Buffalo Grove Family Wins $4.5 Million After Teen Drowns at Michigan Summer Camp

On the evening of July 20, 2011, a group of roughly 15 boys at Greenwoods Camp for Boys entered a lake near Decatur, Michigan, for a swim session that began after 10 p.m. Sunset had occurred more than an hour earlier, and there were no lights installed to maintain visibility over the swimming area. Jacob Waxberg, a 15-year-old from Buffalo Grove heading into his sophomore year at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, began struggling in the water. He disappeared beneath the surface without anyone noticing.

Nearly 30 minutes passed before counselors and responding emergency personnel located him. Michigan State Police and local units searched the lake in darkness. Despite CPR and emergency transport to a hospital, Waxberg could not be revived. He had been at the camp less than 48 hours.

The family retained Todd Smith and Brian LaCien, along with Thomas Power, of what was then Power Rogers and Smith. The attorneys filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in December 2011 in Cook County Circuit Court, naming CampGroup LLC, the corporate operator of the camp, along with camp directors and associated entities. The core allegation was straightforward: Michigan regulations prohibit organized swimming after dark, and the camp had no lighting that would have allowed a lifeguard to monitor swimmers in those conditions.

The camp's director disputed the characterization of the lighting, but the case record showed that Waxberg remained undetected in the water for close to half an hour. The plaintiff's team argued the camp's decision to conduct a lake swim after nightfall, without adequate supervision or illumination, was a direct violation of applicable safety standards.

Cook County Associate Judge Randye A. Kogan approved a $4.5 million settlement in March 2013. CampGroup LLC, as the operator, paid the full amount. The Jury Verdict Reporter identified it as the second-highest settlement in Illinois for a case involving the drowning death of a minor.