PORT ANGELES — The widow of a man killed by a mountain goat in Olympic National Park plans to proceed to trial with the portion of her wrongful-death lawsuit against the federal government that was not struck down this week by a judge’s ruling, her lawyer said.
Susan Chadd of Port Angeles filed suit in federal District Court in Tacoma for unspecified damages after her husband, Robert Boardman, 63, was killed Oct. 16, 2010, by a 370-pound male mountain goat during a hike in a well-trekked area on Klahhane Ridge.
“My client has some options, which we will discuss with her,” said her lawyer, Stephen Bulzomi of Tacoma, a specialist in wrongful-death and animal-attack lawsuits, on Wednesday.
“As things stand, we will proceed to trial on the remaining claim.”
The bench trial likely would be this fall, Bulzomi said.
The claim that is still outstanding alleges that “employees of the park failed to act with dispatch and summon a Coast Guard helicopter to the rugged area where Robert Boardman was mortally wounded,” according to the lawsuit.
Chadd declined this week to comment on the case.
In his ruling, Judge Robert Bryan struck down her claim that the government was negligent in not acting quickly enough to relocate or kill the mountain goat.
After goring Boardman in the thigh, the animal stood over Boardman for about 30 minutes, making it impossible for Chadd and other hikers to reach him, according to park ranger reports of the incident.
Boardman died from blood loss in about five minutes, his femoral artery severed, the reports said.
“My client suffered damages because they didn’t effect a competent and prompt rescue,” Bulzomi said.
According to the account in the lawsuit, “the attack was promptly reported via cellphone to the Park Service, which responded very slowly, given the gravity of the situation.
“Finally, more than an hour after the attack, a Coast Guard helicopter lowered an emergency medical technician, who tried to revive Boardman, also unsuccessfully.”
The park “was very ill-prepared to deal with this type of foreseeable emergency,” Bulzomi said this week.
“It appears to us mistakes were made during the course of the rescue that prolonged the rescue and delayed getting aid to Mr. Boardman or evacuating him from the mountain.
“This could have been Boardman falling off a cliff and needing a response,” Bulzomi said.
In its answer to the lawsuit, the government denied responding too slowly to the attack.
Bryan ruled this week that though the park could have acted more quickly to relocate or kill the mountain goat, its actions are immune under federal law because they involved an exercise of discretion related to public policy.
“While this court recognizes Plaintiff’s loss of her husband and her concern about the park service’s handling of the mountain goat, Congress has given the park service a safe harbor in the discretionary function exception to her [Federal Tort Claims Act] claim, even if ‘the discretion involved be abused,’” Bryan wrote.
“Mr. Boardman appears to have died trying to protect his wife and their friend,” the judge continued.
“Even in sad cases like this one, the court is duty bound to uphold the law, however difficult or unjust the result appears.”
The mountain goat had exhibited threatening behavior to Boardman, Chadd and a friend during the hike, aggressively following them for about an hour before Boardman separated himself from his hiking party to protect them. Minutes later, Boardman was dead.
The animal was believed to have harassed hikers at Klahhane Ridge in the park for years and is believed to have been shot dead by a park ranger within hours of the attack.
The incident was the first fatality from a mountain goat attack in the park’s history.
There have been three non-fatal mountain goat attacks since 1938, when the park was established, Bryan said in his ruling.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
