Kevin J.

Fife (#5692)
kjf@oh-pc.com
OLSON & HOGGAN, P.C.
130 South Main, Suite 200
P.O. Box 525
Logan, Utah 84323-0525
Telephone: (435) 752-1551
Attorneys for Plaintiff
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF THE
STATE OF UTAH, IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF CACHE

CRAIG BINGHAM,
Plaintiff,

COMPLAINT AND
JURY DEMAND

vs.
BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA, a
Congressionally Chartered Corporation,
authorized to do business as a Non-Profit
Corporation in Utah, TRAPPER TRAILS
COUNCIL, BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA, a
Utah Non-Profit Corporation, STANLEY
BASSETT, WILLIAM RICK BAILEY, JOHN
LUND, JONATHAN DUNN, LANDON
BASSETT, VERN IVERSON, ETHAN
FULLER, HUNTER IVERSON, and TANNER
BAILEY,

Civil No. __________________

Judge: ____________________

Defendants.
COMES NOW, the Plaintiff, CRAIG BINGHAM (Mr. Bingham), by and through his
counsel, Kevin J. Fife of Olson & Hoggan, P.C., and states and complains against the Defendants as
follows:
PARTIES, JURISDICTION, AND VENUE
1.

Mr. Bingham is a resident of Cache County, Utah.

2.

Defendant BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA is a Congressionally Chartered

Corporation, authorized to do business as a Non-Profit Corporation in Utah, which sponsors,

encourages, invites, and authorizes persons to participate in Scouting programs and activities.
3.

Defendant TRAPPER TRAILS COUNCIL, BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA is a

Utah Non-Profit Corporation, that sponsors, encourages, invites, and authorizes persons to
participate in Scouting programs and activities (hereafter, together with Defendant BOY SCOUTS
OF AMERICA, BSA).
4.

Defendant STANLEY BASSETT was a Scoutmaster (or similar position) or adult

supervisor for BSA at times relevant hereto, and is a Utah resident that participated in a BSA
hunting activity in Cache County, Utah.
5.

Defendant WILLIAM RICK BAILEY was a Scoutmaster (or similar position) or

adult supervisor for BSA at times relevant hereto, and is a Utah resident that participated in a BSA
hunting activity in Cache County, Utah.
6.

Defendant JOHN LUND was a Scoutmaster (or similar position) or adult supervisor

for BSA at times relevant hereto, and is a Utah resident that participated in a BSA hunting activity
in Cache County, Utah.
7.

Defendant JONATHAN DUNN was a Scoutmaster (or similar position) or adult

supervisor for BSA at times relevant hereto, and is a Utah resident that participated in a BSA
hunting activity in Cache County, Utah.
8.

Defendant LANDON BASSETT is a Utah resident that participated in a BSA

hunting activity in Cache County, Utah.

Complaint and Jury Demand

Bingham v. BSA, et al.
Civil No. ________________
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9.

Defendant VERN IVERSON is a Utah resident that participated in a BSA hunting

activity in Cache County, Utah.

10.

Defendant ETHAN FULLER is a Utah resident that participated in a BSA hunting

activity in Cache County, Utah.

11.

Defendant HUNTER IVERSON is a Utah resident that participated in a BSA

hunting activity in Cache County, Utah.

12.

Defendants TANNER BAILEY is a Utah resident that participated in a BSA hunting

activity in Cache County, Utah.

13.

Jurisdiction is proper under Utah Code Ann. 78A-5-102 and other applicable

provisions of law.
14.

Venue is proper under Utah Code Ann. 78B-3-307.

GENERAL ALLEGATIONS

15.

Mr. Bingham incorporates each of the allegations set forth above as though fully set

forth herein.
16.

Mr. Bingham is a sixty-one year old man whose prior recent employment included

being a hunting guide.

17.

Prior to March 22, 2014, Mr. Bingham was a healthy, fully functioning, active man.

18.

On March 22, 2014, Mr. Bingham was guiding a group of nine individuals (the nine

individuals listed as Defendants hereafter, collectively referred to as Hunters) on a pheasant

hunt on a private hunting reserve in Cache County, Utah (the BSA Hunting Activity).
19.

The Hunters were participating in the BSA Hunting Activity in conjunction with

BSA and as a BSA activity.

