Jury decides student who drowned, bar share responsibility

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A jury has decided that a now-closed Philadelphia bar should pay $525,000 to the family of a university student who drowned in 2014 after a night of drinking, but the panel also found that the man’s own negligence played a role in his death.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that jurors decided that the Schuylkill River death of 21-year-old Shane Montgomery, which was ruled accidental, partly stemmed from Kildare’s continuing to serve him while he was visibly intoxicated.

But jurors found Monday that the West Chester University student bore the largest share of responsibility and found no negligence by individual employees of the bar in the Manayunk neighborhood.

Family attorney Slade McLaughlin calls the outcome “disappointing.”

An attorney for Kildare’s, which closed in 2016, said he respected the verdict and offered the family condolences.

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Information from: The Philadelphia Inquirer, http://www.inquirer.com