One of our favorite clichés is repeated in a tale of a lawsuit over a tragic electrocution. Because it’s BGE’s fault Gary Dart’s trailer caught on fire, because, after all, powerlines never go down during a snowstorm without negligence. Good thing it’s not about the money, or they might have asked for a lot more than $175 million. The attorney is Dave Ellin. (Joseph M. Giordano, “BGE Is Sued Over Electrocution”, Dundalk Eagle, Mar. 27). Because BGE is a regulated utility (whose maintenance budget is set in negotiations with the governmental public utility commission), the expenses of the lawsuit, including any damages, will eventually be passed on to local ratepayers. (Update: or not. See comments.)
Posts Tagged ‘not about the money’
“Not About The Money” Files: Ronan Public Schools lawsuit update
Updating our Nov. 8, 2004 entry, plaintiffs’ attorney Gary Zadik made our favorite argument when asking a jury to award $1.7 million of damages against the school district for the parents of schoolchildren who cut class and died after imbibing a half-gallon of vodka.
“This case is not about money,” plaintiffs lawyer Gary Zadik of Great Falls told the jury in his closing statements Wednesday morning.
Members of the jury apparently took him at his word, because they awarded none.
The parents argued that if the school had called them earlier, they would’ve been able to find the boys, a claim that is somewhat weakened by the fact that their bodies weren’t found until three days after they died, as well as the fact that one of the parents was called. Justin Benoist’s mother testified that “she was an alcoholic, that one of her sons had recently died in a fire because he had passed out drunk at a party and failed to smell the smoke, that none of her surviving children remained in her legal custody, and that Justin at age 11 already had a probation officer supervising him because of behavioral problems.” (John Stromnes, “Jury finds Ronan School District not liable for drinking deaths of two boys”, The Missoulian, Mar. 2; John Stromnes, “Trial over boys’ drinking deaths opens”, The Missoulian, Feb. 28).
“No one is being force fed soda”
My op-ed on the litigation against Big Cola (see Feb. 2) draws an L.A. Times reader letter (Feb. 7). Also welcome Andrew Sullivan readers (Jan. 27). More by Sullivan: “Hey, these adverts are making me fat”, The Times (U.K.), Jan. 29; blog posts including Jan. 25 and Jan. 26. And see Philip Wallach, “There Are Deeper Pockets than ‘Big Soda'”, The American Enterprise, Dec. 15; John Luik, “Sponge Bob, Wide Pants?”, TCS Daily, Jan. 25; and Rogier van Bakel, Jan. 23.
On allegations of a link between food advertising and childhood obesity, see Todd Zywicki, Dec. 21 and links. According to John Hood (“Bill Won’t Stop War on Ads”, Carolina Journal, Nov. 11):
American children are now gaining weight even as they watch somewhat less commercial television than previous generations did. One study estimated that children saw about 15 percent fewer TV ads in 2003 than their counterparts did in 1994. Alas, that does not mean today’s kids are playing outside more. They simply have many more commercial-free alternatives such as premium cable, tapes and DVDs, and video and computer games.
Another unfortunate fact for advocates of regulating food advertising is that their pet idea has already been done to the max – that is, in the form of outright bans of ads targeting children – in places such as Sweden and Quebec. The obesity rate of Swedish children differs little from that of British children, however. The same is true in Quebec vs. other Canadian provinces.
Meanwhile, Jacob Sullum (“Dora the Exploiter”, syndicated/Reason, Jan. 25) comments on the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s suit against Viacom/Nickolodeon and Kellogg (see Jan. 20):
The plaintiffs say it’s not about the money. I believe them. This lawsuit, which CSPI and its allies plan to file under a Massachusetts consumer protection statute prohibiting “unfair or deceptive acts or practices,” is really about censorship. By threatening onerous damages, CSPI aims to achieve through the courts what it has unsuccessfully demanded from legislators and regulators for decades: a ban on food advertising aimed at children.
Earlier, Sullum reported on the CDC venturing into West Virginia to stalk obesity “vectors” (“Watching the Detectives”, syndicated/Reason, Aug. 26).
Another Florida driver falls asleep
Amazingly, our Nov. 17 report wasn’t even the first time this year a Florida jury held Ford liable for millions because a driver fell asleep.
28-year-old Tami Martin was a passenger in her mother’s Ford Aerostar, but her mother fell asleep at the wheel and plowed into the back of an ambulance. The mother walked away from the accident, but Martin was reclining in her seat with her feet against the dashboard. So, though the airbag deployed, it did not provide protection. Martin jackknifed over the seatbelt, damaging her vertebrae and spinal cord, leaving her a paraplegic. Martin sued Ford for not putting the “Do not recline your seat in a moving vehicle” warning more prominently on the windshield visor next to the airbag warnings; Ford had made the warning in the owner’s manual, but Martin felt that insufficient because she didn’t read the manual. (Of course, if every potentially fatal injury in the owner’s manual is placed on the windshield visor, then the visor looks like the owner’s manual and doesn’t provide any warning at all.)