Complaint and Jury Demand
Bingham v. BSA, et al.
Civil No. ________________
Page 3 of 10

20.

Prior to the BSA Hunting Activity, Mr. Bingham gave the Hunters safety

instructions.
21.

During the BSA Hunting Activity, Mr. Bingham and the Hunters were walking the

hunting reserve in an attempt to flush and shoot pheasants.

22.

During the BSA Hunting Activity, Mr. Bingham and the Hunters were walking and

aligned in such a manner that each of the Hunters knew, or should have known, the location of Mr.
Bingham and the other Hunters.
23.

During the BSA Hunting Activity, Mr. Bingham and the Hunters were successful in

flushing some pheasants (the Flushed Pheasants).

24.

During the BSA Hunting Activity, Defendant STANLEY BASSETT shot at the

Flushed Pheasants.
25.

During the BSA Hunting Activity, Defendant WILLIAM RICK BAILEY shot at

the Flushed Pheasants.

26.

During the BSA Hunting Activity, Defendant JOHN LUND shot at the Flushed

Pheasants.
27.

During the BSA Hunting Activity, Defendant JONATHAN DUNN shot at the

Flushed Pheasants.
28.

During the BSA Hunting Activity, Defendant LANDON BASSETT shot at the

Flushed Pheasants.
29.

During the BSA Hunting Activity, Defendant VERN IVERSON shot at the

Flushed Pheasants.

Complaint and Jury Demand

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Civil No. ________________
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30.

During the BSA Hunting Activity, Defendant ETHAN FULLER shot at the

Flushed Pheasants.
31.

During the BSA Hunting Activity, Defendant HUNTER IVERSON shot at the

Flushed Pheasants.
32.

During the BSA Hunting Activity, Defendant TANNER BAILEY shot at the

Flushed Pheasants.
33.

During the BSA Hunting Activity, the Hunters were all armed with shotguns.

34.

During the BSA Hunting Activity, one or more of the Hunters shot Mr. Bingham at

the time the Hunters shot at the Flushed Pheasants (Shooting Incident).
35.

As a result of the Shooting Incident, Mr. Bingham suffered and sustained severe

injuries to his left eye leaving him permanently blind in that eye.
36.

As a result of the Shooting Incident, Mr. Bingham was also shot and sustained

injuries to his hand and thigh.

FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION
(Negligence)
37.

Mr. Bingham incorporates each of the allegations set forth above as though fully set

forth herein.
38.

At all times relevant hereto, the Hunters had a duty to use reasonable care toward

Mr. Bingham a duty to use the same degree of care and skill ordinarily used by members of a
hunting group in a manner that would avoid causing harm or injury to bystanders and other
members of the hunting party.

Complaint and Jury Demand

Bingham v. BSA, et al.
Civil No. ________________
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39.

The Hunters failed to exercise reasonable care in the handling of the firearms which

caused an unacceptable risk to Mr. Bingham.

40.

The Hunters failed to keep a proper lookout for Mr. Bingham and other hunters

before discharging their firearms at the Flushed Pheasants.

41.

The Hunters failed to hunt in a safe manner to minimize the risk of an accident such

as the Shooting Incident.

42.

The Hunters failed to follow the basic rules and guidelines of hunter safety.

43.

The Hunters failed to discharge their weapons with ordinary prudence.

44.

The Hunters breached their duty of care to Mr. Bingham and acted negligently and

recklessly in the discharge of their firearms.

45.

The Hunters breach of their duty of care resulted in Mr. Bingham being shot and

permanently injured.
46.

Defendant STANLEY BASSETT, Defendant WILLIAM RICK BAILEY,

Defendant JOHN LUND, and Defendant JONATHAN DUNN (collectively, the BSA Adult
Leaders) were scoutmasters or in other positions of BSA leadership, authority or control at the time
relevant to this Complaint and during the occurrence of the Shooting Incident.
47.

The BSA Adult Leaders acted negligently and recklessly by, among other things,

improperly controlling the Hunters, entrusting the Hunters to participate in a hunting activity, failing
to properly notify and educate the Hunters as to the potential for harm if the Hunters acted in a
negligent or reckless manner, failing to monitor and control the Hunters during the BSA Hunting
Activity, and failing to ensure each of the Hunters was knowledgeable and able to comply with the
basic standards of hunting safety.
Complaint and Jury Demand
Bingham v. BSA, et al.
Civil No. ________________
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48.

