Munn v. The Hotchkiss School

Fifteen-year-old Cara Munn (plaintiff) contracted tick-borne encephalitis, resulting in permanent brain damage, on a school-organized trip to forested regions of northeastern China with the Hotchkiss School (defendant); the school's pre-trip materials discussed immunizations and unrelated health topics but never warned about insect-borne diseases, despite the international-programs director having personally viewed CDC guidance specifically recommending long sleeves, pants, and DEET repellent for exactly the tick-encephalitis-affected regions on the itinerary. Students instead hiked the affected mountain region in shorts and t-shirts, got lost, and sustained many insect bites; Munn developed encephalitis ten days later. She sued in federal court and won a $41.5 million verdict, and the presiding federal court certified two state-law questions to the Connecticut Supreme Court: whether the school owed a duty to warn about the disease risk, and whether the damages award required reduction.