Suit: You kept me from jumping off the Empire State Building

Jeb Corliss is a professional stuntman and BASE jumper who has parachuted from the Eiffel Tower, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, but apparently none of his stunts compared to the trauma of being forbidden from jumping off the Empire State Building in 2006: he’s sued for $30 million, complaining that the stress of being handcuffed to the railing (after security officers pulled him down as he was climbing over the safety railing) has caused “emotional distress” and “adrenal fatigue.” The suit is a counterclaim to a suit the building filed against Corliss (for an only slightly less implausible $12 million) meant to deter other jumpers from endangering third parties; a judge had dismissed reckless endangerment criminal charges on grounds that Corliss wouldn’t actually endanger anyone by jumping, a ruling the city is appealing. [NY Times City Room Blog]

9 Comments

  • That an unmeritorious cause of action is asserted via counterclaim, you’re suggesting, does not excuse its frivolousness.

    Agreed.

  • Hard to tell which is more frivolous. The building managers suit for $12 million, or the jumper’s suit for $30 million. I think they deserve each other (and their legal fees).

  • I was going to tackle this today, but the suit, countersuit, and now the fact that prosecution is considering charging him again, was more than I could bear. 🙂

  • Maybe they should have just confiscated his “bag” and let him go?

  • His lawyer, Mark Jay Heller, said the stuntman is currently pursuing his next goal: jumping from an airplane without a parachute and “flying like a squirrel.”

    This should make all further prosecution and lawsuits moot.

    He also said Corliss, 30, had taken “affirmative steps” to ensure the safety of bystanders when he tried to scale the 10-foot (3-metre) security fence of the building’s 86th floor observatory landing in order to jump off the skyscraper in April 2006.
    And yes the judge is an idiot. If Corless got injured in this stunt he would of course sue the Empire State Building management because they didn’t do enough to prevent him from jumping off the building.

  • “If Corless got injured in this stunt he would of course sue the Empire State Building management because they didn’t do enough to prevent him from jumping off the building.”

    Of course he could. The building was clearly negligent. That so called security fence was a only one story high, provided ample finger and toe holds and there was no warning sign in 12 inch characters and 12 languages warning that jumping from 1/5 of a mile up could result in bodily injury or death.

    They might as well have pushed him!

    OB
    Who is looking forward to universal browser support of the sarcasm HTML tag.

  • Did everyone forget that we live in America? If some douchebag wants to jump off the empire state building LET HIM!!! Especially if he has had years of experience and is well equipped for the jump!!!

  • We all suffer from frivolous lawsuits! Jeb Corliss gives a bad name to basejumpers everywhere through his reckless abuse of the legal system.

  • This is plain stupid. I’d wonder if the suit is candidate for summary judgment because some jurisdictions hold that you owe no duty of care to a trespasser.