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Disney goes to trial over safety of Tower of Terror
- Thread starter Ziggie
- Start date
bugsbunny
Well-Known Member
If it was allowed to go to court by Disney without an arranged settlement, Disney must really feel it will win this case. There is no way they would want that ride to be put on the public chopping block since its an obvious flagship product IF they thought they could lose. If anything, we might get some backstage information about the design, implementation, and building of the ride since I'm sure the plaintiff asked for all that information to prepare their case. Now that it will be public record, it will be interesting to see just how in depth they are poking into all the information Disney has to offer on the ride.
Regardless, the plaintiff's lawyer is a complete bag troll who does nothing but recycle everything from his last case and put a new plaintiff's name on it. If you wonder why the court system is completely in peril, look no further.
Based on this lawyer's assumptions, ANYTHING that you do within 3 weeks of a stroke could be the cause of it and you should get a payout. I'm sure this is what Disney will tell the jury and there is basically no way the plaintiff can prove the ToT caused his injury beyond a reasonable doubt. The guy could have torn an artery picking up a bag of dog food for all anyone knows!
Regardless, the plaintiff's lawyer is a complete bag troll who does nothing but recycle everything from his last case and put a new plaintiff's name on it. If you wonder why the court system is completely in peril, look no further.
Based on this lawyer's assumptions, ANYTHING that you do within 3 weeks of a stroke could be the cause of it and you should get a payout. I'm sure this is what Disney will tell the jury and there is basically no way the plaintiff can prove the ToT caused his injury beyond a reasonable doubt. The guy could have torn an artery picking up a bag of dog food for all anyone knows!
This is what scares me. Trying to get a dozen or so random people to understand the finer points of neurology is going to be tricky. Most will just go with the correlation equals causation logical fallacy and punish the big bad evil corporation. Disney better have a very good medical expert ready to take the stand with some very compelling evidence.
We are a litigious society, unfortunately.
Judge Judy is one of top ten syndicated tv shows watched by approximately 10 million people on a daily basis. Can you even fathom that? I can't. Are there really that many people with nothing better to do? :shrug:
Great post, thanks for sharing.
Do you think the other 2 pending cases lent some credibility to this one?
jakeman
Well-Known Member
The burden of proof would be really high in this case. I would think to proved definitively that the artery tear was a direct result of ToT that they would need medical evidence in a reasonable timeframe before and a reasonable timeframe after that points directly to ToT as the only reasonable cause.
To me, if I was a juror, that would mean that the plantiff could not have gone on any other attraction that exerted similar force during his stay.
Of for that matter anytime between when he left and had a stroke or even before his trip. According to the article this guy was a "physically active housing developer". That opens him up to a myriad of hazardous conditions far greater than anything ToT produces.
Wilt Dasney
Well-Known Member
But anyone who expressed that opinion during jury selection would be dismissed!
That seems like pretty sound logic. With the fact that all this testimony and detail will be available to the media, they must feel very confident about their position.
mcjaco
Well-Known Member
Relating to the case I took to trial, I had two more similiar ones against the same Plaintiff's attorney. Once we one that case, he dropped the other two.
So, I think he's hoping this case lends credibility to those two cases. If he wins, Disney (and I'm assuming, and don't know how their legal team would guide the claims unit), would move to settle those cases.
Wilt Dasney
Well-Known Member
If their lawyers can't raise some kind of reasonable doubt between connecting one ride with a medical incident three weeks later, I would think they're not trying very hard.
Sure that works when you are dealing with logical and rational people. Unfortunately, the population of logical and rational people seems to be declining at an alarming rate.
Wilt Dasney
Well-Known Member
You're more of a pessimist than I am. :lol:
I know you hear about plenty of dumb people on the news, but in general our legal system works IMO. Most idiotic cases are thrown out or lost (and even the ones that are won aren't as idiotic as the media makes them out to be, e.g. the McDonald's coffee lady). I have to assume if this guy wins, it means there's more evidence than we've read about.
joel_maxwell
Permanent Resident of EPCOT
No, Richard is a realist.
Have you been on a juror lately. I dont know where in the hell they get some of these people. It is like they pluck them off the People of Walmart website. Very very uneducated.
Wilt Dasney
Well-Known Member
I definitely get what you're saying. And the reason for that is they get them from society. There's no screening process, and that's the point. Jury of your peers and all. (Although whether you would consider some of the people on juries your "peers" is another issue.) :lookaroun
However, there's a reason both sides get to hire lawyers. I don't believe that just having the plaintiff's guy go in there and put on a song and dance is enough to sway a jury...and the reason is Disney's guy can go right behind him and point out why it was a song and dance. Plus, the judge's job is to keep attorneys on topic, keep them from getting into hearsay or unsubstantiated fabrications, etc.
