By TRILBY BERESFORD | Reporter
The Bel-Air Bay Club is being sued over the death of one of its members. Plaintiff Katherine Keck alleges that club attendants did not give her son, Santa Monica Canyon resident 48-year-old William Matthew Keck III, proper medical care after he began to suffer from dehydration starting at 2 p.m. on Sept. 3, 2017.
According to the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit, Keck laid down on a locker room bench until a club attendant moved the bench and allowed him to lie on the floor. Although the attendants witnessed his deteriorating condition, the suit claims that they delayed calling 911 for three hours. At that point, another club member entered the locker room and demanded that someone call 911.
When emergency personnel were finally called, Keck had significantly worsened. He was transported to UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica where he was pronounced dead at 5:58 p.m.
The suit states, “Defendants had a duty to properly train employees and attendants to among other things: a) properly respond to a member/guest suffering from dehydration, heat stroke, or some other medical condition; b) recognize the signs and symptoms of dehydration/heat stroke; c) understand/recognize that a person suffering from dehydration/heat stroke would likely have impaired judgement.” The suit alleges wrongful death and negligence: Katherine Keck is seeking unspecified damages.
Her son was a commercial real estate broker, unmarried with no children at the time of death. The family are members of the Keck oil dynasty, which supports many medical causes, including the 1736 Family Crisis Center and the Keck School of Medicine at University of Southern California. Keck’s grandfather rose from selling sandwiches on trains to, with oil discoveries in Huntington Beach and Torrance, founding the Superior Oil Company.
Attorneys for the plaintiff, Bruce Broillet, Alan Van Gelder and Taylor Rayfield were unavailable for comment along with the Bel-Air Bay Club.
City News Service contributed to this report.
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