Should you be able to sue because of your own stupidity?

[Kajikit 65]

Two Florida boys were out riding their bikes and they went to a factory (I have no idea of the exact circumstances - I just heard it on the news bulletin) They found a ladder leading up to the roof so they climbed up it, fell through a skylight and were injured. One of them broke his arm and the other one is in a coma. Their parents are sueing the factory owner for creating an 'unsafe environment'.

Excuse me! What were the kids doing up there in the first place? It's a FACTORY not a playground... IMO it's entirely the boys fault and the parents shouldn't be able to sue anyone. If they had an accident at ground level yes... but IMO as soon as their feet left the ground on that ladder they lost the right to sue because they shouldn't have been up there!

What do you think?

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Two Florida boys were out riding their bikes and they went to a factory (I have no idea of the exact circumstances - I just heard it on the news bulletin) They found a ladder leading up to the roof so they climbed up it, fell through a skylight and were injured. One of them broke his arm and the other one is in a coma. Their parents are sueing the factory owner for creating an 'unsafe environment'.

Excuse me! What were the kids doing up there in the first place? It's a FACTORY not a playground... IMO it's entirely the boys fault and the parents shouldn't be able to sue anyone. If they had an accident at ground level yes... but IMO as soon as their feet left the ground on that ladder they lost the right to sue because they shouldn't have been up there!

What do you think?

Shades of the hot coffee spillage suit against McDonald's!

[Jenn! 918]

I agree that there is no basis for a lawsuit.

But I can't say that I wouldn't react the same way as the parent of a child in a coma. In such a tragedy, it is almost instinctive to look for someone to blame. Hard to blame a child for putting himself in a coma...

[faith 0]

actually... the property owner is completely at fault unless he has secured the premises. The lawsuit will also take into consideration was there a fence, were there no tresspassing signs, etc.

Someone could walk on porch on the ice, slip and fall, and even tho he was trespassing, I could be sued as the property owner. MY insurance would take the hit.

[Jenn! 918]

actually... the property owner is completely at fault unless he has secured the premises. The lawsuit will also take into consideration was there a fence, were there no tresspassing signs, etc.

Someone could walk on porch on the ice, slip and fall, and even tho he was trespassing, I could be sued as the property owner. MY insurance would take the hit.

Good point.

I would think that the owner would have been aware of such liabilities and protected himself accordingly, but one can never be sure.

[faith 0]

actually... the property owner is completely at fault unless he has secured the premises. The lawsuit will also take into consideration was there a fence, were there no tresspassing signs, etc.

Someone could walk on porch on the ice, slip and fall, and even tho he was trespassing, I could be sued as the property owner. MY insurance would take the hit.

Good point.

I would think that the owner would have been aware of such liabilities and protected himself accordingly, but one can never be sure.

It's hard to protect yourself completely from that sort of thing. Use my porch example.... why on earth would I secure my porch with a fence yanno?

and as far as the factory.... well sadly it just happens. My little sister climbed a FENCE at the local fairgrounds, clearly violating the signs, cut her foot really badly, and ended up with $10,000 from the lawsuit. She was like 14 when she did it. I don't agree with all the frivolous lawsuits, but in some circumstances (my sister not being one of them) they are warranted. We don't know how "open" that factory was. And how old were the kids? If they were too young to have the proper judgement then I can see how the factory is liable for not securing the area.

[Fischkoepfin 1]

I'm torn on this one. On the one hand, it would depend on whether there was a fence, warning, etc. There was certainly a ladder lying around which points to a lack of concern for safety on factory grounds.

On the other hand, it depends on the age of the boys, and if they are too young to comprehend the danger of the situation, then the parents failed to supervise them/protect them from danger and dangerous situations. I'm against parents blaming other people for their own failure to watch their kids. If the boys were old enough to know the danger and trespassed despite a fence and signs then tough luck...

[nijusjaanu 0]

i heard of a robber going through the skylight of a house and landing on some knives that the homeowners had left out. he hurt himself on them and sued the homeowners for his injuries. the theif won!

[Fuzzness 2]

Personal responsibility no longer exists because these chopf#ck judges judge in favour of the idiot jerks that file these moronic lawsuits.

[almaty 19]

Personal responsibility no longer exists because these chopf#ck judges judge in favour of the idiot jerks that file these moronic lawsuits.

well stated...

[Sister Fracas 5]

Personal responsibility no longer exists because these chopf#ck judges judge in favour of the idiot jerks that file these moronic lawsuits.

well stated...

But it IS the responsibility of the factory to secure their site...we don't know all the facts here.

[eau_xplain 2]

Should I then start posting NO TRESPASSING signs all over our yard and place NO CLIMBING signs on our fence? Will that absolve us of any responsibility if a trespasser gets hurt within our property?

That's another thing that really amazes me here. Nobody wants to take responsibility. It is always someone else's fault. And people wonder why the cost of insurance is so high (and lawyers have so much money ). And that is also why we have all those silly warning labels on everything!! When parents sue someone when their kids do something like in the original post, then we are teaching our kids that it is ok to pass the blame on someone. You can continue doing stupid things because, in the end, it will be someone else's fault.

