Falls Church Family Files Lawsuit in Death of Daughter in Caribbean Boating Accident

A Falls Church family seeking justice for the death of their daughter killed in a tragic accident in the Caribbean last year has filed a civil lawsuit against the companies involved in the trip, according to lawyers for the family.

The Schulman family filed the civil lawsuit Thursday involving the death of their daughter, Casey Schulman, a 22-year-old University of Virginia student at the time, who died last December during a boating incident on a Semester-at-Sea trip in Dominica.

She died Dec. 1 after being struck by the propeller of a catamaran during a snorkeling excursion Schulman took during a Semester-at-Sea program in Dominica. Her death made international headlines, in USA Today, London's The Daily Mail, ABC News and The Huffington Post.

The civil complaint was filed in federal court in Miami against the Institute of Shipboard Education d/b/a Semester at Sea, Anchorage Hotel LTD, Global Citizens Travel, LLC, and Fountaine-Pajot S.A. 

The lawsuit seeks a jury trial and "compensatory damages, including loss of support and services from the date of Casey Schulman’s death, reduced to present value, loss of net accumulations, reduced to present money value, funeral expenses, other damages to which the Estate and survivors of Casey Schulman may be entitled to under applicable law, costs, and such other relief and other relief this Court deems just and proper," according to the complaint.

Schulman was a 2009 graduate of J.E.B. Stuart High School in Falls Church, where she was involved in many activities including being co-captain of the varsity cheerleading squad, a swimmer on the varsity swim team, a member of the National Honor Society and Young Democrats. At U-Va., she was a foreign affairs major and a member of Alpha Phi sorority.

In May, Dominican authorities charged Andrew Armour with manslaughter in the death of Schulman and he is awaiting trial, according to The Dominican, a news site. A hotel operator, Armour was driving the catamaran at the time of the incident.

In addition to attorneys in Miami, the Washington, DC law firm of Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel, PLLC, is co-counsel representing the Schulman family.

Click here to read the full copy of the complaint filed in court.

Read: Friends Remember Casey Schulman, published last year by Falls Church Patch.