New Jersey: “Ramsey and Bergen County police must pay a man who got drunk and passed out on a snow bank $850,000. A jury decided the police bungled a 911 call, and should have found Frederick Puglisi sooner. …Puglisi walked out of a New Year’s Eve party at a Ramsey hotel in 2001 and passed out on a snow bank for nine hours.” Attorney Samuel Denburg convinced a jury that Puglisi was only 15 percent responsible for his resulting frostbite and other injuries, while the police were 85 percent responsible because the 911 dispatcher did not press for enough details from a bystander or pass all the details on to officers, and because the police conducted only a cursory search of the scene. (“Jury Makes Police Pay $850,000 For Not Finding Partygoer”, WNBC, Sept. 29; “Drunken man passes out, wins $850K from police”, Newsday, Sept. 29; “Drunken ‘Snowman’ Gets $850G Payday”, 1010WINS, Sept. 29).
Posts Tagged ‘personal responsibility’
Rare-burger disclaimers, cont’d
“An exclusive London restaurant stopped asking customers to sign a legal disclaimer if they order rare or medium-rare burgers after the practice came to the attention of the city’s legal community. The restaurant at the five-star Marriott West India Quay in London’s Docklands required diners to complete a form which said it waived the hotel chain’s responsibilities should they suffer food poisoning.” (“Rare burger? Just don’t sue us”, CNN, Sept. 29). We first covered the burger-disclaimer issue more than five years ago: see Aug. 9, 1999.
Lawsuits of the future
John Michael Dunton of Anaheim was not criminally charged after his five-month-old died of heatstroke September 9 after her father left her in his van for four hours instead of at her babysitter. Dunton held a press conference with his attorney: “I hope that the auto industry or the car seat manufacturers will have some kind of alarm or bell so [parents] won’t forget their kid in a car.” (Wendy Thermos, “After Child’s Hot-Car Death, Father Backs Alarm Systems for Parents”, LA Times, Sep. 25). One awaits with trepidation the first parent/attorney combination with the chutzpah to sue the auto industry for this oversight. Readers of Romenesko are appalled, though Michael Kaufman, tongue firmly in cheek, writes
We really need these warning systems all over the house. For example, I can’t tell you how many times I have started doing laundry without realizing that little Jimmy was still wearing the clothes that I was throwing in the washing machine. If I only had an early warning system on my washer/dryer. Or when I made the bed with Suzie still sleeping. I am actually thinking of suing Allstate for not warning me when I moved and left all the kids behind.
Farmer’s market veggie tumble
Stamford, Ct.: “A senior citizen who fractured her hip when she tripped over vegetables at a farmer’s market two years ago is suing the city and the downtown business improvement district that sponsored the event.” (Donna Porstner, “Woman trips on vegetables, files lawsuit”, Stamford Advocate, Sept. 10). For more on the menace of open-air food markets, see Jul. 14 (suits over slaughter by driver of runaway car at Santa Monica market; on which, see this commentary as well at LAVoice.org). If we sue them enough, maybe they’ll go away and we can all get back to patronizing supermarket chains with their full-time risk managers and security staffs — so much safer that way.
Drops baby from bridge, sues bridge owner over stress
Vancouver: “Nadia Hama, who dropped her infant daughter from the Capilano Suspension Bridge nearly five years ago, is pressing ahead with a suit against the operators of the privately owned tourist attraction. … Hama’s daughter Kaya, then 17 months old, miraculously survived the plunge after tree branches broke her 150-foot fall into the rocky canyon.” (“Woman who dropped baby from bridge sues bridge owner for stress”, Canadian Press/ AZCentral.com, Aug. 24). We last covered the case Oct. 8, 2001.
“‘Hurt feelings’ win killer $1200”
“A man jailed for brutally murdering a teenage girl has been awarded [NZ]$1200 compensation for hurt feelings and humiliation while in prison.” (Bridget Carter, New Zealand Herald, Aug. 23). “In a decision that prompted political anger, the Human Rights Review Tribunal said inmate Andrew MacMillan had suffered “injury to his feelings, loss of dignity and humiliation” when he was denied access to [a letter written about him]. MacMillan was jailed in 1988 for raping and killing Jayne McLellan, 17.” (“Convicted NZ murderer compensated for hurt feelings”, ABC News Online, Aug. 23; “Rapist-killer wins cash award for hurt feelings”, Sydney Morning Herald, Aug. 23).
Update: Derrick Thomas responsible for own crash
After less than a day of deliberations, jurors rejected a lawsuit claiming that General Motors was responsible for the death of former Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Derrick Thomas, who was speeding on ice without a seat belt at the time of his fatal crash four years ago (see Nov. 28, 2000). The ruling was a setback to attorney Michael Piuze (Jun. 19, 2001, Sept. 24, 2001, Oct. 4-6, 2002), who argued the case for the plaintiffs. (“GM Wins In Derrick Thomas Wrongful Death Trial”, KansasCityChannel.com, Aug. 17).
