As my guestblogging stint winds down here at Overlawyered, I wanted to reflect a moment on lawsuits I see around me every day. My company runs an outdoor recreation business, mainly running campgrounds on public lands. As a public contact business, we get people trying to make all kinds of strange claims against us.
For example, we have had at least two different people who needed an operation that they couldn’t afford come into our facility and fake an injury to try to get us to pay for the operation. Fortunately, in both cases, the individual involved lived locally and had tried the same stunt at several other local businesses, and we were able to get them to move their efforts on to some other business (we used to have the same philosophy about fire ants in Texas — you can’t get rid of them, you can only chase them onto your neighbor’s yard). We have also had several people try the same thing, but as employees, turning down office work and begging us to give them lots of physical labor, only to be hit with a workers comp claim within weeks.
Every year, we have hundreds more job applications than we have positions to fill, so we have to turn down a lot of qualified people for employment. It is often the case that when one of these people we turn down for employment considers themselves in a “protected” group, they call me threatening to sue. Several folks who were over 65 have threatened to sue me for age discrimination, which always makes me laugh, since the vast majority of the 500 people I employ are over 65 — many are over 80 and a few are even over 90! We have also had at least one person who interviewed in a wheelchair threaten to sue for discrimination against the handicapped, right up until we saw him playing football at the beach in our campground (and despite the fact that over 10% of my work force is disabled in some way).
We always have issues with employees who honestly believe that the courts are supposed to act as a grievance and appeals board for job terminations. I can’t even describe the large percentage of employees we terminate for cause who call me and tell me they are going to sue. Even when they don’t sue (and few do, since lawyers working on contingency need to see some hope of winning) they still cost me a ton of time, because I feel the need to personally investigate every one to make sure my managers are treating people the way they should. In many cases, we probably wouldn’t have hired the person involved in the first place because they have a history of poor performance and quick terminations, but it’s hard to find this out anymore since lawsuits have dissuaded many companies from responding honestly to reference checks.
Despite all of these, my favorite suit actually was against the company from who we bought most of our assets. One day, a male visitor was near the campground in bare feet, and claims to have stepped on a nail. The nail caused a small puncture wound on the bottom of his foot. Employees offered to get the man to the emergency room to treat the puncture and to get at tetanus shot, but the customer turned down care. Months passed, and the case was mostly forgotten. Until one day the company was given notice that the man was filing suit for sexual dysfunction. Apparently based on some medical logic I never understood, perhaps some strange acupuncture effect, the man claimed he was unable to perform sexually based on stepping on that nail. In a sane world, this would have been dismissed out of hand. However, years later, the suit lumbers on, continuing to generate legal bills and settlement pressure.
7 Comments
Warren, how on earth do you remain sane with so many false claims being levelled at your business. Whatever happened to a sense of honour, not that its any better here in the UK. Keep up the good work.
I can’t figure out how the case can continue given that treatment was offered and refused. It’s hard to see what he would rather your predecessor have done (“I should have been forcibly placed in a stretcher and hauled to the hospital”). Especially since there is a common law right to refuse treatment.
I guess he’s saying the nail shouldn’t have been there in the first place. But even so, he’s only entitled to being placed where he was before stepping on the nail, which goes back to refusing treatment. I can’t see how he’s kept this alive.
Do Acts of God Still Exist?
No, I don’t mean to start a discussion over the existence of a deity or whether that entity intervenes in the material world. I am sure Walter would permanently disown me for starting such a…
Max,
It is possible that the visitor never signed a refusal of treatment document. In the mid 1990’s my old NY Volunteer Fire Department’s EMS company would have victums signed a refusal of treatment doc to protect the department’s and village’s butt from lawsuits (This was a state wide policy). You can not sue for if you refused treatment.
He’s having a hard time nailing people. Of course there’s a connection.
I echo Barry’s comment, and hope you stay in business. As an avid camper, I want to be able to indulge in my hobby long into the future. (Don’t worry, I won’t sue).
“It is possible that the visitor never signed a refusal of treatment document.”
Of course, they can also refuse to sign your “refusal of treatment” form as well as refusing treatment…
“We always have issues with employees who honestly believe that the courts are supposed to act as a grievance and appeals board for job terminations. I can’t even describe the large percentage of employees we terminate for cause who call me and tell me they are going to sue.”
Can I state again how glad I am that I work in a right to work state. NEVER do I can somebody for cause beyond yourservices are no longer needed! End of Line! Justification of the termination leads to court around here.
This “guest” needs a visit from Guido! Seems they see more clearly after such.