UPDATE: Jury Returns Verdict in Aunt's Lawsuit Against Her Nephew's Bear Hug

Update 3:30 p.m. A six-member jury ruled Tuesday afternoon that the now 12-year-old boy was not liable for his actions and Jennifer Connell, of Manhattan, who is his aunt, will receive not one penny from her nephew, the Connecticut Post reports.

Connell had no comment on the verdict, which generated national media attention, but on her way out of the courthouse she did ask judicial marshals to walk her to her car and through the assembled media, the Post reports.

Update 3 p.m.

Written by Simone Wilson, Patch Editor

Meet 54-year-old human resources manager Jennifer Connell, giving a bad name to aunts all over Manhattan. Connell says her city life has been so gravely impacted by a bear hug her country nephew of Westport, CT gave her at his eighth birthday party that she’s decided to sue him for $127,000.

The boy, Sean Tarala, who is now 12 years old, “appeared confused as he sat with his father, Michael Tarala, in the Main Street courtroom” in Bridgeport, Conn., last Friday, according to the CTPost.

The young boy’s mother, Lisa Tarala, died in June of last year. Her obituary said she would be “sadly missed by her beloved husband Michael, sons Sean and Owen, parents Charlie and Sylvia, and sister Karen.”

Connell’s argument, the CTPost reports, is that her nephew acted unreasonably when he gave her a running bear hug on that day four years ago, shouting “Auntie Jen, Auntie Jen... Auntie Jen I love you!” as he leaped into her arms and tumbled with her to the ground.

According to the Post, Connell described the boy as always being “very loving, sensitive” toward her.

Still, she wants justice. Ever since the offending bear hug, Connell argues, her childless life as a human resources manager in Manhattan has not been the same.

Some wild moments from the Main Street witness stand, via the CTPost:

Although hurt, Connell said, she didn’t complain to the boy at the time.

“It was his birthday party and I didn’t want to upset him,” she told the jury.

But, Connell continued, her life was turned upside down as a result of the injury.

“I live in Manhattan in a third-floor walk-up so it has been very difficult,” she said. “And we all know how crowded it is in Manhattan.”

And then there is the damage the injury has done to Connell’s social life.

“I was at a party recently, and it was difficult to hold my hors d’oeuvre plate,” she said.

A reasonable 8 year old, the lawsuit reportedly claims, “would know or should have known that a forceful greeting such as the one delivered by the defendant to the plaintiff could cause the harms and losses suffered by the plaintiff.”

Read the full story at the CTPost.

Original post: A young boy from Westport is being sued for causing injuries to his aunt while running toward her to give her a hug four years ago, according to the Connecticut Post.

The aunt, Jennifer Connell of New York, claims in her lawsuit that her nephew, now 12, excitedly ran toward her and leaped at her when she arrived at his 8th birthday party.

She and the boy tumbled to the ground, with Connell sustaining a broken wrist which plagues her to this day, she told a jury in Bridgeport Superior Court.

Her lawsuit states, “The injuries, losses and harms to the plaintiff were caused by the negligence and carelessness of the minor defendant in that a reasonable eight year old under those circumstances would know or should have known that a forceful greeting such as the one delivered by the defendant to the plaintiff could cause the harms and losses suffered by the plaintiff.”

She is seeking $127,000 in damages, the Post said.

Read more at www.ctpost.com.