The unexpected July 2020 death of Naya Rivera is playing out in court. The Glee actress drowned in California’s Lake Piru after reportedly pushing her son on a boat to safety before losing her life. There have been varying reports regarding Rivera’s death and her family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Ventura County Parks and Recreation Management. According to them, the boat Rivera and her son Josey rented was unsafe because there weren’t life vests available. However, the County has responded by stating that isn’t true.
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According to Parks and Rec, Rivera was allegedly offered a life vest but ultimately decided not to wear it. It’s reported that when Josey was found floating alone on the rented boat, he was wearing a vest, but when Rivera’s remains were located days later, she wasn’t. The Blast reports that court documents from the County state, “Ms. Rivera was offered a life vest by Parks Management Company’s boat rental agent, which Ms. Rivera declined to wear, after which the rental agent ‘put the vest in the rental boat’.”
“Regardless of whether the (The Family) allege that the boat was not equipped with flotation devices, a life vest was present in the boat at the time of the incident.” Meanwhile, Ryan Dorsey, Naya’s ex-husband, issued a complaint against Ventura County Parks and Recreation, accusing them of renting out a boat “not equipped with a safely accessible ladder, adequate rope, an anchor, a radio, or any security mechanisms to prevent swimmers from being separated from their boats.”
Parks and Rec reportedly responded to Dorsey by saying he is mistaken. “Other than the lack of an anchor, no facts are alleged demonstrating how a lack of any of these things caused (Naya’s) death. The pleading does not allege that Ms. Rivera died while attempting to climb back into the boat, and therefore a lack of a safety ladder did not cause her death.” The County believes Rivera simply separated from her boat and struggled to return. They don’t believe it is of any fault of thier own that the actress sadly passed away.