No one takes responsibility for their own actions anymore

[Kallison]

I broke my ankle getting off a train when I was in my 20's. Mostly my fault because I went - it's Friday yipee!! But also Amtrak's fault because our station didn't have a platform and the conductor's had to hold our arms while we stepped off of a little box. Anyhow, I told them to just pay what my deductible wouldn't pay about $150. All the conductors were telling me I was nuts every day not to sue. Amtrak demanded I take $1,000 or they were going to sue me. It was kind of funny, so I took the money and went on a cruise with my girlfriend.

Now last year I was in a jury selection for a woman who slipped and fell on an icy patch and was suing the store. I raised my hand and told the judge I could not be partial, I thought it was frivolous and already I had made up my mind to rule against the woman. He got kind of annoyed and me -- and said you must be fair and partial if I tell you to be. I said ok, but I still think she is just trying to fleece the system. I got excused.

 

[whirlsy]

when Iwas eight months pregnant I went to our local Joanns , it was in the middle of winter when i got out of my car there was a glob of ice that had formed from the roof melting, I didnt see it and tripped and fell, ( like in a cartoon where your feet is going a million miles an hour and it feels like slow motion) I landed on a bench that was out side the store and the way I landed i cradled my stomach with my arm, nothing was hurt and the baby was fine but let me tell you if something were to have gone wrong they definetly would have heard from me.

 

[Kim&Chris]

Originally posted by whirlsy
when Iwas eight months pregnant I went to our local Joanns , it was in the middle of winter when i got out of my car there was a glob of ice that had formed from the roof melting, I didnt see it and tripped and fell, ( like in a cartoon where your feet is going a million miles an hour and it feels like slow motion) I landed on a bench that was out side the store and the way I landed i cradled my stomach with my arm, nothing was hurt and the baby was fine but let me tell you if something were to have gone wrong they definetly would have heard from me.

In a situation like that, you'd have every right to pursue a claim! The fact that they didn't clear the ice properly is, in fact, negligence. I'm glad to hear that you were OK, but I bet you were scared to death

My main gripe is people that do this slip and fall crap for a living. Hopefully, they'll get theirs some day.

 

[nealymouse]

20 yrs ago I was hit by a 10 wheeler truck owned by AT&T. The guy hit me 3 times, My car was 8 inches from going over an overpass and I choose not to sue.

I dont regret it. I was not hurt. AT&T fixed my car, paid for my rental, and gave me $1,000 pocket money.

3 months later my DH and I ran ended a car. I just knew they were going to sue us. it was our fault.

The lady was very nice, understood it was an accident and never filed a law suit. I swear it was because I was the same way when I was hit.

What goes around comes around for all these people who sue for stupid reasons I swear !!!

 

[UncleKyle]

Trail Lawyers are going to send the country down the tubes....

 

[Grog]

I give this thread until about page three before either a Lawyer, Law Student, or the spouse/SO of a Lawyer comes in here to defend the bottom feeders that advertise on daytime TV

 

[barbeml]

I don't want to bash all lawyers. I know some hardworking attorneys and have needed legal counsel a couple of times.

I just have a problem with ambulence chasers and, worst of all, the "Class Action" lawyers who look for any excuse to create a class, sue "on behalf" of the victims, then pocket millions while the "victims" get a $5 movie rental or nothing.

The legal leeches are the real problem.

 

[tommysmom]

It really has gotten out of control! Now I am all for getting your just due for negligence, etc...but lets be real...its the punitive damages that are out of control.

You should get reimbursed for medical bills, lost work time, if you lost your job because of it you should get just compensation, but these million dollar settlements are ridiculous. Mostly, cases being taken on contingency where the lawyers are mopping up with their cuts!

I , too, dont believe all lawyers are piranhas , there are some very good very ethical lawyers out there...but this need for a quick buck is astounding to me....

And as a company owner...dont even get me started with workmens comp...and perfectly good system established to help and protect employees and employers.....talk about taking advantage.....

 

[lightningcoach]

I think some people have grown the idea of no responsibility for personal actions into their children. Our old house was broken into by a neighbor's kid and three of his friends. His mom had the audacity to try to tell the police that we gave him permission to break into our home! "Yea - hear are some hedge clippers and when we are both at work pry open the door and help yourself to whatever you want- and oh don't forget to bring your friends."
What is that teaching your child! And out of the four kids involved only one parent made his child return and apologize.

On the flip side- I did sue McDonald's. They gave my child a lemonade that had coffee pot cleaner in it. Supposedly at their drive thru they put lemonade in a coffee pot because they didn't have a dispenser there. They didn't rinse out the coffee pot fully. Luckily I took a drink of it before her and realized something was wrong, but I ended up with burns in my throat and had to be scoped. I had to sue to have McDonald's pick up the medical bills.
I can't imagine and don't want to imagine what woudl have happened if my child had drank it. She was only 3 at the time. Now I am the royal taste tester where ever we go and I will not eat at a fast food restaurant.

 

[year2late]

Originally posted by tommysmom
YUP! Personal accountability is sorely lacking lately. Well, imagine, after that lady got that settlement from McDonalds because she burned herself with the too hot coffee ( driving while drinking coffee wasnt the prob)...its been crazy!

I think this may be a bad example. She was in the car, stopped, not driving. The coffee was much higher than industry standard. If you spilled coffee on yourself, would you expect third degree burns requiring skin grafts? Multiple attempts at lower level negotiations with McDonalds stonewalling her.

McDonalds had on record multiple instances of people burining themselves badly becasue the coffee was to hot, but did nothing.

