News Story - Idaho State Journal

POCATELLO -- Brent and Margo Heer, whose son Erik Simnitt died when he was struck by a Jet Ski at American Falls Reservoir in July, recently filed a $5 million tort claim against a local outdoor recreational program.

A participant with Idaho State University's Cooperative Wilderness Handicapped Outdoor Group fatally struck Erik at the American Falls Reservoir on July 30 during a Jet Ski outing. Erik, 13, died later that same evening at Harms Memorial Hospital in American Falls.

C.W. HOG provides outdoor recreational opportunities for persons with disabilities. The Jet Ski driver who struck Erik reportedly has a disability.

The Heers' tort claim follows a $57 misdemeanor citation that the Power County prosecutor filed against C.W. HOG and contradicts statements the family made earlier in August about not wanting to file major charges against the ISU program.

"The amount is an arbitrary amount that had to be put in to file a claim," Brent Heer said. "And let's face it. A $57 fine does not cut it if you include the criminal thing that they did. There's also a lot of changes that need to be made to C.W. HOG."

Shortly after Erik's death, the Heers maintained support for C.W. HOG, and pointed to the positive impact the program has made on persons with disabilities. Brent previously said that while he was looking to see some changes made to C.W. HOG, the program had faced much less serious charges than what it would have faced had another family been affected.

"I think our recommendation is a lot less than what could have happened," Brent told the Idaho State Journal last month. "We were very lenient and very understanding, but there are charges that we could have filed that would have been a lot stronger than what is going to happen. However, that's not our intent and Margo has been very compassionate."

While a lawsuit could hamper C.W. HOG's future, ISU President Arthur Vailas said a university task force is still going to convene to determine the program's future.

"The review team is looking over the entire program in terms of the quality assurance issues, trying to see how to improve the program," Vailas said. "We're not reviewing the accident. We're reviewing the whole thing: What should we be doing better? What should we shore up? Those kinds of things."

By Journal Staff

This document was originally published online on Wednesday, September 10, 2008

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The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of our paper.

Darla wrote on Sep 10, 2008 11:19 PM:

" I'm no lawyer, but the fact that more serious charges weren't filed may make it hard to prove it was worth 5M. Who is representing the parents? "

Piper wrote on Sep 10, 2008 11:29 PM:

" It sounds like the Heers did not feel people were appreciative enough of their previous "compassionate" attitude. Everyone recognizes there is room for increased supervision and more rules and regs with the HOG program, but why the drastic change? "

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