Philip James Dederer acknowledges seeing a “No Diving” sign on the Foster/Tuncurry Bridge in New South Wales, but dove anyway, and the 14-year-old became paralyzed as a result. He sued: “[The sign] just told me I shouldn’t dive – it did not put any danger into it.” The court bought the argument, and Australian taxpayers are now on the hook for A$1,050,000. (Dederer v. Roads and Traffic Authority, 2005 NSWSC 185; “Bridge diving victim awarded $1m”, Sydney Morning Herald, Mar. 18). An Australian blawger, David Starkoff, defends the judgment.
Posts Tagged ‘taxpayers’
NYC tort bill last year: $570 million
New York City shelled out a record $570 million last year to resolve personal injury claims against its taxpayers, up $12 million from last year. Medical liability claims made up nearly a third of the total. A fast-growing variety of payouts were those over schoolyard beatings and other violence on school premises, for which the city paid $6.9 million, bringing the three-year total for that category to $17.7 million. (“City paid $570 million in personal injury lawsuits in 2004”, AP/Newsday, Feb. 20; David Andreatta, “School Suit $$ Soars”, New York Post, Feb. 25). More on NYC liability: Jan. 26, Jan. 6 and links from there, Jul. 31, 2003 and many others.
Couldn’t outrun cops, sues them instead
Connecticut:
A 21-year-old New Haven man who led Hamden police on a high-speed chase on his all-terrain vehicle before crashing into a utility pole last summer wants the town to pay his medical bills.
Britt Martin, of 75 George Street, claims that Officer Stephen DeGrand and four other unidentified officers were responsible for his injuries because they violated a Police Department policy to discontinue high-speed pursuits when the risk exceeds the need for immediate apprehension….
DeGrand said the suspect went through red lights and made illegal turns while driving well in excess of the speed limit during the chase.
(Fred Musante, Cops blamed for ATV crash, Hamden Journal, Dec. 29). More high-speed chase suits: Feb. 18 and Apr. 27, 2004; Sept. 21, 2003, etc.
$3.5M to unsuccessful suicide
Such suits are sufficiently common (e.g., Oct. 8, May 20, Jan. 31, 2003) that we can almost retire the category. Lawyers for Christopher Foster, a male prostitute who, while imprisoned, attempted to hang himself but only managed to self-inflict severe brain damage, argue that the mix-up in paperwork that resulted in his being put in a conventional cell instead of on suicide watch was a constitutional violation. While it’s perhaps too much to ask that suicides only blame themselves, most federal courts recognize that the standard for a constitutional violation is “deliberate indifference” rather than negligence. This case somehow got to trial and the City of Philadelphia is on the hook for $3.5 million (7% of the $50M Foster asked for) after a settlement. Foster won’t be conscious of the marginal difference in life-long nursing care (which one suspects is being shifted from one government expense account to another), but his lawyers, from the firm Kline & Specter (Jan. 24, 2003), will sure appreciate their seven-digit cut from taxpayers. (Joseph A. Slobodzian, “City abruptly settles suicide-prevention suit for $3.5 million”, Philadelphia Inquirer, Nov. 23; Jim Smith, “City to pay $3.5M in jail hanging case”, Philadelphia Daily News, Nov. 23).
Update: Louisiana Supreme Court smacks down oyster lawsuit
We’ve previously covered the ludicrous billion-dollar oyster fishermen lawsuits in Louisiana (Sep. 10; May 25; Oct. 18, 2003), where a jury awarded a sum greater than the value of the last century of oyster harvests to oyster fishermen who had a slightly reduced harvest because of a coastal conservation project that changed the beds’ salinity. The Louisiana Supreme Court decided to enforce the “hold harmless” provision in the $2/acre leases that the lower courts ignored, and unanimously voted to toss the judgment; the plaintiffs get zero. For the first time, the press coverage notes that the oyster fishermen negotiated for the clauses as a compromise in 1989 when the state indicated that they were not going to renew the leases to avoid precisely the issue of liability for changed salinity levels–alas, I see no indication that the state will sue the fishermen for breaking that promise in their contract. The refusal of courts to enforce immunity clauses (and laws) is all too often a problem. Louisiana taxpayers should be pleased that the state stood on principle and refused the plaintiffs’ proposal to settle for less than thirteen cents on the dollar of the verdict. (Jeffrey Meitrodt, “Oyster farmers’ award overturned”, New Orleans Times-Picayune, Oct. 20; Janet McConnaughey, “Court throws out $1.3 billion judgment in oyster lease case”, AP, Oct. 20). The AP gives a soapbox to the plaintiffs in an article that has no acknowledgement of the fundamental unfairness of their claim. (Cain Burdeau, AP, “Caernarvon ruling leaves oystermen seething”, Oct. 20).
