OT: Bad Mojo

Atrocities · #1 July 21st, 2004, 08:24 AM

A week ago I sold one of my quads. Today I was served papers. I am being sued because the guy I sold the quad to was drunk when he rode it, and ran over some guy Last week. *Shakes Head* Since I have insurance for this kind of thing, and a bill of sale, the lawyer I talked with today said I should be ok. However they are claiming that I failed to inform them that the quad was modified with a pipe kit. (This makes no differance because he operated it under the influance).

It will cost me nothing to have this matter thrown out of court, but I thought it sufficently horrible enough to post here.

What will they sue for next. (And yes, they paid with cash and I will report the sale on my taxes to be safe.

[ July 21, 2004, 07:25: Message edited by: Atrocities ]

Kevin Arisa · #2 July 21st, 2004, 09:03 AM

People will sue you for thier breaking a nail from slipping on an ice cube that fell from your soda. It is just another source of free money to people.

David E. Gervais · #3 July 21st, 2004, 12:04 PM

What next? hmmm, can you sue him for wrongfully suing you? Can someone file a class action suit against lawyers who file wrongfull lawsuits? (After all they should know better and only make the problem worse.) How about changing the law to where every lawyer has a licence with a maximum of three demerits, once he/she looses all three demerits (by wrongfully suing someone and wasting the courts time) he/she gets disbarred?

I know it's wishfull thinking, but it would give the good lawyers more work and get rid of the bad ones.

nuf said.

DeadZone · #4 July 21st, 2004, 12:16 PM

I remember a case over there where a yank sued McDonalds for making him fat

Like Kevin said, its just another source of free money
The lazy People of the world are always looking for the quick buck
Granted, we all dream of becoming rich overnight, but personally I find earning my money more rewarding

Ruatha · #5 July 21st, 2004, 12:38 PM

Isn't this a USA related phenomenon?
Atleast where I live any civil court sue would not give any imaginary sums as a law suit in USA can give,
Here we talk about hundreds of dollars for most stuff, so it's not worth filing law suits...
And most people are quite happy with that, I know I am.

Raging Deadstar · #6 July 21st, 2004, 12:49 PM

Dam AT you get the bad luck.

A few months ago an old worker of my dads tried to sue him and his business because he cut his hand open on a roof (My dad is self employed and does industrial cladding and basically roofing for big buildings

) The guy tried to sue my dad because even though it was raining and therefore slightly hazardous conditions (not extremely, with a harness and some common sense it was completely safe), never bothered to put a safety harness or anything on and then slipped slicing his hand open, things this worker knew from working for a few years in the industry tried to pin it on may parents some way. It was thrown out of court after a few months, the fact that he went on a drunken rampage and assaulted 6 paratroopers with a group of friends on a night out a few months later kind of suggested his hand wasn't as badly damaged as he had been claiming.

I hope it all works out in the end AT

Cyclop · #7 July 21st, 2004, 12:59 PM

I am tired of people not taking responsibility for their actions. Instead they point and pawn the problem off to someone else.
Its pretty sad when suing someone due to self negligence leads to social class gain, more stupid people with new found money ... bastards.

sachmo · #8 July 21st, 2004, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DeadZone:
I remember a case over there where a yank sued McDonalds for making him fat

Like Kevin said, its just another source of free money
The lazy People of the world are always looking for the quick buck
Granted, we all dream of becoming rich overnight, but personally I find earning my money more rewarding

It was thrown out of court. They told him that he had to prove that McDonalds and the other defendants actually mislead him and that the food was more harmful than he was lead to believe. If he can prove this, he has a case.

Litigation has turned into a weapon in this country. Hopefully something will be done, but in the meantime, it's sue city.

Don't worry, AT. It doesn't sound like this guy has a case.

dmm · #9 July 21st, 2004, 05:13 PM

We have to put up with warning labels everywhere that try to think of every possible contingency, as if we're all a bunch of imbeciles, and we all pay higher prices for everything, and insurance companies won't let anybody have any fun anymore, just so a few people and their attorneys can "win the lottery." It has to stop.
There are several fairly simple solutions to the overabundant lawsuit problem:
1) Do not allow attorneys to get paid a percentage of the damage award. (I think Canada does this.) Or, to make it more fair to non-rich people who otherwise might not be able to sue (even when they should), put a cap on the amount that attorneys can collect. Or, allow juries or judges to determine the attorney's payment from the award.
2) Allow juries the power to penalize someone who brings a ridiculous lawsuit. They can decide if the suer or his attorney should pay.
3) I like that demerit idea also.
4) Do not allow people to sue an entire corporation because of the actions of one person or one store or one franchise. For example, a woman tried to drive away from McDonald's with hot coffee between her legs. The cup came open, she got badly burned down there, and she sued McDonald's, Inc. What would she have been awarded if she had sued the McDonald's employee who was working at the drive-in that day (on the basis that he neglected to remind her that the coffee was hot)? Nothing, of course! How about the manager (on the basis that he didn't train the employee properly)? Little or nothing. How about the franchise owner (on the basis that he ordered the coffee temperature set too high)? Maybe her medical bills, but no pain and suffering. But because McDonald's is a big company, and the jury felt sorry for her, they awarded her something like a million dollars.
5) Give the defendant home-field advantage. If a multi-state corporation gets sued, they should get to pick the location where the suit takes place. Currently, the plaintiff picks the location, and of course attorneys always pick places with a history of big damage awards or where the defendant is disliked. If you are suing Microsoft for destroying your future because Windows allowed your little sister to delete your entire 50-page term paper and you think Windows should have warned you to make a backup, then I think Microsoft should at least be allowed to have the trial in Seattle, or even Redmond.

Baron Munchausen · #10 July 21st, 2004, 07:24 PM

Deh!

If he was legally intoxicated at the time he ran over this guy I don't see how he can escape responsibility. What in the world is a 'pipe kit'? Some sort of super-charger that makes it more powerful? Presumably this could 'surprise' someone and make it more difficult to control properly. Unless this outing where he was drunk was the very first time he'd ridden the thing I don't see how that matters, but even if so I doubt it's enough to get him off the hook.

That's the other incentive besides money for suing everyone for everything you can think of. You can at least claim in court that you are not responsible when you have claims against someone else. But when your claims fail to win the case, I think you are left with responsibility for your own actions.

Yes, there are sanctions for 'frivolous' lawsuits. The definition of 'frivolous' varies from state to state, but a lawyer who files to many stupid lawsuits can be accused of 'barratry' and subject to fines, suspension of license to practice law, or outright revocation of license to practice law. The problem is how difficult it is to get a state bar to decide that a lawsuit is 'over the top' these days.