(Yes 6 million was out of line, but so was McD's.

 

[kellib36]

Originally posted by Eeyore1954
The latest one that makes me extremely ill is the "Car Wreck Lawyers." The CWL got me $80,000. The CWL got me $110,000. The CWL got me $215,000 -- now that's a lot of money! Well duh...

Sorry, but when *I* hear these, what comes to mind is: "And what percentage did your LAWYER get?" Coz those lawyers don't advertise on TV for free. They're getting a TON of money from YOU, coz YOU fell down or whatever.

The one that makes me, personally, wanna vomit is the mobility people....."You're entitled to all this money from the government."

What we don't hear is "And since you can go on public assistance when you're REALLY old and needy, we'll help you spend that money NOW!!!....to line our own pockets!!"

We're living in a world of victims...... Kelli

 

[tommysmom]

Yeartolate..I agree, it wasnt the first time McDonalds had been warned or the first time someone tried to sue them BUT....

The Jury awared 2.9MILLION DOLLARS! It awarded $200,000 for compensatory damages minus 20% (for they felt the plaintiff was 20% culpable). The rest was in PUNITIVE damages... No way were those burns worth millions....

If the jury felt that McDonalds needed to learn a lesson, my opinion is, that money would have been better spent going to a burn unit or some kind of charity. Get your just, agreed but why should that 1 person receive compensation for McDonalds previous mistakes....Thats what i have a problem with...the out of control situation with punitive damages being awarded and the abuse that exist...

Just my .02

 

[year2late]

They were punishing McDonalds for not taking responsibility early on. Multple attempts were made. It never needed to go to jury. Do they even have the ability to award money for punative damages to a charity? (don't know - I am asking)

By the way, I cannot invison her pain myself. It was not like she burn an arm - she burned her crotch and had skin grafts there to boot.

 

[tommysmom]

Originally posted by year2late

she burned her crotch and had skin grafts there to boot.

OUCH! Remind me never to drink anything hot over my lap!

I dont think you can award punitive damages to charities...just my wishful thinking!

 

[jrydberg]

Sorry, but in my view, McDonald's has no responsibility at all for that. Coffee is supposed to be hot and you're not supposed to spill it. Am I surprised she got 3rd degree burns? No. That can easily happen with something hot that one cannot easily wipe up instantly (say, for example, holding coffee between your legs in a car). Totally her fault.

 

[HollyJoy]

Just after graduating college, I worked as a manager at a large department store. We often had people who would come in and purposely try to hurt themselves in our store to make claims! I actually caught one unsuspecting woman throwing a plastic hanger into the walkway, then try to trip on it! We also had a man file a claim that his son had wandered into MY stockroom and broken his arm! Funny though, the child I caught in my stockroom the very same day already had a cast on his arm! People are amazing. Needless to say, our store paid for nothing.

 

[dingydiz]

Originally posted by stinkerbelle
remember last week we were talking about those stupid warnings on some products (like on the stroller - "Remove baby before folding stroller")

I guess we need
"Careful - wall ahead!"
"WARNING - Hardwood floors MAY be hard if fallen upon"

what is UP with people? It's one thing if they slip on an icy sidewalk outside an establishment - the owners/manager are required to keep that area clean...but to walk into a WALL and demand payment for your own stupidity?

Too funny, or how about CAUTION Cars in the middle of the road!!!

 

[momof2inPA]

I agree too many people take advantage of the system, but I am glad that I have the ability to seek legal recourse if I ever will find it necessary to do so. In spite of having lawyers in my family, no one in my family has ever filed a lawsuit. Not when my mom was given ten times the amount of chemo meds she was supposed to have recieved. Not when my sister almost bled to death in childbirth because the doctor "missed" all that blood that was pooling beneath her.

My point is there are legitimate reasons to file a lawsuit.

Personally, I have a beef with the obese people on disability. What's with that? And all the marginal mental ailments that are compensated under disability are taking my tax dollars away from people who are truly disabled.

 

[Girls Scout Leader]

I did have one time where I really think I could have sued, and probabally should have, but it jsut isn't in me.

I was working at a fast food place (can I say Arby's?) and there was a problem with the coffee machine. You had to watch it, because when it was filling up with the hot water it didn't know how to quit and would run all over the floor. This went on for 2 or 3 days. The manager was in full knowlege of this. Even caught it herself and turned it off just in time once or twice. Anyway, I forgot and water was running all over the floor. I ran over, hit the switch and slipped on the boiling hot water on the floor. I hit the pots on the way down with my arm and two full pots came right down on my legs and added to the hot wat water I was already sitting in at that point.

The manager was super pissed at me (you knew it was like that...why didn't you watch it closer?) and took me to a walk in clinic. They applied medication to my legs, bandaged them up and sent me home. The manager just told me to rest the rest of the week, and no more was said about it. I quit not long after.

Should I have sued? Well, I had a good reason. But didn't.

 

[year2late]

Originally posted by jrydberg
Sorry, but in my view, McDonald's has no responsibility at all for that. Coffee is supposed to be hot and you're not supposed to spill it. Am I surprised she got 3rd degree burns? No. That can easily happen with something hot that one cannot easily wipe up instantly (say, for example, holding coffee between your legs in a car). Totally her fault.

No it does not that easy - if you spilled regular "resturaunt hot" coffee on yourself you would get a red mark or possibly blister - so second degree at best. McD's was serving coffee in disposable cups well over industry standard. What gets me is that there were numerous complaints of severe burns related to coffee on record at McDonalds ---- yet they chose not to care. They care now.