Gardner and his relatives filed the lawsuit in Philadelphia federal court after the March 2025 death of his teenage son, Miller Gardner, at the Arenas Del Mar Beachfront & Rainforest Resort on Manuel Antonio beach in Costa Rica, according to court-related details reported by The Associated Press. The family said they were on a vacation when Miller Gardner died and when other family members became sick.
The filing, submitted Friday, asserts a negligence and wrongful death claim and attributes Miller Gardner’s death to carbon monoxide that the lawsuit says came from a machine room at the resort, the AP reported. In the complaint, the Gardners allege that the machine room was not properly ventilated and that carbon monoxide exposure caused Miller Gardner’s death and the injuries or illnesses suffered by other relatives.
The AP report said the lawsuit names people tied to the resort’s ownership and operations, including David Callan and R. Scott Williams. It also lists Hawk Opportunity Fund LP, described as a venture capital firm based in Newtown, Pennsylvania, and the AP said messages seeking comment were left Friday at businesses linked to the fund and to the two men.
While the lawsuit argues that the resort’s ventilation problems led to carbon monoxide exposure, Costa Rican authorities previously attributed Miller Gardner’s death to carbon monoxide poisoning. Randall Zúñiga, director of Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Agency, said last year that tests showed Miller Gardner had high levels of carboxyhemoglobin, a compound produced when carbon monoxide binds to hemoglobin in the blood.
The AP report described the resort case as one involving a family vacation, with the Gardners alleging that carbon monoxide from the resort’s machine room harmed not only Miller Gardner but also other members of his family who were present. The lawsuit’s dispute, as framed in the reporting, centers on whether the resort’s operations and ventilation conditions were responsible for the carbon monoxide exposure that authorities and tests had linked to Miller Gardner’s death.
Brett Gardner, a former New York Yankees outfielder who played his entire MLB career with the team, was drafted by the Yankees in 2005, according to the AP report. The AP noted that Gardner batted .256 with 139 home runs, 578 RBIs, 274 stolen bases and 73 triples in 14 seasons from 2008 to 2021.