A Jacksonville jury has held Ford liable for $16.95 million. You’ll be pleased to know it’s “not about the money,” as supposedly demonstrated by Martin’s willingness to surrender half her award if Ford follows Martin’s preferences about warnings (which, of course, will lead to other lawsuits). The offer is considerably less generous than it sounds if Martin’s attorney, Robert Langdon, thinks she has a substantial chance of losing on the appeal Ford plans to take (plaintiffs frequently settle for a fraction of a verdict for precisely this reason), but at least one press account breathlessly and gullibly reports it as generous. (News4Jax, “Jacksonville Jury Awards $17 Million in Reclining Seat Case”, Nov. 18; Kyle Meenan, “Lawsuit Winner May Reject Millions”, First Coast News, Oct. 24; Pittsburgh Tribune-Review editorial, “Driving & sleeping”, Oct. 29). Special quote for H.M.D.: “‘I knew God would use me to reach other people,’ Martin said.” Overlawyered is proud to assist in God’s mission: read your owner’s manual, don’t recline your seat while in a moving vehicle, and don’t fall asleep while driving.
“Man glued to toilet seat sticks to story”
“A man who sued Home Depot claiming that a prank left him glued to a restroom toilet seat has passed a lie detector test, a newspaper reported.” After Bob Dougherty made headlines with his allegations that employees of the home improvement chain failed to respond to his calls for help, “Ron Trzepacz, former director of operations in Nederland, where Dougherty lives, said that Dougherty claimed in 2004 that he was glued to a toilet seat in the town’s visitor center but pulled himself free.” However, Dougherty said he knew nothing of Trzepacz or of such an incident and offered to take the polygraph test, which was arranged by a local television station. (AP/CNN, Nov. 11). Amid the numerous puzzling aspects of the case, one aspect is reassuringly familiar, namely that it’s Not About the Money (see Nov. 7, etc.) “It’s not about the money. I want my health back. I want to be back to normal,’ Dougherty said. ‘I want to make sure this doesn’t happen to anybody ever, ever again.'” His lawsuit asks $3 million for pain, humiliation and other losses. (AP/CNN, “Man glued to toilet may have history”, Nov. 8). Possibly the most groanworthy headline, of several candidates, was the Dallas Morning News’s: “Toilet allegation: Was it stunt No. 2?” (Nov. 8).
Not about the money, cont’d
In our continuing series (see Jul. 5): the family of 58-year-old Gerald Glover, who became ill following the recent Toronto outbreak of Legionnaire’s Disease, is suing. “It’s never been about the money,” said his daughter Cheryl. The suit seeks class action status and asks C$600 million. (“Legionnaires’ class action suit seeks $600M”, CTV, Oct. 26) (via KevinMD). Other suits that were not about the money: Apr. 30, Jun. 15, Jun. 30, and Jul. 5, 2005; Aug. 16, 2004; Mar. 27-28 and Sept. 3-4, 2002; Apr. 24 and May 9, 2001; Jul. 26-27, 2000. And one that was: Jun. 14, 2001.
Deep Impact Update
With yesterday’s successful crash into a comet by NASA’s “Deep Impact” probe, the press is remembering a Russian astrologer’s nine-billion-ruble lawsuit in Moscow court claiming that the mission will “deform her horoscope.” (She claims it’s not about the money.)
We covered this on May 19, and the press reports that the case is scheduled for trial July 28. NASA representatives did not attend a July 4 hearing. Russian law supposedly allows “plaintiffs to recover an amount equal to the cost of the undertaking that allegedly does the harm.” (“Lawsuit aims to halt comet bomb”, Baltimore Sun, Jun. 27; AP, Jul. 5; Itar-TASS, Jul. 4).
Not about the money: a continuing series
It wasn’t about the money, which doesn’t keep the lawyer from complaining that the award was too low:
A jury found a cardiologist at Lenox Hill Hospital liable yesterday for the death of the sports journalist Dick Schaap after hip replacement surgery and awarded his family $1.95 million in compensatory damages….
His family had sought $21 million.
“This case was never about the money,” his widow, Trish, said after the verdict….
[Attorney Thomas Moore, who represents the family of the 67-year-old Schaap], also expressed some disappointment with the jury’s monetary award, saying it failed to consider Mr. Schaap’s future earnings. “He was at the zenith of his career when he died,” he said.
A lawyer for the defendant cardiologist, meanwhile, takes strenuous exception to the verdict against his client, contending it was based on erroneous science. (Andrew Jacobs, “Jury Awards Family $1.95 Million in Dick Schaap’s Death”, New York Times, Jul. 2). More: don’t miss Ted’s comments above, and welcome KevinMD readers.
10-year-old’s hockey demotion
…results in courtroom commotion in Mississauga, Ont., Canada. (“Boy, 10, sues hockey association over demotion”, CBC News, Jun. 19; “Hockey lawsuit put off until fall”, Mississauga News, Jun. 24). Brendan Butrimas allegedly got booted from the Applewood Hockey Association because of conflicts between his father and officials. His family says the C$10,000 suit is — had you guessed? — Not About The Money. “It’s not a money grab. This is a case to protect the rights of children,” said attorney Harry Kopyto, the family’s legal agent. (“Boy sues over fight between his father and hockey league”, CP/Globe and Mail, Jun. 19). (Corrected Nov. 27 to specify standing of family’s legal agent; a reader writes in to say that Kopyto was disbarred by Ontario legal authorities but “is allowed to appear as an agent/paralegal in Small Claims Court”.)