Are we becoming Americanized in Suing

Mr_Red · 23-06-2014 12:16PM #1

Woman sues after graveyard stumble

A woman is suing after allegedly injuring her wrist when she fell during a funeral in a Dublin graveyard.

Mary Weldon (43) claims she was injured when she fell over as she attended the funeral of her husband’s grandmother.

Mrs Weldon from Balbriggan, Co Dublin, has sued Fingal County Council as a result of the fall, four years ago in the Balbriggan graveyard.

Her counsel, Mel Christle, said the council is being sued as Mrs Weldon was a visitor to the graveyard on the day of the funeral on September 25, 2010.

TWISTED

Mrs Weldon told the court there were about 20 people at the funeral and they were walking to the graveside when her foot twisted and she fell down.

“I was more embarrassed than anything. My wrist was very sore,” she said.

She said she later went to her doctor and attended hospital for x- rays.

Cross examined by Colm Condon, for the council, she agreed further X-rays showed no fracture, and a subsequent MRI scan confirmed there was no fracture.

Counsel put it to Mrs Weldon that she was talking about a sprained wrist and doctors were predicting that Mrs Weldon “should be getting better”.

Mrs Weldon replied: “I should be, but at the moment I am still having trouble with it.”

Mr Condon stated that from pictures shown to the court, the footpath at the graveyard appeared to be in good condition. The case before Ms Justice Mary Irvine continues.

Suing in Ireland seems more common now for Stupidity.

Hande hoche! · 23-06-2014 12:18PM

Years of advertizing of injury lawyers 4 u and the likes probably didn't help.

B_Rabbit · 23-06-2014 12:19PM

What we should do is sue the Americans for Americanising us.

My name is URL · 23-06-2014 12:19PM

Well we are in spelling, apparently

mike65 · 23-06-2014 12:22PM

Ya beat me to it! If its got a zed it should probably have an ess

I like this cos its like an offer you can't refuse!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2jNLwg_C4Y

hfallada · 23-06-2014 12:24PM

There is nothing wrong with American style of suing corporations. Through suing we learnt american tobacco companies knew how harmful their products were and didn't care. And actually made their products more harmful. We learnt ford put a higher value on profits by analying it was cheaper to have a people die and severely injured by their badly designed pinto car. Than having a recall and fixing the issue

zoobizoo · 23-06-2014 12:25PM

We are but I also think that the judges are becoming aware of it.

This case will be thrown out.

23-06-2014 12:27PM

Sueing who or what, her foot?

Alf. A. Male · 23-06-2014 12:27PM

She says she was embarassed over a fall in a graveyard. Bet she wanted the ground to open up and swallow her.

o1s1n · 23-06-2014 12:28PM

A happy medium would be nice.

'ah sure I'll be grand' is still prevalent among a lot of people here and they wouldn't even fathom taking legal action.

If you injured yourself through your own stupidity then that's one thing, but if someone else/a business did cause you serious harm then by all means, do 'the American thing' - insurance exists for a reason. You'll only regret it in later life if the injury gets worse/puts you out of work etc.

Sam Kade · 23-06-2014 12:30PM

A sprained wrist still giving trouble almost 4 years on, amazing how a small injury can escalate when someone is to blame.

Mr_Red · 23-06-2014 12:33PM

Sam Kade wrote: »

A sprained wrist still giving trouble almost 4 years on, amazing how a small injury can escalate when someone is to blame.

But by the looks of it there is nobody else to blame but herself

Riskymove · 23-06-2014 12:35PM

"compo claims" for trips and falls have been a part of Irish life for decades OP...nothing new here unfortunately

corner of hells · 23-06-2014 12:37PM

hfallada wrote: »

There is nothing wrong with American style of suing corporations. Through suing we learnt american tobacco companies knew how harmful their products were and didn't care. And actually made their products more harmful. We learnt ford put a higher value on profits by analying it was cheaper to have a people die and severely injured by their badly designed pinto car. Than having a recall and fixing the issue

Anybody with a bit of time should have a read about the Ford Pinto and the value put on life .

mike65 · 23-06-2014 12:38PM

Things were probably much worse before the laws were tweaked and SuperMacs stuck a blow against chancers everywhere.