The family, as we noted in our earlier item on the case, had also sued local ambulance service Emergency Providers Inc. and Liberty Hospital, both of which tried to save Thomas after the accident. The ambulance company settled, as did a Chevrolet dealership. “There was no dispute that the Suburban’s roof was far stronger than federal standards, but the family contended that those standards were insufficient and needed to be changed. … Almost whispering to the jury, [Piuze] asked them for from $75 million to more than $100 million in damages, saying he did not want to put an upper limit on it.” We’ll bet he didn’t (Joe Lambe, San Jose Mercury News, Aug. 17).
Not the DUI’s fault?
On June 26, 2002, Reno policeman Mike Scofield was heading to the scene of an accident at a high rate of speed, but didn’t turn on his motorcycle siren. Anna Marie Jackson was pulling out of an office park driveway to make a left turn, and paused in the middle of the street in Scofield’s path; Scofield, driving in the left lane, hit her SUV, and was killed instantly. Jackson was eventually convicted of a felony for causing a fatal crash while driving with marijuana in her system.
So the widow, already receiving $1.3 million in workers compensation, sued… the office park, claiming that untrimmed trees caused the accident, though a photo of the view showed no obstruction. Her lawyer even asked for punitive damages. A jury didn’t buy it, voting 7-1 against the widow. (Jaclyn O’Malley, “Officer?s widow loses lawsuit”, Reno Gazette-Journal, Aug. 13; Martha Bellisle, “Scofield trial nearing end”, Reno Gazette-Journal, Aug. 12; Martha Bellisle, “Civil trial begins in Scofield case”, Reno Gazette-Journal, Jul. 21; Reno press release, Sep. 26, 2002). Anna Marie Jackson is appealing her conviction; sentencing is set for September 10, where she faces two to twenty years. (Jaclyn O’Malley, “Jackson given OK to marry before sentencing in cop’s death”, Reno Gazette-Journal, Apr. 30).
Another driver in a drunken driving death fared better. Robert Curry, who had three previous drunken driving convictions, had had four vodkas and a blood-alcohol level of at least .217 when he drove his jeep over a center line and struck Robert Strehlow’s motorcycle, killing him. But Curry claimed he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder from his service in Vietnam that caused him to drink. Curry singled out an event in 1971 where he claimed his plane had been shot down, but the commander of his company testified the incident never happened. Moreover, for the year while he was in jail following the accident before he made bail, he didn’t seek counseling. Nevertheless, a Wisconsin jury found him not guilty of homicide by reason of mental disorder. Curry will now undergo a psychiatric evaluation and will be released to outpatient treatment if he is not a “threat to the public.” (Tom Daykin, “Jury acquits veteran haunted by memories”, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Aug. 12; Terri Pederson, “Curry: Post traumatic stress disorder led to deadly drunken driving collision”, Daily Citizen, Aug. 6; Tom Daykin, “Man’s stories of Vietnam stress questioned”, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Mar. 14; Tom Daykin, “With company on upswing, fatal collision brings man’s world crashing down”, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Oct. 25).
Judge: noise complaint merits no Creedence
According to Tim Sandefur (Aug. 6), musician John Fogerty, best known for his work with Creedence Clearwater Revival, in April of last year “prevailed in a lawsuit brought by an audience member who alleged that Fogerty?s music was so loud as to harm his hearing at the concert. …The opinion [by Judge Martin Schoenfeld], studded with quotations from Fogerty?s songs, held that
there is no standard of care by which a jury could determine on the evidence presented that defendants had breached a duty owed to plaintiff. Without knowing what is ?too loud,? and without knowing how loud the concert actually was, a jury would have to engage in double speculation to conclude that defendants? music was ?unreasonably loud.? Second, the doctrine of primary assumption of risk bars the instant action.
Finding no relevant cases in which concertgoers had been allowed to sue over excessive volume, the court also noted:
Surely this dramatic absence of litigation, in what is perceived to be such a litigious nation, speaks volumes to the fact that the principle applicable to the social compact governing the volume at Rock & Roll concerts is caveat emptor…. Litigation by an ?eggshell ear? plaintiff is not an appropriate means to impose an unlegislated noise code upon performers…and their legions of screaming fans….
The case cite (per Sandefur) is Powell v. Metropolitan Entertainment Co., Inc., 195 Misc.2d 847, 849 n. 1 (N.Y.Sup. 2003).
“Kin of slain ‘thief’ sue city”
New York: “The family of a teen who was shot and killed by an undercover cop last year — after the youth put a BB gun to the head of the officer’s partner — filed a $5 million wrongful-death suit against the city yesterday.” Police say Allen Newsome, 17, had robbed several restaurant deliverymen in Harlem when he got caught in a January 2003 sting operation in which an undercover cop posed as a delivery worker. As the teen held a gun to the officer’s head, “a second officer — the cop’s partner — shot Newsome three times.” Now his mother is suing, saying cops took too long to summon medical help. (Carl Campanile, “Kin of Slain ‘Thief’ Sue City”, New York Post, Aug. 10)(via NY Civic “Quotidian“).