'Teacups' victim suing Disney

[ligirlz]

And her husband is suing for loss of companionship???? Seriously? She's alive. Even if she spent a couple days in the hospital (which I doubt) how did he lose "companionship?"

I think the whole thing is a joke. Why isn't she going after the woman who caused her "injuries". Right away it is Disney getting sued. I guarantee you she still goes to the parks because she lives not even 30 mins from them.

[TheRustyScupper]

1) Suits like these are heard in the local area.
2) Not a lot of suits against Disney get won.
3) However, this case might present some points.

4) Of course, anyone can assault anyone.
5) I think Disney has a winner here.
6) CM's are not trained in recognizing problems or likely problems.
7) The person might have an edge here.

8) Like a previous reply, I think Disney will settle out of court.

[Disnamic Duo]

Interesting ... very interesting ... I wonder if she also attends the Nights of Joy. This behavior is consistent with the behavior of the "church going folks" I saw the one and only time I attended that disaster.

I'm afraid I'll have to pull a Barney Fife on you here:

Non-moderator alert! Non-moderator alert!
Just like we got the alert to not turn this into a lawyer bashing, can we also not start a Christian bashing, please?

[SAHDad]

Having said all that, I'll ask people to please not turn this thread into a bash of 'frivolous' lawsuits. Let's keep the discussion to this particular incident, which seems to have its own bizaar set of facts.

Slight derail first - you can search for "Stella Awards" on google, and read more about the coffee case.

Regarding this one - I'd like to see Disney fight it, but a lot of time, the jury likes to make the "Big, Evil, Mean Company" suffer, regardless of the actual facts. Unfortunately, Disney will probably settle, and the whole thing will be sealed, so no one will ever know that Disney settled for 2 Park Hopper plus passes and a fistful of Fastpasses.

[katzctkpt]

What a fine example these women have set for children. What is this world coming to? Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

[Sharon1026]

They'll probably stop serving turkey legs, since they sort of look like clubs. And I've gotten a few churros that have been sort of pointy....

Ridiculous lawsuit. Some people are just out for a buck. No shame at all.

[drummerboy]

Regarding this one - I'd like to see Disney fight it, but a lot of time, the jury likes to make the "Big, Evil, Mean Company" suffer, regardless of the actual facts. Unfortunately, Disney will probably settle, and the whole thing will be sealed, so no one will ever know that Disney settled for 2 Park Hopper plus passes and a fistful of Fastpasses.

As a whole, juries have more sense than many people like to give them credit for. (I've actually served on two different juries.) There are also safeguards in place if juries do get carried away. Judges can and often do reduce the award that a jury gives (the part you seldom hear about). Appeals courts will also send a case back if the award doesn't fit the facts. We usually hear the big splashy news about the huge awards, but not the boring part about what happens afterward. FYI--I handle mostly real estate and probate, not personal injury, etc.

One last bit of information--most of the cases clogging up the courts are more of a commercial nature; companies suing companies, unpaid contractors and the like. Most injury cases settle out of court for relatively small amounts, often before a suit is filed.

Now back to your regular programming. And the jury is still out from this quarter on the "Teacup Caper" until I hear more real facts about what happened.

OH--Let's try to refrain from any extaneous bashing, no matter who the target.

[drummerboy]

Slight derail first - you can search for "Stella Awards" on google, and read more about the coffee case.

Or you can check on Snopes about the 'Stella Awards' and get the true story.

[SAHDad]

Or you can check on Snopes about the 'Stella Awards' and get the true story.

Yes, but Snopes (in this case) still only has about half of the story. Unfortunately, as I said, the final total is completely sealed, so for all we know, the punitive damages were reduced to $1.

(Perhaps any discussion of the Stella vs McDonalds should be spun off to the Water Cooler.)

I'm hoping that this whole Teacups fiasco fades quietly into the night, but (being a cynic), I'm imagining a fairly sizable initial award, along with some bad press about how Disney fails to protect guests from rampaging lunatics (who also happen to be guests).

[mickey&missy]

I'm sorry to say this, but as a CM, I would never break up a fight. Try to talk to them reasonably, get them to calm down. But break one up? I don't want the flying arms and fists to land in my face, I don't get paid enough for that.

Jessica, you shouldn't feel sorry for saying that! I would never expect a CM to have the responsiblity of breaking up fights! People who work an office job or a retail job aren't expected to breakup fights. Why should a disney CM, besides a security person, have to? It's not a CM's responsiblity (besides a security person) to risk injury because people can't act in an appropriate manor!

[drummerboy]

I'm hoping that this whole Teacups fiasco fades quietly into the night, but (being a cynic), I'm imagining a fairly sizable initial award, along with some bad press about how Disney fails to protect guests from rampaging lunatics (who also happen to be guests).

