Man wins $7.5 million suit in slip and fall

[lxskllr]

Well the man had a wife and kids. Integrity doesn't pay the bills. It is one thing to make that decision for yourself but to make your wife and kids pay for your mistake is not really fair.

I am not saying that he deserves the entire amount, I am just saying he deserves money to cover his bills and compensate for loss of income.

The problem is that none of us know the case. We don't really know how wet the floor was, how large of an area was wet, where in relation to the wet spot was the sign. Unless they rope off the wet area you may not know what is wet and what is not. A jury found that the Starbucks was in the wrong. The article does not give us much information to judge for ourselves.

It is like the McDonald's coffee lawsuit. It sounds silly at first but when you saw the damage that was done to that old lady you can understand why they wanted to be compensated.

None of that matters. If they hosed down the floor, and froze it making ice, it would still be his fault. Everyone needs to control their own bodies, and pay attention to their surroundings so they maintain control. He was the only person operating his legs, and he failed. It was 100% his fault, and he doesn't deserve more than a free cup of coffee, assuming Starbucks was feeling compassionate.

 

[Aikouka]

It wasn't a doctor, it was a chiropractor.

That's why he put doctor in quotes.

 

[MarkXIX]

That's why he put doctor in quotes.

I know. He still went too far.

 

[SamQuint]

None of that matters. If they hosed down the floor, and froze it making ice, it would still be his fault. Everyone needs to control their own bodies, and pay attention to their surroundings so they maintain control. He was the only person operating his legs, and he failed. It was 100% his fault, and he doesn't deserve more than a free cup of coffee, assuming Starbucks was feeling compassionate.

Well our laws say different. And basically what your saying is that they don't need to take any care in protecting the safety of their customers?

In any case

"After two and a half weeks in court, a jury returned a verdict against Starbucks on Friday, awarding $6,456,230.50 to Zaccaglin. His wife was awarded $1 million for loss of consortium, or the loss of her husband’s love, companionship, comfort and care."

He must have been one hell of a lover :biggrin:

 

[Train]

It's only $7.5 million because it's Starbucks.

If it were the EXACT same situation in a mom & pop shop they probably wouldn't even went to court. (wouldnt be worth the lawyer's time)

This is not justice, this is stupidity.

 

[lxskllr]

Well our laws say different. And basically what your saying is that they don't need to take any care in protecting the safety of their customers?

That's exactly what I'm saying. Personal responsibility has gone to hell in this country. Everybody expects a payoff from /someone/ when they fuck themselves up. Sometimes you just have to put on the big boy pants, and take responsibility for your own actions.

 

[Slew Foot]

He's a chiropractor. By definition, he's an asshole douchebag.

 

[Baked]

Did I mention I hate people?

 

[SSSnail]

I am just saying when you are buried under a mound of debt like that I think most people would try to see if the courts could help.

People's own stupidity and carelessness should not be a burden to others, nor it is a lottery ticket. Unless the store sets up bear traps and to injure you, you shouldn't be able to sue anyone.

If it's gross negligence, then yes; but if it's fucking mopped water, and even with a sign already telling you that it's wet and you're too damn busy with your half-caf-1/4-creamed-lightly-fluffed-caramel-delight-frapuchino-camochino-nonfat-latte and fall on your ass (head, same shit), then you don't deserve a dime. And, shouldn't a fucking chirocrapter has his own health insurance to cover for shits like that?

As for the expletives - accept no substitutes.

Also, that's a lot of dicks the wife can get for a million bucks.

Edit: Samquint, it's people like you that made me fearful of democracy.

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

7.5mil for a "Slip & Fall"? Thats one big child support bill

 

[grrl]

LOLAmerica, I love these stories.

Mini Gayner's back!

 

[SamQuint]

People's own stupidity and carelessness should not be a burden to others, nor it is a lottery ticket. Unless the store sets up bear traps and to injure you, you shouldn't be able to sue anyone.

If it's gross negligence, then yes; but if it's fucking mopped water, and even with a sign already telling you that it's wet and you're too damn busy with your half-caf-1/4-creamed-lightly-fluffed-caramel-delight-frapuchino-camochino-nonfat-latte and fall on your ass (head, same shit), then you don't deserve a dime. And, shouldn't a fucking chirocrapter has his own health insurance to cover for shits like that?

