Man wins $7.5 million suit in slip and fall

[MotionMan]

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.

It use to be as high at 10x economic damages. They are actually getting a little more sane at 1-3x now.

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".

The picture is so bad that posting it here would probably buy a short vacation.

MotionMan

 

[Corporate Thug]

@ SamQuint - A jury is made up of people who usually aren't particularly wealthy, and then they look at a big company, and think "they have tons of money, this is no problem", and go right ahead.

Or they say "I wouldn't make that much money working 5 lifetimes so give me medical damages only." juries are too damn unpredictable.

 

[0roo0roo]

Yea this is just one that went the other way.

watch the hot coffee documentary

in many states if a company really does fuck you over, you no longer have any real recourse because those who claimed to be out against outrageous lawsuits and settlements actually wanted to nerf everyones ability to defend themselves. i'm sure there are a few outrageous cases, but over all its better to have protection than not.

 

[pcgeek11]

If he couldn't read one sign what makes them think he could read three.

 

[MarkXIX]

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 they trying to kill idiots like me.

FTFY

 

[PimpJuice]

LOLAmerica, I love these stories.

They aren't half as funny as choosing to live in New Zealand. The people there are a bunch of retards.

 

[alkemyst]

There was a lady in the tire place last week that was bragging she won $350k for tripping over her own kid that was running away from her.

Sort of sad this happens.

 

[Mike Gayner]

They aren't half as funny as choosing to live in New Zealand. The people there are a bunch of retards.

Oh the delicious ironing.

 

[LTC8K6]

Who puts up the signs when it rains?

 

[RocksteadyDotNet]

They aren't half as funny as choosing to live in New Zealand. The people there are a bunch of retards.

You've never been to NZ have you?

 

[SSSnail]

Who puts up the signs when it rains?

I see your angle... :hmm:

Let me see if I can work it

So, God created everything, and the heaven and earth, therefore rain should be an act of God. You following me so far? Alright! Now, the main religion in this country is claiming to be representative of God, as they're claiming everything else in his name. I think that's how God works, so if you're representing God, you're also responsible for his actions.

That's it! We can sue the Church!

All I need now is the team of lawyer from Apple, and then we can troll every single religions out there. Since, you know, they all claiming God creates everything, and is responsible for everything. And those Apple lawyers, they're good at trolling up everybody.

:awe:

Profits?

 

[OutHouse]

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.

Its called insurance

 

[OutHouse]

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:

Dude can brag about his million dollar cock, who else can say that?

 

[paperfist]

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

As a sub contractor I was told even if we have a legally binding agreement holding us harmless against slip and falls, with all the correct signage out we can still be held accountable for those claims. Is that true?

 

[MotionMan]

As a sub contractor I was told even if we have a legally binding agreement holding us harmless against slip and falls, with all the correct signage out we can still be held accountable for those claims. Is that true?

In short, yes.

But, there is a lot more to it.

MotionMan

 

[paperfist]

In short, yes.

But, there is a lot more to it.

MotionMan

Thanks.

That's pretty crazy that even legal binding contracts are not bulletproof.

It's no wonder insurance is so high and my insurance company always cringes when I ask for additional insured

 

[MotionMan]

Who puts up the signs when it rains?

If you own a business, when it rains, you better put up some 'wet floor' signs as well as put out some mats/rugs at the entrances.

MotionMan

 

[LTC8K6]

If you own a business, when it rains, you better put up some 'wet floor' signs as well as put out some mats/rugs at the entrances.

MotionMan

But the ground is wet. And muddy. And slippery. The very Earth itself is wet.

I'll just close to the public if the Earth decides to wet itself...

If a "Wet Floor" sign is not enough, then I think we should just give up.

Or we could just put "Wet Floor" signs out all the time, so that if the floor ever is wet, for whatever reason, we are covered.

We could just paint it or design it right into the floor at the entrances.

CAUTION! FLOOR SURFACES MAY BE WET! WATCH YOUR STEP!

In eight languages...

 

[rudder]

The irony of a "Doctor" suing and winning (when most of them are whining about medical malpractice suits). :hmm:

chiropractors are not usually M.D's. Just glorified massage therapists.

 

[ichy]

The irony of a "Doctor" suing and winning (when most of them are whining about medical malpractice suits). :hmm:

Chiropractors are not doctors.

 

[Veliko]

The award seems excessive but those saying that it is 100% the victims fault if they slip on a wet floor are being absurd.

If there isn't a sign saying that the floor is wet then it can actually be hard to see depending on the colour of the tiles and the type of lighting being used. There is also the fact that most people don't really pay that much attention to the floor because, well, they have no real reason to.

 

[paperfist]

But the ground is wet. And muddy. And slippery. The very Earth itself is wet.

I'll just close to the public if the Earth decides to wet itself...

If a "Wet Floor" sign is not enough, then I think we should just give up.

Or we could just put "Wet Floor" signs out all the time, so that if the floor ever is wet, for whatever reason, we are covered.

We could just paint it or design it right into the floor at the entrances.

CAUTION! FLOOR SURFACES MAY BE WET! WATCH YOUR STEP!

In eight languages...

Basically if you own a business you're screwed as lawyers will take you down no matter what. You're only defense is to have one in your pocket along with some political connections.

No offense to lawyers, but they (in this particular field) create huge costs for businesses and create such a walk on egg shell environment that mom & pop companies won't be able to compete in the future.

 

[epidemis]

The irony of a "Doctor" suing and winning (when most of them are whining about medical malpractice suits). :hmm:

It would be more ironic if he was an actual doctor!

 

[SSSnail]

What if, my business name is "Caution, wet floor", would that work?

"Sir, you surely can't be serious, the warning sign wasn't large enough for you as you entered?"

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

It use to be as high at 10x economic damages. They are actually getting a little more sane at 1-3x now.

I was under the impression that things like "economic damages" and "pain and suffering" were still categorized as "compensatory damages" and that in cases like this where the defendant is a large billion-dollar corporation, the punitive damages were where the exorbitant figures come from -- the reason being that the courts awarded millions and millions of dollars (still a small fraction of the billions in revenue the company collects) in order to achieve a financially punitive effect on the corporation so that such punishments are actually "felt" by the company.

Am I off-base there?