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-24730943.html

A man who made a bogus claim for injuries against Supermac's after he deliberately fell in the toilets at their fast-food outlet in Eyre Square, Galway, was charged with making two claims under false pretences at Galway District Court yesterday.

Father of two Ronan Quinlivan (23), Innishannagh Park, Galway, was 16 when he orchestrated a bogus claim against the fast-food outlet on July 16th, 1997, by splashing water onto the floor and practising a number of trial falls before eventually lying down and calling for help. Unknown to him, a CCTV camera hidden in the ceiling captured his every move.

Quinlivan, the court heard, was motivated by greed and jealousy after a friend of his had brought a successful claim for damages against another company and he decided, with the help of two unnamed friends, to do the same. …

lukesmom · 23-06-2014 12:38PM

How about the girl who climbed a high fence and injured herself at slane concert????? All her own fault yet she sued and won over €40k. I know her personally and she is known for not being able to handle her drink.

Hande hoche! · 23-06-2014 12:39PM

hfallada wrote: »

There is nothing wrong with American style of suing corporations. Through suing we learnt american tobacco companies knew how harmful their products were and didn't care. And actually made their products more harmful. We learnt ford put a higher value on profits by analying it was cheaper to have a people die and severely injured by their badly designed pinto car. Than having a recall and fixing the issue

The darker side of cost benefit analysis.

twinytwo · 23-06-2014 12:40PM

Riskymove wrote: »

"compo claims" for trips and falls have been a part of Irish life for decades OP...nothing new here unfortunately

Its gone to the extreme though, when I was small..in school and whatnot kids used to run into each other in school or trip chasing each other as kids do like. You used to dust yourself off, slap a plaster on and carry on. Now its always someone's fault, the teachers, the school etc etc. You get people looking for compo for the slightest little think these days. Its laughable.

twinytwo · 23-06-2014 12:43PM

lukesmom wrote: »

How about the girl who climbed a high fence and injured herself at slane concert????? All her own fault yet she sued and won over €40k. I know her personally and she is known for not being able to handle her drink.

You will find they argued that there wasn't enough security or some such nonsence Ans that she shouldn't have been able to climb the fence in the first place..... Thus its always someone else's fault.... Nothing to do with the girl not being able to handle her drink

El Guapo! · 23-06-2014 12:49PM

My name is URL wrote: »

Well we are in spelling, apparently

How so?

darkpagandeath · 23-06-2014 12:49PM

twinytwo wrote: »

You will find they argued that there wasn't enough security or some such nonsence Ans that she shouldn't have been able to climb the fence in the first place..... Thus its always someone else's fault.... Nothing to do with the girl not being able to handle her drink

Was over 12 feet high a give away it's to keep people out ? was it not part of fortifications designed to keep knights of the round table out... There are not enough police lifeguards protecting me from drowning in the sea, who do I sue if I half drown ?

allibastor · 23-06-2014 12:52PM

I know a girl who is suing a driver who clipped her on a bike a few months back. She literally had nothing wrong with her, went to work the day, went home, then decided to go to the doctor.

She is inline for 15K or something like that, even though no injury was given, her and her husband are both professional dole monkeys and he had a claim a few years ago. She joked about it at the weekend how it will pay for her wedding, I asked her politely to leave my house.

Riskymove · 23-06-2014 12:54PM

twinytwo wrote: »

Its gone to the extreme though, when I was small..in school and whatnot kids used to run into each other in school or trip chasing each other as kids do like. You used to dust yourself off, slap a plaster on and carry on. Now its always someone's fault, the teachers, the school etc etc. You get people looking for compo for the slightest little think these days. Its laughable.

I agree but it's not just recent years imo

I worked part-time in a supermarket about 20 years ago and people would engineer all sorts of slips and suddenly be in casts and be suying the place

Tony EH · 23-06-2014 12:58PM

My name is URL wrote: »

Well we are in spelling, apparently

El Guapo! wrote: »

How so?

"Are we becoming Americanized in Suing"

The use of a z in "-ized" is American English.