As for the expletives - accept no substitutes.

Also, that's a lot of dicks the wife can get for a million bucks.

Edit: Samquint, it's people like you that made me fearful of democracy.

Well the jury did find it was gross negligence in this case. Also what health insurance do you have that would cover your loss of income for the rest of your life? The guy is brain damaged. He could easily rack up millions of health care bills over his life. Even if his insurance covers90% that would be hundreds of thousands of dollars. No matter what you think of this "douche" he is fubar because Starbucks didn't follow safety procedures.

Like I said in a previous post none of us know the conditions. How wet was the floor, how large of an area was wet, and where the sign was in proximity to the spot. A jury did see all the evidence and found starbucks responsible.


I am not defending the amount of the award just his right to seek compensation.

 

[dmcowen674]

Man wins $7.5 million suit in slip and fall

There were no signs warning me of black ice

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR-eCuC8g34

 

[Pliablemoose]

There were no signs warning me of black ice

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR-eCuC8g34

I have never seen warning signs for "black" ice, why you gotta be so damn racist Dave?

BTW, since when do security cams have flipping audio, did I hear you scream as you fell/landed?

 

[Spoooon]

Couldn't the chiropractor adjust himself back to health?

:thumbsup:

 

[CRXican]

So he did the slip and fall where your feet actually fly into the air and you land on your head? Is he a cartoon character?

Wonder where the coffee ended up? I hope it burned his crotch.

 

[dmcowen674]

I have never seen warning signs for "black" ice, why you gotta be so damn racist Dave?

BTW, since when do security cams have flipping audio, did I hear you scream as you fell/landed?

You heard the security guard, she gasped when saw what happened.

 

[Broheim]

america, your justice system is so broken it's not even funny...

 

[Mike Gayner]

america, your justice system is so broken it's not even funny...

I disagree - it's hilarious.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

I've been in stores before and walked into a mopped floor and never saw a wet floor sign. I've never fell but came damn close and thought wtf are these idiots trying to kill me.

 

[Imp]

None of that matters. If they hosed down the floor, and froze it making ice, it would still be his fault. Everyone needs to control their own bodies, and pay attention to their surroundings so they maintain control. He was the only person operating his legs, and he failed. It was 100% his fault, and he doesn't deserve more than a free cup of coffee, assuming Starbucks was feeling compassionate.

No... From the point of view of civil courts, they probably would have had to fence the iced area off, and put up warning signs. If they half assed the fence with a piece of string and/or the warning signs, they would still get in huge shit. But that'd if they get over the fact that you put up an iced floor in the middle of a restaurant for anything other than to hurt people.

I'm not saying lack of personal responsibility is good, nor am I supporting the settlement in OP, but that's how some previous civil cases have been decided. It's generally based on negligence, or "known or ought to have known" that A would lead to B, and then taking the "proper" precautionary measures to minimize the chance that anyone will get hurt - you don't need a 10' high electrified fence, just something "reasonable". Looks like the signage in the OP wasn't deemed "reasonable".

...My profession, not lawyer but one where risk of being sued is big, requires me to know vaguely about this bullshit. Not legal advice.


Edit: By the way, go see "A Civil Action" with John Travola if you have any interest in personal injury lawyers. Hell, just watch the intro sequence.

 

[SSSnail]

Well the jury did find it was gross negligence in this case. Also what health insurance do you have that would cover your loss of income for the rest of your life? The guy is brain damaged. He could easily rack up millions of health care bills over his life. Even if his insurance covers90% that would be hundreds of thousands of dollars. No matter what you think of this "douche" he is fubar because Starbucks didn't follow safety procedures.

Like I said in a previous post none of us know the conditions. How wet was the floor, how large of an area was wet, and where the sign was in proximity to the spot. A jury did see all the evidence and found starbucks responsible.


I am not defending the amount of the award just his right to seek compensation.

