Personal injury is a serious thing, and we live in a country that requires people to take responsibility when their negligence injures another. Some bizarre cases have come up throughout the history of personal injury lawsuits, and they serve to illustrate what does and does not constitute a valid reason to file suit.
Frightening TV
Certain TV shows are frightening, and we love these shows for the same reason that we love riding roller coasters. They are safe ways to experience some fright and stimulate the production of certain hormones that make us feel good. But what happens when things get too scary?
That was supposedly the situation in 2005 when a man tried to sue NBC after watching an episode of Fear Factor. When the contestants were asked to eat rats, the man claimed he became dizzy and he ran out of the room to escape, hitting a doorway in the process.
The case was thrown out, but what was the problem? Because the man was a regular viewer and knew the sort of thing he should expect from the show, the judge wasn’t convinced that NBC or the show were truly at fault. Additionally, there were other options open to him besides running out of the room: hitting the “off” button on the remote, for example.
The SeaWorld break-in
In 1999, a 27-year-old who always wanted to swim with killer whales decided that the best way to make this happen was at SeaWorld. He hid in the park until everyone had left. When the coast was clear, he dove into the tank with the killer whale and was killed.
His parents filed suit and claimed that, despite the term “killer” in the animal’s name, a reasonable person would not think there was any danger in swimming with one. They also claimed that selling stuffed killer whales in the gift shop portrayed the whales as friendly and confused their son.
This one was thrown out, too. Why? The victim was breaking the law at the time of the incident. It’s very hard for a plaintiff to successfully sue for a personal injury when they were committing a crime during said injury.
The exploding roof
In 2018, there was an explosion in a Southside neighborhood of Chicago. The explosion blew the roof off a 100-year-old water treatment building and the falling concrete injured nearby workers. Two of the workers sued the water district for failing to properly monitor the building and protect against this danger.
It remains to be seen what will happen, but the explosion was triggered when one worker fired off a torch in a room full of methane gas. It’s unclear why any trained person would do such a thing, but it is clear that more was going on than a simple failure in inspections. If anything, the problem was that the water district hadn’t installed Everlast II™ or other lightweight roofing materials.
The problem here is that the injured parties themselves may have contributed to the accident. If a victim is partly to blame when an injury happens, it can become more difficult to file suit. State laws vary, as do individual situations, so it’s important to ask your personal injury attorney.
The betrayed kidnapper
In some jurisdictions, people can be held to an oral contract. In 2009, a fugitive wanted for murder crashed his car during a police chase. He got out and ran, entering a home and kidnapping the homeowners in the process.
The kidnapped couple gave him some snacks and put on some TV for him to watch. According to the kidnapper, they made an oral agreement not to turn him over in exchange for money. When he fell asleep, the couple left the house and notified law enforcement. The kidnapper went to jail and the couple sued for emotional distress. He countersued over their “broken oral contract.” All the lawsuits got thrown out.
In this case, the judge was not convinced that the couple’s emotional distress case was valid, particularly because they waited a long time to file. The faster a personal injury suit is filed, the better. Waiting too long can make a case seem illegitimate. As for the kidnapper, the problem (again) is that he was committing a crime at the time the contract was broken.
Personal injury cases can be complex, and that’s why having a lawyer on your side is always a good idea, and should always be your first step.