As opposed to Americanised which is English.

stabilize/stabilise

recognize/recognise

etc.

seamus · 23-06-2014 01:02PM

There definitely seems to be a tendency towards, "I'm not wrong, someone else is to blame", and this is probably a self-fuelling phenomenon as people make successful claims.
Part of the problem we have is that judges tend to be more sympathetic to people out of pocket. If they see someone permanently confined to a wheelchair suing a business that's covered by insurance, they consider it to be the lesser of two evils to award a judgement for the injured person because it serves a greater social good to have the disabled person looked after financially than to save the business a couple of grand a year in insurance premiums.
Which is arguably true, in the short term. But in the long term, it creates a form of shadow welfare economy where some people will deliberately abuse this sympathy to make claims.

The most recent example of this, "Someone else is to blame" culture is the mother who was in the Indo whinging that her son kept getting infections after swimming in the canal. He'd gotten a serious infection last year, and more this year. Her solution, "They should ban swimming in the canal". Not a hint of, "Hmmm, maybe I should control my children and stop them swimming in the canal". Nope, it was someone else's responsibility. Of course, if her son ended up arrested or fined because of this swimming ban, she'd be first to whinge in the papers about what an oppressive police state we live in and her son was just doing what boys do.

ballsymchugh · 23-06-2014 01:09PM

this was the most ridiculous case taken that i can remember. thankfully it was thrown out

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-25352082.html (from the Irish Times)

A WOMAN who suffered a torn calf muscle during an aerobics class has lost a [euro]38,000 damages claim against a leisure centre.

Therese Murray (37), Meadow View Grove, Lucan, Co Dublin, claimed the injury had been caused by the failure of the instructor to conduct a warm-up before the class on July 1st, 2009.

Ms Murray, who was also ordered to pay legal costs, denied in cross-examination by Conor Bourke, for South County Dublin Leisure Services Ltd, that she had arrived late and had walked in midway through a warm-up session.

She told the Circuit Civil Court she had gone to a free step- aerobics trial in the Lucan Leisure Centre, Nangor Road, Clondalkin. Shortly after it started she heard and felt a "pop" in her right calf muscle, followed by severe pain

Ray Palmer · 23-06-2014 01:57PM

Mr_Red wrote: »

Suing in Ireland seems more common now for Stupidity.

We actually sue for things that they wouldn't even attempt in the US. People here sue for injuries in parks which they won't let you do in the US. Tripping over a branch in the Phoenix Park and suing is madness but happens all the time here.

We have always been very keen to sue for liability much more than the US. It is a common misconception that the US sue a lot. They do take cases on topics we don't but that is partially because their own government fail to act. Here with the help of the EU there isn't as much need to do these things.

whisky_galore · 23-06-2014 02:08PM

seamus wrote: »

There definitely seems to be a tendency towards, "I'm not wrong, someone else is to blame", and this is probably a self-fuelling phenomenon as people make successful claims.

Add to that our own unique brand of nod and wink cute-hoorism, both with the general public and the legal eagles, ridiculous compo cases keeping them in clover.

Sam Kade · 23-06-2014 02:41PM

allibastor wrote: »

I know a girl who is suing a driver who clipped her on a bike a few months back. She literally had nothing wrong with her, went to work the day, went home, then decided to go to the doctor.

She is inline for 15K or something like that, even though no injury was given, her and her husband are both professional dole monkeys and he had a claim a few years ago. She joked about it at the weekend how it will pay for her wedding, I asked her politely to leave my house.

So she's working and drawing dole

she's married and hasn't yet paid for the wedding your story is full of holes.

biko · 23-06-2014 02:56PM

I offer a tenner towards a bubble wrap suit for Mrs Weldon from Balbriggan, Co Dublin, so she won't have to worry in the future as she trots around town.
http://www.rivermiles.com/forum/Attachments/bubble-wrap-suit.jpg

Arthur Beesley · 23-06-2014 03:08PM

twinytwo wrote: »

You will find they argued that there wasn't enough security or some such nonsence Ans that she shouldn't have been able to climb the fence in the first place..... Thus its always someone else's fault.... Nothing to do with the girl not being able to handle her drink

Perhaps there should have been a fence...to keep her away from the other fence.

If only there was something to keep people away from things...something like a fence might work.

Are we becoming Americanized in Suing

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