Good Samaritan: Natick Woman Rescues Teen in Fire

Nobody ever gets tired of talking about Massachusetts and the Good Samaritan laws. This might be because Seinfeld’s infamous finale took place in Massachusetts.

Nevertheless, a Natick story of heroism merits another discussion into this law.

Last week, Laura Majkut of Natick pulled her 15-year-old neighbor out of a burning second-floor apartment at 3 Franklin St.

Majkut told the MetroWest Daily News that she came home from work and heard someone pounding on the floor above. She then heard the smoke alarm go off and ran upstairs, pushing the door open. Only then did she hear her neighbor, Gabriela Gonzalez, screaming. She could only see her foot, which she grabbed to pull the teen to safety.

Many times, when a hero comes to the rescue, there is a huge legal question around the liability of that hero if something goes wrong. Can the rescuer be liable for damages caused in the rescue?

In the Natick case, Majkut had to push the door open. Could she be liable for the property damage she caused to save Gonzalez? Or what about any injuries she cased in the process of the rescue?

First of all, one would assume that she would not be held liable for any property damage, solely from a moral standpoint. But even from a personal injury legal angle, she is free of liability. A person who renders emergency medical care in good faith and is not a regular medical professional is not liable for acts or omissions stemming from the care they rendered.

These laws come from a place of public policy. The idea behind Good Samaritan laws is to protect the heroes from liability. Without such laws, good neighbors might think twice before rendering emergency assistance, if they feared that they might be sued afterwards.

The one big exception to these laws is in the case of wanton or willful conduct. If someone rendering emergency care acts in a willful manner to cause harm, then they may find themselves on the hook.

Back to the Natick fire — the Gonzalez family is recovering from the fire but they lost many of their possessions in the fire. A fund has been set up to collect money and help them rebuild their lives.

Related Resources:

• Search Boston Personal Injury Lawyers (FindLaw)
• Rendering Emergency Aid: Massachusetts’ Good Samaritan Law (FindLaw’s Boston Personal Injury News)
• Woman Falls on Tracks at Andrews MBTA Station (FindLaw’s Boston Personal Injury News)