Naya Rivera’s ex-husband files wrongful death lawsuit, claims lake has ‘deadly history’

Naya Rivera's former husband Ryan Dorsey has filed a wrongful death lawsuit following the actor’s death in July.

Rivera's body was found on 13 July after the 33-year-old went missing from a rented pontoon boat on the California lake, where she was swimming with her then four-year-old son five days earlier. Soon after, an autopsy confirmed that the Glee star had drowned by accident.

The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday (17 November) by Dorsey on behalf of their son Josey Hollis, reports US Weekly.

Dorsey – to whom Rivera was married between 2014 and 2018 – filed a civil complaint that names Ventura County and the area’s water management district as defendants.

The court papers claim that Lake Piru – where the actor drowned – has a “deadly history”, citing at least 26 other drowning deaths since its opening in 1959.

It states that the authorities had not warned Rivera about the many dangers, claiming that there were no signs on the lake’s property warning visitors of strong currents, low visibility or strong winds.

The suit also alleges that the pontoon boat she rented was “illegally under-equipped” in terms of safety. It states that a later inspection revealed that the boat did not have any floatation or life-saving devices. California law requires all pontoon boats longer than 16ft to carry floatation devices on board.

The boat was also allegedly not equipped “with a safely accessible ladder, adequate rope, an anchor, a radio or any security mechanism to prevent swimmers from being separated from their boats”.

The lawsuit requests a trial by jury.