Woman seeks $1.25M for drunken tumble

A simple statement of claim says absolutely nothing about the concept of personal responsibility. I could file one tomorrow saying you owe me a billion dollar.s
 
If this was America I bet she would settle outside of court for some money.
 
Wow. If she ends up getting a dime, I'll be really depressed.
 
I know several establishments that have bathrooms upstairs or downstairs.

If she wins me thinks that would encourage copycats. Hmmm.. maybe i'll go get drunk at **** then throw myself down the stairs.
 
really? you would consider skull fractures, partial paralysis of face, shoulder, hand, arm and leg to be worth 1.25 million?

Wow...
 
The action doesn't surprise me. Conceptually there's little difference between the fall and a drunk driver that was served too much booze. The bars have been on notice for a while now, not that it is totally fair. My wife drinks so little that one shot of whiskey in a punch would have her falling down stairs. How would a bartender know that?

On the other hand I wouldn't want a bar to have carte blanche to keep serving when the person is openly showing signs of overindulging. Short of having MADD one on one babysitting, a person has to know their limit and stop at least one short of it. If you're not sure then you've reached your limit.
 
OpenGambit said:
really? you would consider skull fractures, partial paralysis of face, shoulder, hand, arm and leg to be worth 1.25 million?

Wow...
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We throw the word million around like it's a lot of money. It used to mean set for life. Now it buys a half decent house in TO, a new car and a few baubles. OHIP doesn't provide fun money so enjoy drooling on yourself in front of the big screen TV for the rest of your life because that's about as good as it would get.

If a person gets a reasonable job and is to some degree prudent it isn't hard to retire with a million in assests after having a lot of fun along the way. Or you can fall down some stairs, get a million or so, have a miserable life and end up with nothing at the end.

And finally, a successful suit would be settled for less money and minus legal fees. (Small condo. Ikea furniture, no car)
 
nobbie48 said:
The action doesn't surprise me. Conceptually there's little difference between the fall and a drunk driver that was served too much booze. The bars have been on notice for a while now, not that it is totally fair. My wife drinks so little that one shot of whiskey in a punch would have her falling down stairs. How would a bartender know that?

On the other hand I wouldn't want a bar to have carte blanche to keep serving when the person is openly showing signs of overindulging. Short of having MADD one on one babysitting, a person has to know their limit and stop at least one short of it. If you're not sure then you've reached your limit.
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I agree, but regardless if the bar is an enabler or not, I think personal responsibility should trump everything. I'd throw this case out if I could.
 
^^ Yea but its not gonna get thrown out...If Ontario is any indication. Anyone remember that story where a whole bunch of rich brats got drunk at a bar and the driver ran the Audi off the road killing everyone? The bar/bartenders got criminally charged for that one.
 
Red_Liner740 said:
^^ Yea but its not gonna get thrown out...If Ontario is any indication. Anyone remember that story where a whole bunch of rich brats got drunk at a bar and the driver ran the Audi off the road killing everyone? The bar/bartenders got criminally charged for that one.
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Maybe in Alberta, they're a bit smarter.
 
nobbie48 said:
We throw the word million around like it's a lot of money. It used to mean set for life. Now it buys a half decent house in TO, a new car and a few baubles. OHIP doesn't provide fun money so enjoy drooling on yourself in front of the big screen TV for the rest of your life because that's about as good as it would get.

If a person gets a reasonable job and is to some degree prudent it isn't hard to retire with a million in assests after having a lot of fun along the way. Or you can fall down some stairs, get a million or so, have a miserable life and end up with nothing at the end.

And finally, a successful suit would be settled for less money and minus legal fees. (Small condo. Ikea furniture, no car)
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I realized i wasn't clear, but I consider 1.25 million to be a very low sum for that type of injury. I was responding to caboose claiming he would throw himself down the stairs.
 
Red_Liner740 said:
^^ Yea but its not gonna get thrown out...If Ontario is any indication. Anyone remember that story where a whole bunch of rich brats got drunk at a bar and the driver ran the Audi off the road killing everyone? The bar/bartenders got criminally charged for that one.
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It would not get thrown out because case law has established that bars have a duty of care. Therefore there is a issue to be tried, this would not be a candidate for a summary decision.
 
OpenGambit said:
I realized i wasn't clear, but I consider 1.25 million to be a very low sum for that type of injury. I was responding to caboose claiming he would throw himself down the stairs.
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We agree but a buddy in the USA was suing a trucking company for injuries. $5M was the start point but after about four years of legal tug of war his lawyer told him they weren't half way to the end yet. He settled for a pittance of the original amount.
The victim is the only one under stress. To the lawyers and corporate execs etc it's just another piece of paper to process. Years of legal harrassment takes its toll on the little guy. Many drop the issues or take chump change settlements.

Lawsuits only make money for lawyers and con artists. Most people would rather just have their life back.
 
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nobbie48 said:
We agree but a buddy in the USA was suing a trucking company for injuries. $5M was the start point but after about four years of legal tug of war his lawyer told him they weren't half way to the end yet. He settled for a pittance of the original amount.
The victim is the only one under stress. To the lawyers and corporate execs etc it's just another piece of paper to process. Years of legal harrassment takes its toll on the little guy. Many drop the issues or take chump change settlements.
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I dont' dispute that at all, a litigation guy i worked for once told me "lawyers dont' have problems, clients have problems".
Taking cases to the end take some endurance, its not a perfect system.
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