A Pennsylvania man who became a lightning rod for anti-plaintiff hysteria after he sued an 8-year-old boy over a skiing accident has won a measure of vindication as the boy's parents agreed to a $25,000 settlement.

Robb and Susan Swimm of Eagle-Vail, Colo., sparked a media firestorm by alerting their local newspaper to the suit, which accused their son Scott of injuring David Pfahler in a collision on a Vail Valley ski slope in January 2007. “Who in the world sues a child?” Susan Swimm protested to the Vail Daily.

Pfahler sued under the Colorado Ski Safety Act for at least $75,000 in damages, alleging Scott was liable for the “massive” rotator cuff tear he suffered. “If he gets anything, I'm going to be pretty upset,” Robb Swimm told a Denver Post columnist.

But the Ski Safety Act applies to “any person” regardless of age. And the parties reached a settlement last month which will be covered by the Swimms' insurance.

“The media hysteria was totally inappropriate,” says Pfahler attorney James H. Chalat (Chalat Hatten, Denver), who, like his client, received hate mail over the case. At one point in the litigation, he requested a gag order, arguing that “the ongoing media blitz poses a real threat that the Pfahlers will be deprived of a just resolution of their dispute.”

Scott Swimm, who was 7 at the time, collided with Pfahler as he allegedly tried to overtake the older skier. “As the uphill and overtaking skier, defendant Swimm had the primary duty to avoid collision with any person in front of him,” the complaint, which named the boy's father as co-defendant, said.

In his interview with the Denver Post, Robb Swimm said his son apologized to Pfahler after the collision, but Pfahler cursed at the boy. The newspaper also reported that Robb Swimm and Pfahler had a “20-minute argument” at the scene of the collision and “that was it, for eight months” -- when, in September 2007, Pfahler filed suit.

But a ski patroller who responded quickly to the scene testified in a deposition that he did not recall “any dialogue” between Pfahler and Robb Swimm. Pfahler was just “upset that he got hit,” the patroller said.

Swimm also admitted in his deposition that he received a letter by certified mail from Pfahler in April 2007 –- two months after the accident. He did not notify his insurance company of the letter or respond to Pfahler.

If the Swimms had simply referred the matter to their insurer, a run-of-the-mill personal injury case would not have made national headlines -- and Pfahler would have been spared his public vilification.