Seattle Scuba legal actions.
As you have investigated diving in Seattle you may have encountered information regarding three lawsuits that have been filed over the last 25 years since Seattle Scuba Schools was founded. Much of the information is inaccurate, or just outright lies, so I have posted this page in order to get the accurate information to you. I have reached out to the creators of the postings several times and invited them to meet with me so we can get their information accurate, but so far they have refused to meet with me.
The first lawsuit was in 2007 regarding the death of a young woman named Jennifer Coyne. Although Jennifer had done some diving with Seattle Scuba at times prior to her death. On the day she died she was not diving with Seattle Scuba. She had rented gear from us and had gone diving with another dive charter service that operated out of Anacortes to the San Juan Islands. Her parents filed suit against Seattle Scuba on the grounds that the regulator she rented was not working properly and caused her death. Upon testing by the world's premier scuba testing facility, the regulator was found to be in working order and well within manufacturers specifications.
Jennifer's parents had no other reason to hold Seattle liable so at that time the lawsuit was closed and never went to trial.
Jennifer's parents had no other reason to hold Seattle liable so at that time the lawsuit was closed and never went to trial.
In 2016 a lawsuit was brought against Seattle Scuba in the case of a woman by the name of Patricia Flores-Perez. In this instance the diver was diving with an instructor that was not employed by Seattle Scuba. The independent instructor had once worked with Seattle Scuba, as have a great number of instructors around the Northwest. Seattle Scuba is the largest PADI training center in the Pacific Northwest and a great number of the instructors working around the Northwest, and world, did their instructor courses with Seattle Scuba.
The litigants in this case were under the mistaken impression that the instructor was still employed with Seattle Scuba and so brought suit against Seattle Scuba. When it was made clear that it was not a Seattle Scuba instructor, Seattle Scuba was removed from the lawsuit. The lawsuit against the instructor carried forward but was ultimately closed before going to trial.
The litigants in this case were under the mistaken impression that the instructor was still employed with Seattle Scuba and so brought suit against Seattle Scuba. When it was made clear that it was not a Seattle Scuba instructor, Seattle Scuba was removed from the lawsuit. The lawsuit against the instructor carried forward but was ultimately closed before going to trial.
Most recently is the lawsuit brought in the death of Yuyu Xu. That case is still under investigation so we don't know what happened, but evidence points to the possibility that she suffered a medical emergency during the dive that lead to her death, but it was not related to the dive. Until the investigation is completed we will not know. I will update this once we know more.
Please understand that in the American legal system a lawsuit can be brought against anyone, at any time, for any reason. The filing of a suit does not mean a person is guilty of the charges, that is what the suit intends to determine. So, although suits have been filed, Seattle Scuba has never been found liable in any of them.
Unfortunately, when a lawsuit is dropped or dismissed, as these were, it rarely makes the news so the public never learns about the outcome of the suit. I invite you to contact me directly if you have questions. I am Craig Gillespie, founder and owner of Seattle Scuba Schools. My personal email address is Craig@seattlescuba.com
Unfortunately, when a lawsuit is dropped or dismissed, as these were, it rarely makes the news so the public never learns about the outcome of the suit. I invite you to contact me directly if you have questions. I am Craig Gillespie, founder and owner of Seattle Scuba Schools. My personal email address is Craig@seattlescuba.com