Okay, towns: build sidewalks or else
Fontana, Calif.: “Karen Medina, a student at A.B. Miller High School, was killed on Cypress Avenue in December 2001 when a car driven by a 15-year-old unlicensed driver veered out of control.” So who’s 75 percent to blame for her death? Why, the taxpayers of Fontana, because the city hadn’t built sidewalks on the thoroughfare in question — or so said a jury which awarded her parents $37.5 million. (Lance Pugmire, “Death of Girl May Cost Fontana Millions”, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 22; “Jury Blames City For Teen’s Death On Busy Road”, NBC4.tv, Sept. 22).
Now, around the country, it’s common for towns to refrain from building sidewalks alongside many or most of their roads, whether for aesthetic reasons, to reflect residents’ wishes, or simply because other ways of spending town funds seem more pressing. Fontana, known as a blue-collar community, planned to build sidewalks along Cypress Avenue at some point but was waiting for state grant money to come through. It may now have less wherewithal with which to pursue similar projects in the future. A footnote: although lawyers made much of the theme that the victim when hit was walking home from school, the actual accident occurred in a residential neighborhood which would appear not to have been especially close to the school (“less than a mile”).
Update: Louisiana oyster litigation
A state court of appeal has tossed a $661 million judgment by oyster farmers against Louisiana taxpayers. “Despite evidence showing that some of the allegedly dead leases have produced thousands of oysters since the diversion began operating in 1991, [District Court Judge Manuel] Fernandez sided with the plaintiffs and awarded them $370 million — more money than the leases had ever generated.” A related $1.3 billion judgment is still on appeal to the Louisiana Supreme Court (May 25; Oct. 18). (Jeffrey Meitrodt, “Oyster farmers’ $661 million in awards tossed on appeal”, New Orleans Times-Picayune, Sep. 10; latest Naked Ownership blog entries) (via Bashman). Update Oct. 24: La. Supreme Court throws out cases.
Update: more on Lodi mess
Another look at the “man-made legal disaster” (see Jan. 12, Jan. 17) suffered by the taxpayers of Lodi, California after the collapse of a would-be innovative scheme “to force Lodi businesses and their insurance companies to pay to clean up the city’s pollution while immunizing the city from any liability”. The city borrowed $16 million from Lehman Brothers at 25 percent interest to foot the bills of lawyers like the “manipulative” and “astoundingly greedy” Michael Donovan, who concocted the scheme with an assist from Lehman. (Ken Garcia, “Lawyer shows time wounds all heels”, San Francisco Chronicle, Apr. 26).
Bubbles cost Duluth $125,000
Sometime between 5 and 6 in the Saturday morning of July 7, 2001, a prankster put gallons of Joy dish soap into Duluth’s Fountain of Wind, turning it into an eight-foot-high mass of bubbles. 57-year-old Kathy Kelly was attracted by the bubbles and decided to walk into it. And fell and cut her leg. As a diabetic, Kelly suffered from what first-year law students call Vosburg v. Putney syndrome, and incurred $43,000 of medical expenses from the cut, which turned gangrenous. So a St. Louis County jury awarded her $125,000 when it decided that Duluth taxpayers should compensate her for 70% of her injury because the city didn’t clean up the fountain quickly enough (on an early Saturday morning) or do enough to warn people not to walk into an eight-foot high mass of soap bubbles where they couldn’t see where they were walking. “People shouldn’t have to be on their guard when they are taking a step,” explained one juror, who dissented from the final decision because he wanted to hold taxpayers 90% responsible. The jury found Kelly 30% responsible, and apparently didn’t seek to apportion blame to the unknown prankster. But I suppose we can be thankful that no one sued the soap manufacturer. (Mark Stodghill, “Woman gets $125,000 in Duluth ‘bubble trial'”, Duluth News Tribune, Mar. 23; Mark Stodghill, “Woman sues city over soapy fall”, Duluth News Tribune, Mar. 12) (via Obscure Store).
Federal Way, WA mainstreaming lawsuit
Six-year-old M.L., born autistic and severely retarded, was not toilet-trained, had no communication skills, and threw frequent temper tantrums that on one occasion resulted in another child being bitten. Federal law, 20 U.S.C. ? 1414, requires public schools, through an extensive and complicated procedure, to make accommodations to “educate” M.L. When the Federal Way School District offered to put M.L. in a special program with other autistic children, his parents protested, though they had not participated in meetings with school officials about the best possible solution. An eight-day hearing before an administrative law judge was held; the ALJ ruled against the parents’ objections. The parents appealed to federal district court. The federal district court ruled that the school district’s proposal complied with federal law. The parents appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The appellate court affirmed the district court decision.
However, a few days ago, the Ninth Circuit withdrew its opinion affirming the case, and asked for additional briefing on the procedures used to make the decision, raising the possibility that it will issue a new opinion requiring the school district to hold more hearings about the appropriate individualized education plan for M.L.
Press coverage of the case has focused almost entirely on the irrelevant issue that the parents were unhappy that some of the regular students were teasing M.L., who was apparently oblivious to the name-calling (which took place for all of five days). (Kathy George, “Judges reconsider teasing case”, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Dec. 22; M.L. v. Federal Way School Dist.).