ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The widow of lineman Korey Stringer hit another,
perhaps final roadblock Thursday in her legal battle to hold the
Minnesota Vikings accountable for his 2001 training camp death.
The Minnesota Supreme Court sided with two lower courts and
refused to let Kelci Stringer pursue her wrongful death lawsuit
against the team and several employees.
The 4-2 decision -- Justice Alan Page, a former Viking, recused
himself -- exhausts Kelci Stringer's avenues in state court.
She sued the team claiming her 27-year-old husband didn't
receive proper medical care after collapsing following a blocking
drill. Stringer, a 335-pound Pro Bowl lineman whose body
temperature was measured at 108.8 degrees after he practiced in the
sweltering heat and humidity, died of heatstroke early the next
morning.
At issue was whether team trainers should have kept Stringer out
of practice after a heat-related episode the evening before he
collapsed and whether they responded correctly to warning signs.
She said actions by the trainers amounted to gross negligence.
Phone messages left with Korey Stringer's agent, a Vikings
attorney, and a team spokesman were not immediately returned
Thursday.
Justice Paul Anderson, writing for the majority, said health
care providers are expected to exercise discretion when treating
patients. That applies, he said, to trainers Fred Zamberletti and
Paul Osterman, who were named as defendants along with the team.
"While in retrospect we may want or expect that Osterman and
Zamberletti would have responded to Stringer's condition
differently, they nonetheless were acting within their scope of
employment," Anderson wrote.
The district judge who dismissed the lawsuit against the team
allowed a medical-malpractice case against Dr. David Knowles and
the Mankato Clinic to proceed. They settled out of court for an
undisclosed amount in May 2003.