Last year we covered the unsuccessful suit against Contemporary Watercrafters, a Rockville, Md.-based pool maintenance business. It’s getting some more attention now as one of the entries in the U.S. Chamber’s Faces of Lawsuit Abuse campaign (careful, it auto-plays video with sound). Angle we didn’t mention in our earlier post: the owner was annoyed at the mess made by the geese and approached the Humane Society about removal but was told “it was a no-go — the Migratory Species Act forbade him from moving or disturbing the geese. All he could do was wait for their goslings to hatch and hope they then moved on of their own free will. The store put up tape around the area and signs warning passersby of the terrible geese threat.” (On the Record (Md. Daily Record blog), Dec. 9).
Posts Tagged ‘slip and fall’
Aw, nuts!
Or so the defendant might say about the $185K verdict in this case (reduced by 50% due to the plaintiff’s comparative fault). She slipped and fell at Texas Roadhouse allegedly due to peanut shells and whatnot on the hardwood floor. Allegedly, restaurant patrons were encouraged to discard shells on the floor, which, according to my experience with a similar establishment in a different state, highlights the casual western theme.
From a claims and loss control perspective encouraging patrons to throw debris onto hardwood floors just seems like a bad idea because I doubt whatever “atmosphere” is created thereby increases revenue enough to offset the costs of defending this or similar claims, and sometimes paying the verdict. (“Jury’s $185K Award More Than Peanuts for Restaurant”, On Point News, Oct. 27).
Why stores have surveillance cameras
It only takes a couple of incidents like these for the system to pay for itself, and that’s aside from the anti-shoplifting benefits.