LINDA CHAPMAN, ET AL. v. CITY OF VIRGINIA BEACH, 252 Va. 186

Summary

Appellant parents brought an action for wrongful death after their daughter died while playing on a gate owned by appellee city. After the jury returned a $ 300,000 verdict in favor of appellant father and $ 18,618.79 for funeral expenses and medical bills, the trial court granted appellee's motion to set aside the jury verdict. Appellants sought review claiming, inter alia, the trial court erred in holding as a matter of law that the evidence was insufficient to prove gross negligence, in failing to set aside the verdict because it did not compensate all the statutory beneficiaries, and in granting the contributory negligence instruction regarding appellant mother. The court held that the trial court erred in holding that the nuisance count actually was a negligence cause of action. Negligence and nuisance were distinct concepts. Negligence was only one of the two alternative prerequisites required to impose liability on a municipality in a nuisance cause of action. Reliance on ...