[faith 0]

Personal responsibility no longer exists because these chopf#ck judges judge in favour of the idiot jerks that file these moronic lawsuits.

well stated...

But it IS the responsibility of the factory to secure their site...we don't know all the facts here.

exactly

Should I then start posting NO TRESPASSING signs all over our yard and place NO CLIMBING signs on our fence? Will that absolve us of any responsibility if a trespasser gets hurt within our property?

That's another thing that really amazes me here. Nobody wants to take responsibility. It is always someone else's fault. And people wonder why the cost of insurance is so high (and lawyers have so much money ). And that is also why we have all those silly warning labels on everything!! When parents sue someone when their kids do something like in the original post, then we are teaching our kids that it is ok to pass the blame on someone. You can continue doing stupid things because, in the end, it will be someone else's fault.

What if you had a pool (even a kiddie pool that's 2 feet deep) and a kid came into your yard and drowned in your pool? Don't you think as the property owner you are liable for not providing a locking mechanism on your pool or a fence to protect the children?

The signs will not completely absolve you from responsibility, but they will help your case that you were trying to protect the property and the people potentially coming on to it.

However, if you leave a ladder laying against the side of a building with no security (fences, locks, etc) you are liable. It's not passing the buck, it's reality.

I guess in a perfect world kids would NEVER ride their bikes alone. They'd have mom or dad attached at their hip so that they don't get hurt. Sorry, in my reality it doesn't exist like that. If you can HONESTLY say that your kids are never out of your sight and that your kids would NEVER make a bad decision that would cause them harm, then you must be a superhero.

[Kajikit 65]

actually... the property owner is completely at fault unless he has secured the premises. The lawsuit will also take into consideration was there a fence, were there no tresspassing signs, etc.

Someone could walk on porch on the ice, slip and fall, and even tho he was trespassing, I could be sued as the property owner. MY insurance would take the hit.

Good point.

I would think that the owner would have been aware of such liabilities and protected himself accordingly, but one can never be sure.

It's hard to protect yourself completely from that sort of thing. Use my porch example.... why on earth would I secure my porch with a fence yanno?

and as far as the factory.... well sadly it just happens. My little sister climbed a FENCE at the local fairgrounds, clearly violating the signs, cut her foot really badly, and ended up with $10,000 from the lawsuit. She was like 14 when she did it. I don't agree with all the frivolous lawsuits, but in some circumstances (my sister not being one of them) they are warranted. We don't know how "open" that factory was. And how old were the kids? If they were too young to have the proper judgement then I can see how the factory is liable for not securing the area.

If they were too young to have proper judgement then they were FAR too young to be riding their bikes around the neighbourhood by themselves... so the blame comes back to the parents for letting them out unsupervised, or leaving them unsupervised so they could go out without permission.

I'm aware of the really f#ed up lawsuit business in the US and it's just plain WRONG... I'm sorry, but if you are trespassing where there is a no trespassing sign, or a fence saying DANGER KEEP OUT or some other obvious means of indicating private property or danger, you should lose all right to claim damages.

[faith 0]

actually... the property owner is completely at fault unless he has secured the premises. The lawsuit will also take into consideration was there a fence, were there no tresspassing signs, etc.

Someone could walk on porch on the ice, slip and fall, and even tho he was trespassing, I could be sued as the property owner. MY insurance would take the hit.

Good point.

I would think that the owner would have been aware of such liabilities and protected himself accordingly, but one can never be sure.

It's hard to protect yourself completely from that sort of thing. Use my porch example.... why on earth would I secure my porch with a fence yanno?

and as far as the factory.... well sadly it just happens. My little sister climbed a FENCE at the local fairgrounds, clearly violating the signs, cut her foot really badly, and ended up with $10,000 from the lawsuit. She was like 14 when she did it. I don't agree with all the frivolous lawsuits, but in some circumstances (my sister not being one of them) they are warranted. We don't know how "open" that factory was. And how old were the kids? If they were too young to have the proper judgement then I can see how the factory is liable for not securing the area.

If they were too young to have proper judgement then they were FAR too young to be riding their bikes around the neighbourhood by themselves... so the blame comes back to the parents for letting them out unsupervised, or leaving them unsupervised so they could go out without permission.

I'm aware of the really f#ed up lawsuit business in the US and it's just plain WRONG... I'm sorry, but if you are trespassing where there is a no trespassing sign, or a fence saying DANGER KEEP OUT or some other obvious means of indicating private property or danger, you should lose all right to claim damages.

holy #######.. you must not have ever had or been around an 11 or 12 year old boy You mean to tell me I should walk around the neighborhood holding my 11 year old son's hand because he is capable of making bad choices? For that matter, how about a 16 year old boy??? There were a couple of 17 year old boys that decided they were going to climb the side of a building on senior skip day last month in st. louis. Should we be holding their hands as well? Kids, boys especially, make bad decisions, face it.

An 11 year old boy is old enough to go out and play without his mommy. But yet an 11 year old boy will still take a look at a ladder and be all "hmm I wanna climb that".