Insurer denies dad's claim for rain damage

GILBERT, Ariz., Aug. 6 (UPI) -- The insurer for an Arizona high school has rejected a father's claim for damages because the this year's graduation ceremony was held in the rain.

Kirk Gossett sought $400 from the Arizona School Risk Retention Trust for a sports coat he says was ruined while he watched his son graduate from Gilbert High School and for the cost of flying his daughter from Utah for the ceremony, The Arizona Republic reports.

Insurance adjuster Thomas Mullen, in a letter rejecting the claim, said that the high school made a "good faith effort" to hold the ceremony and to do the best by its graduates and their families. While some schools in the area moved graduation indoors because of the unexpected, and, for Arizona, unusual, rain, Gilbert officials decided to go ahead with an outdoor ceremony.

"The fact that it rained and caused some disruption and an abbreviated ceremony is unfortunate but does not create a liability," Mullen said.

Assistant Gilbert Superintendent Clyde Dangerfield said the rain was the first he has seen on graduation day in 15 years in the town. He said Gossett's claim was a first too.