Charla Nash says she is heartbroken after losing a second bid to sue the state for the brutal 2009 chimp attack that turned her life upside down.
The legislature’s judiciary committee voted Wednesday to deny Nash that opportunity.
Nash wants to sue for $150-million dollars claiming the state knew Travis the chimp was dangerous but did nothing about it. The state claims commissioner denied her request to sue last June and Wednesday lawmakers voted 35-3 to uphold the decision. In Connecticut residents need permission to sue the state.
Rep. Gerald Fox, D- Stamford, says he’s sympathetic but doesn’t think the state had a legal duty to protect her from the chimpanzee, a privately owned animal at a private home.
“You certainly feel sad that you’re denying her the right to sue, however I do feel that we did the right thing, ” he said after the vote.
Members of the House and Senate as a whole could ignore this recommendation from the judiciary committee and still approve Nash’s request to sue the state but Rep. Fox says that’s unlikely.
