Aunt Sues 12-Year-Old Nephew for $127,000 After Breaking Her Wrist at His Birthday Party

A woman living in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York, has lost a lawsuit she filed on her 12-year-old nephew for accidentally breaking her wrist at his 8th birthday party.

Fifty-four-year-old Jennifer Connell, a human resources manager, was seeking $127,000 in damages for her broken wrist allegedly sustained after her nephew leapt into her arms at his birthday party in 2011.

“I live in Manhattan in a third-floor walkup so it has been very difficult. And we all know how crowded it is in Manhattan,” Connell told the Connecticut Superior Court in Bridgeport on Friday, according to Westport News.

She added that her injury has made life’s daily tasks difficult:

“I was at a party recently and it was difficult to hold my hors d’oeuvres plate.”

The child, 12-year-old Sean Tarala, was reportedly playing outside on his first-ever bicycle when Connell arrived and he came to greet her. His aunt testified in court:

“All of a sudden he was there in the air, I had to catch him and we tumbled onto the ground. I remember him shouting, ‘Auntie Jen, I love you!’ and there he was flying at me.”

The boy, whose mother passed away last year, was described by his aunt as “very loving, sensitive.” However, she believes he should be held accountable for his actions.

The lawsuit claimed:

“The injuries, losses and harms to the plaintiff were caused by the negligence and carelessness of the minor defendant in that a reasonable eight year old under those circumstances would know or should have known that a forceful greeting such as the one delivered by the defendant to the plaintiff could cause the harms and losses suffered by the plaintiff.”

Tarala seemed confused as he sat beside his father, Michael Tarala, in the courtroom, reported Westport News.

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