Leesfield & Partners File Suit for the Wrongful Death of minor child against the Boy Scouts and Scoutmaster

Leesfield & Partners, on behalf of the parents of a Boy Scout who died on a hike last year, have sued the Boy Scouts of America, alleging scoutmasters were negligent in continuing a 20-mile hike in 100-degree heat after their son showed signs of heat stroke.

Howard Adelman and Judith Sclawy-Adelman of Davie say Michael Sclawy-Adelman, 17, began exhibiting signs of heat exhaustion on May 9, 2009, halfway through the hike on the Florida Trail in Big Cypress National Park in the Everglades, according to the lawsuit.

Click here to read the latest Sun Sentinel article on this case.

It's not the first time a Boy Scout died on a hike due to heat exhaustion. In June 2009, Timothy Nunn, 14, died from probable heat stroke on a hike in Minnesota; Payden Sommers, 11, died of a probable heat stroke on a hike in Ohio in June 2008; and David Phillips, 15, died from probable heat stroke on a hike in Arizona in June 1996.

In addition, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control investigated reports of more than 1,600 cases on heat exhaustion during the 2005 National Scout Jamboree in Fort AP Hill in Virginia and determined organizers failed to provide enough water and shade for those attending the jamboree in July, when the heat index reached 121 degrees.