Disneyland Being Sued for not Evacuating a Disabled Guest from IASW

[WaltD4Me]

Looks like this man might have a case. He was stuck on IASW for 40 minutes and they were not able to evacuate him as he is in a wheelchair. I'd be interested to hear Disney's side, but they did not comment.

http://www.care2.com/causes/civil-r...aving-disabled-man-on-its-a-small-world-ride/

 

[angelmav]

How does he have a case? What damages did he suffer beyond slight inconvenience?

These people deserve public ridicule for such frivolous lawsuits and we need a loser pays system in this country. Ill bet disney deals with hundreds of such baseless lawsuits each year...and you wonder why ticket prices are so high!

 

[Cherinva]

I'm not so sure either...this happened in 2009....and he is just NOW filing a lawsuit? I would think if he claim was valid, that something would have been done a long time before this.

I agree with the nonsense lawsuits....there's way too many of them....

 

[ADP]

I saw this story on our local news this morning. It must have been passed along the AP Wire making it more of a national story.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Cherinva, the article doesn't say WHEN in 2009, but 2 years isn't an unreasonable time to file a lawsuit, if it was 2 years. If the incident happened in December 2009, we're only talking about a year. The case was probably under investigation for some time before the suit was filed.

I can't comment on the merits, obviously, but dysreflexia is very scary, and life threatening.

 

[lugnut33]

I see by the ad on the side of the website cited that I could order my Disney trip planning video while reading about a guy suing Disney.

Honestly, 40 minutes is not that long of a time. What does he do when they get caught in LA traffic for much longer periods? Who do you sue then? And if you can't go for more than 40 minutes in one spot then doesn't simply going anywhere become a possibly life threatening situation?

 

[FireDancer]

I understand the frustration but I too want to know what actual damages the guest suffered. It doesn't appear that he was any worse off after the incident than before, other than a lost 40 minutes.

If anything it shines a light on Disney needing to improve their procedure for evacuating the ride but that, in my opinion, doesn't mean the guest is owed anything.

We'll see how it pans out but I smell settlement.

 

[WaltD4Me]

I didn't mean that I think Disney should write this guy a million dollar check, I just meant that maybe his case might not get thrown out from the get go.

Obviously we don't know anything close to the whole story, but I think an issue will be made out of whether Disney has procedures in place to evacuate disabled guests from IASW. I would imagine that they do. I'm curious as to when they put them into action. 40 minutes isn't very long, but what if the ride was down for hours?

 

[Uncleromulus]

It wasn't.

And I agree--nothing actually happened to the man.

Sounds like yet another $$$$$$$$$ matter.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

It wasn't.

And I agree--nothing actually happened to the man.

Sounds like yet another $$$$$$$$$ matter.

Did you READ the article? The man suffered a life threatening injury.

 

[sayhello]

Did you READ the article? The man suffered a life threatening injury.

The website is blocked here at work, so I can't read the article. What was the life-threatening injury?

Sayhello

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

The website is blocked here at work, so I can't read the article. What was the life-threatening injury?

Sayhello

In the 40 minutes stranded on the ride, Martinez suffered from dysreflexia, a condition experienced by those with spinal cord injuries caused by stress and overstimulation. Dysreflexia can lead to a stroke or death.

 

[WaltD4Me]

The website is blocked here at work, so I can't read the article. What was the life-threatening injury?

Sayhello

Below is a section of the article.....I don't know what Dysreflexia is.

===========Quote=========
Disney cast members helped Martinez onto the ride, but told him they couldn’t help him out from where the ride stopped.

“No one came to us, which I felt was another potential deadly situation,” Martinez said. “I told my wife, I said,’ they want us to roll to first aid? I don’t think we’re gonna make it.’”

In the 40 minutes stranded on the ride, Martinez suffered from dysreflexia, a condition experienced by those with spinal cord injuries caused by stress and overstimulation. Dysreflexia can lead to a stroke or death.

The Disability Rights Legal Center is representing Martinez, accusing Disneyland of violating federal and state laws and being unable to evacuate disabled guests in the event of an emergency. The lawsuit is seeking policy changes and unspecified damages.

Martinez says his lawsuit is about making sure theme parks are accessible to the disabled.===================================

 

[lugnut33]

In the 40 minutes stranded on the ride, Martinez suffered from dysreflexia, a condition experienced by those with spinal cord injuries caused by stress and overstimulation. Dysreflexia can lead to a stroke or death.

