The lesson here is that you need to make sure your driveways are in good working order and that Paula Abdul has some really good insurance. A woman who worked on the show Hey Paula which was on for about five minutes and 20 drinks by Paula sued Paula after she fell down in Paula's driveway. She said the driveway was unsafe and somehow ended up settling with Paula for $1M. That is a whole lot of money for tripping in a driveway. Excuse me for a second as I go over to Simon Cowell's place and see if I can find someway to impale myself on his fence. Gas is expensive and I have to pay for it somehow. Might as well be Simon.
Her homeowner's insurane didn't pay for this? And she must have had some really serious injuries to get 1 million. Or are the civil courts in California just as crappy as the criminal courts?
ReplyDeleteSeems like an easy way to make money. I wish I could be a scumbag....I'd have much more money!
ReplyDeleteI'm curious as to what makes an "unsafe driveway." I fucking HATE sue-happy assholes.
ReplyDeleteWhew! Paula's looking rough in this photo. Even rough for Paula.
ReplyDeleteImpale yourself on Simon's fence!!! Good one, Enty!
Hot Coffee is a great documentary on punitive injuries tort law and lawsuits.
ReplyDeleteif you have HBOGO you can watch it.
If you remember about a woman who sued McDonalds over being burned and how everybody flipped out about it saying it was a frivilous lawsuit.
Turns out it was a mass PR campaign and her burns were extensive and horrible.
Just remember everybody thinks personal injury lawsuits are bullshit until its them or a family member that is hurt. Try getting compensaton then, you will be in shock how little people get.
ReplyDelete@Timebob - I watched that documentary recently and was very surprised to hear the real story behind the scalding coffee.
ReplyDelete"are the civil courts in California just as crappy as the criminal courts?"
ReplyDeleteYes.
$1 mill is still way too much to pay for a drunken trip/fall, even given a complicated orthopedic injury. Too. Damn. Much. Celebrities do overpay, though. Or, rather, they apply pressure to the insurer to overpay so the suit gets settled.
I remember the McDonalds coffee woman. Your right, there was alot more to that case than what we joked about at the time. She had to go through a lot of burn treatment. If I remember correctly, didn't they originally just ask for McD's to pay for her medical expenses but they turned them down.
ReplyDeleteMy husband is an investigator for personal injury attorneys. Unfortunately the insurance companies really stonewall people to avoid paying so that you HAVE to sue them. Still, million dollar payouts are extremely rare. Perhaps it was bad faith on the part of the insurance company - when it's bad faith you can sue for megabucks, whether it's a bad injury or not.
ReplyDeleteMillion dollar payouts are "rare" because million dollar cases are rare.
ReplyDeleteInsurance companies do stonewall cases of minor injury and disputed liability. They're making up for getting jacked on major injury cases.
In minor cases, hiring an attorney may get the injured person just enough more to ... pay the attorney.
There's no "bad faith" failure to pay (at least in CA) a third party claimant.
The McDonalds case was absurd, but not for the reasons people initially laughed about. There's nothing funny about the burns that woman suffered. What's overlooked is that she spilled her coffee. When you spill coffee on yourself at home, who do you blame? What do you do when there's not a deep pocket around to cover the cost? Coffee spill claims were rare and most of the time McDonalds paid them off for economic reasons. And, yes, the coffee was hot. What a surprise. McDonalds, Starbucks, and your home coffee maker (if it's a good one) still make coffee at that temperature. Because people don't want cold coffee.
That photo of Paula gives me the creeps.
ReplyDeleteOMG A friend of ours fell outside our house on Saturday night, had to go the hospital and have emergency surgery to repair her knee. Laid up for 6 weeks and she works for an Insurance company. Didn't even mention suing us ... Hope she doesn't read this website :) .... and I already went over with an Edible Arrangement and a card. I feel horrible but it wasn't even on my property, it was on the sidewalk.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid if we fell over, we dealt with it. Work with a bloke who rorts the system, can't stand it.
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ReplyDeleteRIDICULOUS!! (everyone knows Paula doesn't drink)
ReplyDeleteAmartel, that particular McD's had their coffee at a temperature much higher than the standard, and had been warned about it in the past. It was inevitable that someone would be seriously injured, and they knew it was coming but didn't care.
ReplyDeleteOh poor Paula that picture does not show her in the best light!
ReplyDeleteAs for hot coffee, I lived in Seattle and was given a latte by one of those free standing coffee joints. The lid wasn't applied properly and popped off. The scalding hot coffee then poured down my arm and across my lap. I jumped out of the car and proceeded to rip off my clothing (right out in the open) to prevent further burning from the scalding milk. Luckily, I only ended up with first degree burns to my legs and I only had blistering down my arm. It took almost 2 years for the discolouration on my arm to fade.
ReplyDeleteI will never underestimate the damage that can occur from a hot coffee. No, I did not run to a lawyer. This could have happened to anyone, and it wasn't like my face got burnt, or I was blinded.
Dude looks harsh in that pic.
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