If it was as simple as "people are dumb, end of story," then every frivolous suit would be a winner!
Figment632
New Member
What does Walmart have to do with intelligence?
MythBuster
Active Member
This is one of the biggest problem with Show Quality now. All the money is spent on safety and possible problems from lawsuits, the legal dept now approves changes or updates to rides. When they do rehabs, most of it is spent upgrading obsolete equipment that most guests will never see or even notice
Disney does extensive testing on all the rides, especially the high energy rides. One dept does yearly testing on all ride vehicles testing g-forces and side forces and many other factors. They develop a baseline for each vehicle and they re-test it every year and make sure there is no changes, but they change the ride profile then they do all the ride testing and documentation all over. Then if they have a problem they retest the same vehicle again and see if it has changed from the baseline.
So based on documentation and ride testing and preventive maintenance, Disney should have it won easily, but maybe the lawyer will go for the emotional plea, the big corporation against one small customer.
Disney does extensive testing on all the rides, especially the high energy rides. One dept does yearly testing on all ride vehicles testing g-forces and side forces and many other factors. They develop a baseline for each vehicle and they re-test it every year and make sure there is no changes, but they change the ride profile then they do all the ride testing and documentation all over. Then if they have a problem they retest the same vehicle again and see if it has changed from the baseline.
So based on documentation and ride testing and preventive maintenance, Disney should have it won easily, but maybe the lawyer will go for the emotional plea, the big corporation against one small customer.
Take a look at the site he mentioned...it does not exactly speak well Wal-Marts clientèle.
http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/?page_id=9798
PurpleDragon
Well-Known Member
I still think this is a total crock of crap. The guy had a stroke 3 weeks later, unless he was sitting on his bum the entire 3 weeks, then there could have been hundreds of other situations that could have lead to the injury and the subsequent stroke. I could see if he had a stroke while on the ride itself, that is a little more of a realistic correlation. But come on....3 weeks?:brick:
joel_maxwell
Permanent Resident of EPCOT
See link below.
Nope. Not all the clientèle is like that, but lets face it, it draws them in from every hole in the wall or armpit of America.
Tom
Beta Return
Mr. Cohen and Mr. Novack can go.....themselves.
I have a feeling Disney is finally putting their foot down when it comes to these stupid lawsuits. They've written too many hush-money checks out of court, and it's time to stop.
They pay annual retainers to dozens of lawyers each year, whether they use them or not. Time to put some of them in the courtrooms and blow away these idiotic money-hungry people.
As for "warning signs" - Mr Cohen must have had pre-existing blindness before he rode ToT as well as a weak artery. You can't walk 20 feet without being blasted with a sign telling you that you'll probably die on this ride.
My dad had ridden ToT with us every time we went during the 90s and early 2000's. Then, after a 5 year break, he and my mom went (last October). He's something like 55 now and has diabetes and sometimes gets light-headed when he stands up if his sugar is low. Keep in mind, this man doesn't go to doctors and believes that he's omnipotent (like many males).
He decided to get in line for ToT with my mom anyway, fully intending on riding. By the time he got to the elevator, he was convinced that he was going to die on the ride, so he took the chicken elevator and waited for mom. If my dad, who merely has low blood sugar occasionally, would NOT ride ToT because of the signage, then the decrepit old Mr Cohen had absolutely NO reason to think that he should hop on board.
I hate people. I really, really hate people. I hope Disney smears this in the face of Mr Cohen and Mr Novack and finally sets a precedent.
I have a feeling Disney is finally putting their foot down when it comes to these stupid lawsuits. They've written too many hush-money checks out of court, and it's time to stop.
They pay annual retainers to dozens of lawyers each year, whether they use them or not. Time to put some of them in the courtrooms and blow away these idiotic money-hungry people.
As for "warning signs" - Mr Cohen must have had pre-existing blindness before he rode ToT as well as a weak artery. You can't walk 20 feet without being blasted with a sign telling you that you'll probably die on this ride.
My dad had ridden ToT with us every time we went during the 90s and early 2000's. Then, after a 5 year break, he and my mom went (last October). He's something like 55 now and has diabetes and sometimes gets light-headed when he stands up if his sugar is low. Keep in mind, this man doesn't go to doctors and believes that he's omnipotent (like many males).
He decided to get in line for ToT with my mom anyway, fully intending on riding. By the time he got to the elevator, he was convinced that he was going to die on the ride, so he took the chicken elevator and waited for mom. If my dad, who merely has low blood sugar occasionally, would NOT ride ToT because of the signage, then the decrepit old Mr Cohen had absolutely NO reason to think that he should hop on board.
I hate people. I really, really hate people. I hope Disney smears this in the face of Mr Cohen and Mr Novack and finally sets a precedent.