Hence my point about getting stuck in LA traffic.

I am really sorry that Mr. Martinez has this condition, that's very sad. However maybe simply being outside at a place (DL or the surrounding area) that is known to have delays (heck, people get delayed for 40 minutes simply trying to get to the parking lots off Harbor Blvd.) is simply a bad idea to begin with given his condition?

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Hence my point about getting stuck in LA traffic.

I am really sorry that Mr. Martinez has this condition, that's very sad. However maybe simply being outside at a place (DL or the surrounding area) that is known to have delays (heck, people get delayed for 40 minutes simply trying to get to the parking lots off Harbor Blvd.) is simply a bad idea to begin with given his condition?

Well, the point of his lawsuit, I think, is that the American Disabilities Act has procedures in place to make sure he doesn’t get stuck anywhere for 40 minutes, and his claim is that Disney violated the law by not evacuating him sooner.

 

[disneychic2]

I am glad there have been great strides in making public places more user friendly for our disabled friends. More needs to be done for sure. Having said that, I question this man's motives. If, as stated, his lawsuit is to make it safer for everyone, then why ask for money?
Just wondering.

 

[FireDancer]

In the 40 minutes stranded on the ride, Martinez suffered from dysreflexia, a condition experienced by those with spinal cord injuries caused by stress and overstimulation. Dysreflexia can lead to a stroke or death.

But it didn't. I'm sure it was scary at the time but in the end he didn't die and didn't have a stroke. From what I can see there were no lasting negative medical consequences. Of course I'm not a doctor so I'm just going on the limited information in the article. If there are more details that come out I'll have to adjust my opinion.

This isn't so much about this case but tort reform in general. I don't think people should sue because they are inconvenienced, offended, for what could have but didn't happen, or anything similar. JMO of course.

Well, the point of his lawsuit, I think, is that the American Disabilities Act has procedures in place to make sure he doesn’t get stuck anywhere for 40 minutes, and his claim is that Disney violated the law by not evacuating him sooner.

That very well may be the case but if it is then Disney owes a fine for violating the ADA, not money to this guest. If there is a problem Disney 100% has to address it and correct it, that doesn't mean they have to pay out damages though IMO.

 

[WaltD4Me]

Hence my point about getting stuck in LA traffic.

I am really sorry that Mr. Martinez has this condition, that's very sad. However maybe simply being outside at a place (DL or the surrounding area) that is known to have delays (heck, people get delayed for 40 minutes simply trying to get to the parking lots off Harbor Blvd.) is simply a bad idea to begin with given his condition?

I think it's a little different being stuck in traffic. In this situation Mr Martinez was not in his own vehicle, but on a Disney attraction that Disney is responsible for. Allegedly, they were evacuating other guests but not Mr Martinez. I am truly not defending the guy, but if they were evacuating able guests, Mr Martinez should have been able to be evacuated also.

And maybe there were coming to get him or putting his evacuation into place, 40 minutes really is not all that long, I totally agree, he may very well be just after the money, but I also think he, or any disabled person, should expect to be evacuated in a reasonable amount of time when other guests are being evacuated. I don't know what would be considered reasonable though.

 

[Justin Jett]

Sounds like yet another "advocacy group" looking for publicity, to me.

Disney is very concerned about safety. If there was DANGER, they would have gotten the man off the boat, even if the wheelchair had to be left behind.

The ADA was put in place to level the playing field,.....not to give disabled people a false sense of entitlement!

My problem with things like this is that Disney is THE BEST company when it comes to accomodations for disabled people! Some disabled "advocates" have said that Disney is NOT the best, but have yet to say who does it better than Disney.

My fear is that if silly lawsuits continue to pop up like this, Disney will one day stop putting the care and effort into accomodating the various needs of disabled people. Such care and effort means so much to so many disabled people. It would be a shame if that was ever to be cut back, or Disney just lost interest because they get sued at every turn.

Until someone can name a specific company of government entity that puts as much care and effort into accomodating special needs as Disney does.....these "advocacy groups" need to go jump in the lake, and leave the mouse alone!!!!!!!!

 

[lugnut33]

Preach on Justin, Preach on!!