CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - The West Virginia Supreme Court has ruled that a lawsuit filed over a man's death at an endurance event must be tried in the county where he died.
The court on Thursday ordered the Marshall County Circuit Court to transfer the lawsuit to the Berkeley County Circuit Court.
Twenty-eight-year-old Avishek Sengupta of Ellicott City, Maryland, drowned in 2013 while participating in the Tough Mudder competition at the Peacemaker Training Center in Berkeley County.
His mother, Mita Sengupta, filed the wrongful death suit against Tough Mudder organizers in Marshall County, more than 200 miles from where the event was held. The Supreme Court ruled 4-1 that Berkeley County is the proper venue under state law and under a liability agreement signed by Tough Mudder participants. Justice Robin Davis dissented.