Lion Country Held Not Liable in Misty Case

An Orange County Superior Court commissioner decided Thursday that the widow and the daughter of a Lion Country Safari zoologist, who was crushed to death by an escaped Asian elephant, could not sue the owners of the now-defunct wild animal park.

Commissioner Greer Stroud ruled that under state workers’ compensation law, an employee and his heirs cannot sue an employer for negligence for injuries suffered in the course of work.

Cathleen Anne Keatonand her daughter, Megan, were seeking an exception to the law by trying to show that Lee Keaton acted in a dual capacity with Lion Country Safari and its president, Harry Shuster.

Not only was Keaton an employee, the family’s lawyer, Richard J. Krup of Irvine, stated in written arguments, but he was tending to an animal leased to the park and was acting in a public emergency to prevent the elephant from injuring members of the public.

The elephant, named Misty and owned by Gentle Jungle Inc. of Burbank, broke loose from chain tethers and wandered out of its barn on July 24, 1983. Keaton was killed by the animal while attempting to refasten a leg chain.

Stroud decided the exception did not apply in this case. Her ruling removes only the park and Shuster from the lawsuit, said their lawyer, David Cooksey of Tustin.

Remaining defendants are: Gentle Jungle and its president, the city of Irvine, the Irvine Co. and Orange County.