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Often we read of court decisions that sound outrageous
-- the infamous McDonald's hot coffee on the lap
award, or some burglar getting a vast sum because he
stumbled on a household hazard -- and so, in a spirit of
fairness, I want to praise a judicial decision.
The judge is one Richard Luesenbrink, who presides over a state superior court in Santa Ana, Calif. It was there that a woman brought suit against Disneyland, which the judge dismissed.
Now, I hold no brief for the Disney Corp., another of those multi-media conglomerates which somehow thrives without sending any big royalty checks to hard-working and inventive writers in Salida.
Disney got sued by Jean Matay, 57, a former Mousketeer. She took her grandchildren to Disneyland on Aug. 17, 1995, and in the parking lot, they were accosted by a man with a gun.
I can see requiring companies to provide reasonable security in their parking lots, but Matay's suit proceeded past reason to ridiculous.
After their encounter with the gun-toter, which she reported, Disney personnel took them into the park -- into an area where the grandchildren could see Disney personnel getting out of costume.
And because the three grandchildren -- aged 5, 7 and 11 -- were exposed to this horrid spectacle, Matay claimed they were further traumatized.
In other words, perilous childhood trauma was inflicted because children saw that the goofy characters wandering around the park were, in fact, merely humans wearing costumes.
I don't know about you, but I'd suffer trauma if I believed that there were in fact seven-foot-tall bipedal rodents running at large, grinning and glad-handing and otherwise accosting children. It sounds like something out of a horror movie.
I'd feel relieved to learn that it was all just a put-on, that those giant waterfowl, canines and rodents weren't real.
So I'm glad that Judge Luesenbrink dismissed this suit. If he hadn't, a nasty precedent would be set, and we'd soon be reading about other litigation:
· INDIANAPOLIS -- A six-person jury yesterday handed down a $10 million judgment against the local George F. Cram Company, which produces globes.
The plaintiff, nine-year-old Cissy Truefaith, said she had always believed the earth was flat until her parents bought her one of Cram's globes for her birthday.
She became a nervous wreck,
her mother told the
court. Awake all night every night, worrying about the
poor Australians falling off the bottom of the earth, and
fretful because she couldn't figure out what was holding up
the sky and so she feared the sky might fall any
minute.
The globe-makers argued that Cissy was bound to find out sometime that the earth wasn't flat, but her attorneys succeeded in convincing the jury that this traumatic information should have been presented in a delicate manner more sensitive to her feelings, rather than in one sudden and shocking spherical disturbance.
· SAN JOSE -- A third-grade teacher at a local elementary school could lose her job, and be forced to pay $1.2 million in damages, as a result of an inadvertent classroom announcement.
According to attorneys for the seven students who sued, the teacher flatly stated that there is no Tooth Fairy.
For one thing, this was a serious intrusion into the
parental right to direct their childrens' belief
systems,
one lawyer said.
For another, these poor children suffered severe
trauma, trying to reconcile what they heard at school about
the Tooth Fairy with their own experiences at finding money
under the pillow.
The school district and the teachers' union are weighing an appeal, but said it might be cheaper just to settle.
· DENVER -- In the wake of a lawsuit filed last year, several philanthropic organizations announced that they will not send out traditional holiday bell-ringers in Santa costumes.
That's good, but it's not enough,
one plaintiff
attorney responded. We still need recompense for the
injuries suffered by our clients through the reckless
negligence of these organizations.
Do they have any idea of what the prolonged exposure
to a multiplicity of Santas does to the delicate psyches of
impressionable children who believe that there is one and
only one St. Nicholas? These poor children have endured
nightmares and doubt, even lowered self-esteem.
Years of therapy will be required, at a minimum, and
even then, these defenseless victims may not be able to
function as normal citizens.
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