BSA owed a duty to train its adult leaders and supervisors, including the BSA Adult

Leaders, so that its adult leaders and supervisors would be able to conduct BSA activities in a
reasonable and safe manner.
49.

BSA failed to adequately train the BSA Adult Leaders sufficiently to ensure that the

BSA Hunting Activity was conducted in a reasonable and safe manner.

50.

BSA failed to adequately train and educate the BSA Adult Leaders and the Hunters

in proper hunting safety techniques prior to sponsoring the BSA Hunting Activity.
51.

BSA owed a duty to reasonably supervise the Hunters to ensure that the Hunters

would be able to participate in the BSA Hunting Activity in a reasonable and safe manner.
52.

BSA and the BSA Adult Leaders failed to adequately supervise the Hunters.

53.

BSA otherwise negligently and recklessly failed to act with reasonable care towards

Mr. Bingham.
54.

BSAs negligent and reckless acts and/or omissions caused Mr. Binghams injuries

and damages.
55.

The Hunters and BSAs negligent and reckless acts and/or omissions have caused

and will continue to cause Mr. Bingham to incur economic and noneconomic damages in the past
and in the future in an amount to be determined at trial.
56.

As a direct and proximate result of the Shooting Incident, Mr. Bingham suffered,

among other injuries and adverse health effects, the following:

a. Permanent vision loss in his left eye;
b. Injuries to his hand and thigh (resulting from being shot in those locations);
c. Severe headaches;
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Civil No. ________________
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d. Head/eye pressure;
e. Depression;
f. Weight gain;
g. Mobility difficulties;
h. Inability to work; and
i. Poor depth perception.
SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION
(Vicarious Liability)
57.

Mr. Bingham incorporates each of the allegations set forth above as though fully set

forth herein.
58.

The BSA Adult Leaders were agents of BSA and were acting within the scope and

course of their agency at all relevant times.

59.

To the extent any of the BSA Adult Leaders are found at fault for the negligence and

recklessness outlined above, BSA is vicariously liable for the acts of those persons under the
doctrine of respondeat superior or other equitable doctrines, such as agency, partnership, or
master/servant.
THIRD CAUSE OF ACTION
(Joint and Several Liability/Alternative Liability)
60.

Mr. Bingham incorporates each of the allegations set forth above as though fully set

forth herein.
61.

The Hunters simultaneously shot their firearms at the Flushed Pheasants.

Complaint and Jury Demand

Bingham v. BSA, et al.
Civil No. ________________
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62.

The identity of the Hunter whose buckshot actually hit Mr. Bingham is presently

unclear and, in all likelihood, will be difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain.

63.

Defendants should be held jointly and severally liable (or alternatively liable), and

the burden should be shifted from Mr. Bingham to Defendants to prove which of the Defendants
caused Mr. Binghams injuries and which of the Defendants did not cause Mr. Binghams injuries.
64.

It would be unjust of permitting the Hunters, who among them have inflicted a

serious and life-changing injury upon Mr. Bingham, to escape liability because the nature of the
Hunters conduct and the resulting harm has made it difficult or impossible to prove which of the
Hunters caused the actual harm.
JURY DEMAND
65.

Mr. Bingham demands a trial by jury of all claims outlined above.

WHEREFORE, Mr. Bingham prays for judgment against Defendants, jointly and severally,
as follows:
A.

For a reasonable sum as economic damages in an amount to be determined at trial;

B.

For compensation of noneconomic damages, in an amount to be determined at trial;

C.

For punitive damages in an amount to be determined at trial;

D.

For Mr. Binghams costs incurred herein;

E.

For prejudgment interest and post-judgment interest, according to law; and

F.

For such other and further relief as the Court deems proper under the circumstances.

Complaint and Jury Demand

Bingham v. BSA, et al.
Civil No. ________________
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DATED this 3rd day of May, 2016.

OLSON & HOGGAN, P.C.

/s/ Kevin J. Fife

Kevin J. Fife
Attorney for Plaintiff

J:\JSR\PI\Bingham, Craig\Complaint.final.doc

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