Facts

William Keck III was a member of the Keck family which is part of several Keck Foundations that are well known in California for their philanthropic support of schools such as USC Medical School, PBS, and other charities. Keck was 48 years old and unmarried. He sat on several Keck Foundation boards. He was a member of the Bel Air Bay Club. Katherine Keck is his mother, who is also a member of the Club.

Sept. 3, 2017 was a hot and humid day. Keck had spent the morning playing in a paddle tennis tournament. At 1:16 p.m. Keck entered the locker room of Bel-Air Club Ltd. (which was not air conditioned) showing signs and symptoms of a heat related illness. He alerted a locker room attendant that he had cramping in his leg. The locker room attendant started to massage Keck on the bench in the locker room. The cramps did not improve within 30 minutes. Within 20 minutes Keck was moved to the floor and the massaging continued. The cramps spread up one leg, to another leg, and to an arm. The cramping went on for hours. Keck was exhausted, sweating, and turning red. He was given some water and some ice but he was still not cooling off.

For nearly four hours, one Club employee continually massaged Keck, and other employees checked in on Keck periodically. They claimed Keck was conscious and alert, and gave him some water, Gatorade and ice. Keck's condition never improved.
At approximately 4 p.m. the Athletic Director finally called the lifeguard and asked him to look at Keck. The lifeguard was unable to abandon his post and said to call 911 if unsure. But 911 was not called until 4:59 p.m., at which point Keck was having trouble breathing and turning blue.

Paramedics arrived within four minutes of the 911, but it was too late. Although the paramedics rushed him to UCLA Santa Monica, the heat exhaustion caused Keck's potassium to rise to dangerous levels. The potassium caused Keck to go into arrhythmia shortly after he arrived at the hospital. Keck died as a result of the arrhythmia less than an hour after 911 had finally been called.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS: Plaintiffs claimed that the Club violated their own policies and procedures and standard of care by not calling 911 for nearly four hours and not moving Keck to a cool place. Plaintiffs contended that 911 should have been called no later than 30 minutes to an hour but the Club did not call 911 until 4:59 p.m. when Keck had trouble breathing. Plaintiffs contended that had 911 been called as late as 4 p.m., Keck would have survived. A landowner such as the Club has a duty to timely call 911 under the law and the Club did not come close to discharging its duty.
Further, plaintiffs contended that merely calling 911 is not medical care and that a 911 call doesn't need the consent of Keck.
Plaintiffs contended that the Club staff were not properly trained and the lack of proper training lead to a critical break down in communication among staff and a failure to timely act. Plaintiffs also contended that eye witness testimony, inconsistent testimony, medical evidence, and other evidence impeached the defense's claims about Keck.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS: Defendant claimed that Keck was a competitive person and was participating at the Club tournament. He did not adequately hydrate himself during the tournament and did not take up offers to play shorter games or rest between sets. The Club contended he had overdone it before and should have known his limits. Club employees repeatedly offered Keck the option of calling 911, a doctor, a family member, and Keck refused. The Club contended that Keck was awake, coherent, joked with the head of security a few times, and had a habit of resting and sweating it out in the locker room. The Club contended that their employees loved Keck and if they felt anything was remotely wrong with Keck they would have called 911. They claimed that the first time the situation looked like an emergency was at 4:59 p.m. and they immediately called 911. They argued duty in California is simply to offer 911 and if the victim refuses it then the Club has met its duty.
The Club further argued that Keck was not suffering from heat exhaustion. Rather, Keck was suffering from rhabdomyolysis, which is an exercised based injury that causes the dangerous spike in potassium. It is silent and undetectable. Keck also had an enlarged heart which also made things worse. The only sign that would show is cramping and that could easily be confused with an exercise related injury. Nothing about Keck made it look like he was suffering from anything other than being tired from exercise. He was drinking Gatorade, had ice packs, and water. Keck had everything at his fingertips, including the ability to call 911 and turned it down. Ultimately, the Club argued it did nothing wrong and Keck was responsible for his own death.

The Club also argued that it was protected under California's Good Samaritan statute.

Insurer

Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company and Federal Insurance Company/Chubb.

Damages

Non-economic damages.

Injuries

Plaintiffs claimed wrongful death.

Result

The jury returned a gross verdict of $15 million which was reduced to $12 million by virtue of 20 percent comparative fault on Keck. Plaintiff's verdict was for all non-economic damages. The verdict amount was composed of $2 million past and $13 million future non-economic damages.

Deliberation

five hours

Poll

10-2 (liability), 9-3 (damages)

Length

three weeks