A threat of a lawsuit has caused a Connecticut homeowner to refuse to host any more tours of her garden to raise money for charity.
The gardener had previously hosted 40,000 visitors to her home, raising about $175,000 for charity. Last summer, however, a visitor fell on a garden path and injured her ankle. Insurance companies offered to compensate the woman for all medical expenses, but the woman’s husband is threatening to sue for pain and suffering.
“I risk losing my house by having garden tours,” the gardener said. “I will continue to garden and make the yard beautiful because that’s what I have a passion to do, … but unfortunately, we can’t do it on such a large scale now because of the enormous liability involved.”
Source: Theresa Sullivan Barger, “Avon Gardener Stopping Tours Over Liability Concerns Local Charities Losing Benefactress, Funds,” The Hartford Courant, October 8, 2012 h/t overlawyered
Maureen Martin, a former legal fellow at The Heartland Institute, passed away on February 5, 2013.
