USC is asking a judge to dismiss the university as a defendant in a lawsuit brought by the family of a cinematographer who was killed in a 2022 off-road vehicle crash during a USC student film shoot in Imperial County, citing the legal doctrine of assumption of the risk and noting that the decedent was not wearing a seat belt.
The Los Angeles Superior Court complaint was brought by Hualan Wang and Hua Sun, the father and mother, respectively, of the late 29-year-old Peng “Aaron” Wang. On Wednesday, USC attorneys filed court papers with Judge Lisa R. Jaskol arguing that there are no triable issues.
“Plaintiffs’ claims are barred under the primary assumption of the risk doctrine, which provides that participants in inherently dangerous activities generally cannot sue for negligence,” the university lawyers contend in their pleadings. “As the undisputed facts show, Wang died when the UTV he was riding in rolled over while traversing a sand dune. Off-roading in a UTV is an inherently dangerous activity.”
Wang was a 29-year-old adult who was fully capable of making an informed decision as to his own safety and the risks he was willing to take, according to the USC attorneys’ court papers.
“He chose to ride in the UTV in spite of the risks and, remarkably, chose to do so without wearing a seat belt, as required by law,” the USC lawyers further state in their pleadings.
Also named as defendants in the plaintiffs’ suit are the “Finale” film’s director, Ting Su, and producer, Biangliang Li, both of whom are USC students and Chinese nationals.
According to a sworn declaration by Joseph B. Wallenstein, USC’s then- director of physical production at the School of Cinematic Arts, “At no point did I receive a (form) relating to graduate student Ting Su’s student project , `Finale’ that requested permission to use UTVs or to drive off-road over sand dunes in connection with the filming of the project.”
In all of the years Wallenstein worked at USC, he never approved a form for a student to drive a UTV or ATV off road and up a sand dune, Wallentein further said.
Wang was a Chapman University film student recruited by the USC students to serve as their cameraman for “Finale,” a movie about the hallucinations and death of a man in the desert, the suit states. Filming took place in the Glamis Dunes, east of Brawley, and Wang died from injuries sustained when a Can-Am off-road vehicle, driven by Li, rolled down one of the dunes on April 15, 2022, the suit states.
Wang’s Imperial County death certificate, attached to the suit, states he died of blunt neck trauma.
“Asking film students to handle and oversee all of their own on-set safety without oversight is like asking an elephant to fly, according to USC’s own faculty,” the suit filed in September 2022 states.
USC had the responsibility and ability to exercise control over its students and its school film projects, according to the suit. However, the university was “negligent in the exercise of that control on the `Finale’ production” instead of fulfilling its obligation to protect Wang from harm, the suit further contends.
The suit maintains that USC actively recruits Chinese students such as Li and Su to enroll in its film school, yet fails to teach them to identify and react to the inherent dangers of filmmaking.
Su and Li themselves were negligent in their provision of planning, control and safety in that they did not ensure Li had the proper training to drive the vehicle and that Wang would be protected, the suit states.
A hearing on USC’s dismissal motion is scheduled July 24.
USC Seeks Dismissal from Film Student’s Fatal Crash Suit
