Mother Appeals Dismissal Of Lawsuit In Son's Hiking Death
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — The mother of a man who died on a 2011 backpacking trip to India is appealing a federal judge's decision to dismiss her lawsuit against a Wyoming training academy.
Elizabeth Brenner of Minnetonka, Minnesota, is pressing her claims against the National Outdoor Leadership School, based in Lander, Wyoming.
Brenner claims NOLS was negligent in the death of her 20-year-old son, Thomas Plotkin. He slipped while carrying a heavy pack and fell down a 300-foot ravine into a raging river while on a NOLS expedition. His body was never found.
U.S. District Judge Alan B. Johnson of Cheyenne dismissed Brenner's lawsuit in October. Johnson noted Plotkin had signed agreements acknowledging that the NOLS program involved risks.
Brenner now is appealing Johnson's ruling to a federal appeals court in Denver.
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