Attorneys say #AuntfromHell was forced to sue nephew over medical bills

When Jennifer Connell showed up at the 8th birthday party for a close relative in Westport, Conn., she never expected to become the subject of an Internet firestorm.

Lawyers for a New York aunt who sued her 12-year-old nephew after a hug broke her wrist are in damage control mode after the story went viral. In order for her to make a homeowner’s insurance claim on the policy of Sean’s dad, Connell said she was forced to sue Sean.

Loving boy… Sean Tarala says he loves his aunt, even though she tried to sue him. “An individual has to be named, and in this case, because Sean and I had the fall together, I was informed Sean had to be named”.

Connell, a 54-year-old human resources manager, made national headlines this week after attempting to sue her nephew for a hug she claimed led to an injury on her left arm, including a fracture, and multiple surgeries.

On “Today”, Connell said the Connecticut legal system forced her hand in a suit she didn’t want.

Legal experts confirmed Connell’s argument over why she had named her nephew as responsible.

She also said she never wanted to hurt her nephew and that her nephew never wanted to hurt her. She clarified that her family remains strong in bonds and the son of her cousin was delighted when she took him out to shop for a Halloween costume a few weeks ago.

She says did not complain to her nephew at the time because she didn’t want to hurt his feelings, she told jurors. The jury ruled in favor of Tarala on Tuesday, as Connell walked out of the Bridgeport Superior Court in silence.

But she was advised that in order to get her medical bill paid after her wrist was broken she had no other choice. Jennifer claims that the lawsuit was simply an insurance “formality” to help cover her outstanding medical costs and it wasn’t meant to be blown out of proportion.

“The injuries, losses and harms to the plaintiff were caused by the negligence and carelessness of the minor defendant in that a reasonable eight year old under those circumstances would know or should have known that a forceful greeting such as the one delivered by the defendant to the plaintiff could cause the harms and losses suffered by the plaintiff”, it read. But as I understand it in Connecticut, it’s not possible to name an insurance company in a suit of a homeowner’s insurance case. “She loves us”, he told TODAY’s Savannah Guthrie.

The insurance company reportedly offered only $1 for her medical bills. “Our client is being attacked on social media”.