Naya River's family has reached a settlement in the lawsuit against Ventura County after accidental drowning in 2020.
The late Glee actor took her then 4-year-old son Josey Hollis Dorsey out boating on Lake Piru in July of 2020. Prior to her renting the boat for 3 hours, a legal response read "Ms. Rivera was offered a life vest by Parks Management Company’s boat rental agent, which Ms. Rivera declined to wear". After Rivera's accidental drowning, Josey was found on the boat more than an hour later by a PMC boat leasing agent.
Ryan Dorsey, father of Josey, filed paperwork against the county and the United Water Conservation District and Parks and Recreation Management in November, 2020.
Amjad M. Khan, lawyer of the Rivera family, had said this in a statement,
"Through this settlement, Josey will receive just compensation for having to endure the drowning of his beloved mother at Lake Piru.Though the tragic loss of Josey’s mother can never truly be overcome, we are very pleased that the monetary settlement will significantly assist Josey with his life beyond this tragedy.
The approval is scheduled for March 16th as the judge will officially sign off. "More than two dozen people have drowned in Lake Piru since 1959," according to court documents. The documents also claim there wasn't "a single sign anywhere — not at the entrance, at the dock, at the popular swimming area of Diablo Cove, not anywhere." Authorities assumed she had likely saved Josey and her body was found five days after the tragic accident.
To conclude the lawsuit, it argued that Rivera's death was preventable and the boat wasn't equipped with the necessary equipment and proper features "to comply with U.S. Coast Guard safety standards."