As far as bad press, the only place I've heard about it so far is on these boards, so it may not be as bad as it seems. Whatever happened must have happened pretty quickly, because I've seen Disney security pop up out of nowhere in a heartbeat before.

I think the Teacup Caper will be a tempest in a teacup, as it were, but that's just me.

[Mickey91]

I think it is a shame how the people that don't really have anything to do with an incident are the ones to get sued. The person who did the beating should be punished. The park can't control every freak that walks. And, we would all suffer if they tried by not having enough freedom to run around and have fun the way we like. And the person suing would probably be the first to complain of the restrictions. Look at the results of 9-11.

[Catzle]

I would never expect a CM to break up a fight, I work at our local high school and I can tell you I will never break up a fight, that's not my job,my job is to call security if that's what the CM did than their should be no lawsuit against Disney.
While we were at the P & P party this past Friday waiting for the parade. We were behind the white tape line when the parade started coming, they put up a rope where the walkway was and everyone who was behind us ran us over running up the the rope. My husband and I couldn't believe it, it's a parade they aren't giving gold out. I'm sure there are instances everyday there that every CM can not handle and they shouldn't be sued for it unless it was their fault that someone got hurt. In this case as others have said they should be suing the ladies insurance company that hit her not Disney.

[Davyjones]

Let's not start a "lawyer bashing" thread here either. My 2 brothers are lawyers and are very good people.

[CaptainSad]

They should settle out of court and then ban her for life from all Disney property. That will shut her up.

[cgriff]

Paul Krause also is suing Disney World for the loss of his wife's support and companionship in the aftermath of the attack.

Oh c'mon Paul, really now, admit it that once your wife was laid up in the hospital, the rest of your WDW stay was the most easy-going vacation you ever had! You saved major ride-queue time by being able to use the single-rider line, and with your ol ball-n-chain out of the way, you were able to freely scope out other singles at the parks! Yeah, look... Here's Paul right now, in the front seat of this coaster, enjoying himself <--see him here, the teal blue guy with his hands up, smiling... That's Paul. And it looks like he's got three other good "companions" in their with him, and they're all just having a gay time together! Hmmmm, meanwhile, here is his poor Mrs. Krause heading off to get treatment for the well-known malady that the doctor's call Pulledhairicus Syndrome

Loss of support and companionship, yeah right!

cgriff

[motherhamv]

[QUOTE=GrumpyFan;1625616]Ugh! This just burns my toast!

Disney should offer to settle by refunding them the money they spent for the day, then threaten them with a counter suit for causing a public disturbance if they ever return. /QUOTE]

I bet they wouldn't see that coming.

[Goofster]

My guess is Disney offers her a nominal sum to make her go away.

You're exactly right. Disney more than likely has a set amount budgeted each year for litigation related cases. For a case like this one, Disney will litigate it until the woman's attorney comes to a reasonable settlement amount. Once that happens, Disney will settle - the costs of litigation would be too high - but, if the woman is demanding too much, Disney will continue to litigate on principle until a fair number is reached. A settlement in this case has no real long term implication to Disney (and is more than likely handled by a private law firm).

For big intellectual property cases, the Segway case, etc., where the value is high, the impact is long term and costly (accomdating Segways), then Disney will litigate it to the full extent and throw as much money at as possible to avoid the long term effects.

[Goofster]

Let's not start a "lawyer bashing" thread here either. My 2 brothers are lawyers and are very good people.

Thanks! As with any profession, you have the good and the bad. Unfortunately with lawyers, there are a lot of bottom feeders out there chasing ambulances and filing frivolous claims against corporations - those are the cases you hear about.

[mdricks]

(Disclaimer: I am a trial lawyer that practices defense law for corporations in cases like this, albeit not this jurisdiction; I know very little about this case and my opinions are without sufficient basis hence I am basically "spouting off" )

A settlement on this sets extremely bad precedent. Knowing that payment will be forthcoming for the acts of uncontrolled third parties will open the flood gates. This isn't a slip and fall, the ramifications for future litigation are fairly high.

If I was advising Mickey (and I'm not) I would tell him to take this to trial. The ruling in the criminal court would be very helpful.

Third party in the perp, pull out the dogs and ponies, and make a very loud and visible lesson regarding this type of behavior both in the parks and in the courtrooms. And hope to god you don't loose.

Don't let your lack of faith in attorneys color your faith in the jury system as a whole. The vast majority of people who sit on juries are interested in doing the right thing. I don't know the Orlando area well but I would presume there to be a strong home court advantage for Mickey here. I could very well be wrong just my two cents as an armchair quarterback.