrapments, leading to at least 48 deaths and many serious injuries, including disembowelment, of children and adults, according to the lawsuit.
The family has established the Zac Foundation for Children's Safety. Any proceeds from the lawsuit will go to the foundation, said Paul Slager, the family's attorney.
The lawsuit contends the swimming pool 'fell well short' of minimum state safety standards, containing seven serious code violations that each had the potential to cause fatal entrapment.
The pool's waterfall drain and main drain each lacked a second suction drain outlet; the spa's two drains were not located the minimum distance apart; and the pool's pumps lacked a safety vacuum release system that shuts down a pump when suction is blocked or a system that allows the pool to drain without active pump suction, according to the lawsuit.
The shut-off switch for the drain pump was placed in a remote enclosure without clear identifying signs, making it practically inaccessible in an emergency, the lawsuit states. Shoreline failed to repair a drain cover or warn the family they should not swim in the pool until it was fixed, the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit, which seeks damages of more than $15,000, alleges Shoreline had a history of violating building code requirements and accuses the town of failing to conduct a proper inspection before issuing a permit.
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