Parents take their children to sporting events all the time as a way to bond and enjoy the moments of their youth. Tragedy isn’t typically on their minds, and it most certainly wasn’t on the mind of Jeffrey Chartier when he took his six-year old son to the Patriots season’s home opener in 2010. Unfortunately, a day at the stadium ended up Chartier dying of a heart attack after a heated confronted with stadium security guard, Arthur Sherman.
CBS Sports is reporting that nearly 3 years after the incident, Chartier’s wife, Kimberly, has filed a $10 million lawsuit against the Patriots organization and the NFL for the wrongful death of her husband. The suit alleges that:
“Jeff Chartier died as a result of cardiac arrest that was precipitated by agitation and stress caused by an interaction with a security guard at Gillette Stadium who inappropriately and unnecessarily confronted Jeff Chartier and his son Tedy in a harsh, unprofessional, confrontational, disrespectful and antagonistic manner.”
The Chartier’s son, Tedy, had been invited on the field by NFL officials, but Sherman confronted Jeffrey about his son being on field. The two had a heated exchange which lasted for at least 15 minutes. When Chartier and Tedy returned to their seats, Jeffrey became unresponsive. He was rushed to the hospital and pronounced dead.
The NFL will not give a statement on the matter at this time. The Patriots had held a moment of silence at the following game of the season after Chartier’s death, as well as donated a signed Tom Brady jersey for auction so that the proceeds to go to the family. There is certainly no amount of money that could replace someone’s life, but the few thousands of dollars from an autograph almost seems insulting. Robert Kraft did, however, write a letter to the family expressing his condolences.