Let's for one moment assume the worst, that is they opened a hose and it was flowing on the floor, then what? The guy is a chiropractor!!! An ADULT. He's lived to be THAT OLD, earned himself a "chiropractic" license. I'm sorry if he couldn't walk properly. So what if he's lost his income, if you can't work, you lose income, and that's the fact of life. No one owes you ANYTHING (unless you have insurance). Why should anyone owes the guy income that he would never otherwise have earned in the rest of his lifetime anyways? His RIGHT TO SEEK COMPENSATION? WTF? RIGHT? What fucking right? The only rights Starbucks owe him are his rights to barter for the cup of coffee they provide with legal currency.

Also, Starbucks the corporation, did not neglect in providing safety. They did train their people to do the proper thing and provided tools to do so. If the stupid fucking people (seeing a trend here?) failed to do so, then sue the people that's responsible. Oh, that's right, people don't have millions to go after.

Jury? Jury in this country are made up of, well, people in this country. You don't have to look very far to see what the majority of the people of this country have done so far with their voting. I honestly wouldn't put my faith on their intelligence as it seems that most are not on the higher 50% percentile.

It's a sad affair when there are people like you out there thinking of an easy payday and place the blame on someone else for your own actions. It's shameful. It's a disease. It should be eradicated.

We should bring back shame into this country. You do stupid things? SHAME ON YOU! You try to exploit the system because you're too lazy to work? SHAME ON YOU! You sue people because you're a dumb ass? SHAME ON YOU! You don't want to work but want to get pay a lot, on someone else' dimes? SHAME ON YOU! You think the world owes you something? FUCKING SHAME ON YOU!

 

[MotionMan]

I am a litigation defense attorney and I spent most of my career defending personal injury cases of various kinds. (And before you try to pick apart my post, this is very dumbed-down version - there are many legal details that I am glossing over.)

There are two parts of litigation matters: Liability and damages.

The fact that Starbucks was found liable is a little surprising to me. The fact that they put out a "wet floor" sign should have been enough, but I guess the jury thought that more was needed (or that it was not in the proper location). Once they were found liable, then you get to damages.

Damages include past medical bills and lost wages, but the real money is in future medical bills and future lost wages (That is the reason why wrongful death cases can result in lower awards - no future medical bills and no future "pain and suffering" can be recovered). Ongoing medical bills for a brain injury for the life of a 51-year-old man could easily exceed $2 million.

If he made about $100,000 a year, his lost wages could exceed $1.5 million.

That does not even include "pain and suffering"/general damages, which is usually anywhere from 100% to 300% of the economic damages.

The award for the wife is not surprising considering he suffered from a brain injury.

All in all, I don't like the award, but I understand it.

(BTW, do not just the McDonald's coffee case until you see the pictures of her injuries.)

MotionMan

 

[Subyman]

It is hard to really know what was going on with this law suit. You guys can pull quotes here and there, but in the end the jury made a decision with all the available evidence. My aunt fell at a department store because they had a floor plug that was protruding over 2in above the surface. There was no way to see it because it was hiding around the cloths rack.

Falls can really hurt people. Before stores allow people to come in, they need to make sure there aren't hazards that can create an incident. Obviously, the judge and jury thought Star Bucks did not take adequate steps to reasonable prevent this man from falling that led to a debilitating brain injury.

I don't see how we can judge the reward either. Lawsuits are very dirty for everyone involved. I doubt this man decided to fall and wreck his brain for some cash he can't enjoy. Who knows what the medical bills are for brain injuries too.

 

[Imp]

I am a litigation defense attorney and I spent most of my career defending personal injury cases of various kinds. (And before you try to pick apart my post, this is very dumbed-down version - there are many legal details that I am glossing over.)

There are two parts of litigation matters: Liability and damages.

Damages include past medical bills and lost wages, but the real money is in future medical bills and future lost wages (That is the reason why wrongful death cases can result in lower awards - no future medical bills and no future "pain and suffering" can be recovered). Ongoing medical bills for a brain injury for the life of a 51-year-old man could easily exceed $2 million.

All in all, I don't like the award, but I understand it.

(BTW, do not just the McDonald's coffee case until you see the pictures of her injuries.)

In my classes, they taught me that "pain and suffering" is a lot harder to get in Canada, and a bit out of control in the US of A. Don't know enough to comment.

As for the McDonald's case, don't comment until you actually know the details outside of "idiot spilled coffee on herself, is idiot, should not have sued".