Posted on 01/18/2007 5:09:34 PM PST by NormsRevenge
Lawyers for the family of a woman who died after drinking nearly two gallons of water in an on-air radio contest said Thursday they will file a wrongful death lawsuit to make an example out of the station and attempt to curb the recklessness of shock jock radio.
"We believe we can get a judgment that people across the country will have to pay attention to," said Roger Dreyer, a personal injury lawyer who accused radio station KDND-FM of knowing of the dangers of the water-drinking contest but continuing anyway.
He charged that the contest that preceded the death of 28-year-old Jennifer Lea Strange, a mother of three from the Sacramento suburb of Rancho Cordova, was nothing more than a ratings stunt designed to boost profits.
"Outrageousness at any cost has become the industry standard - the trashier and more humiliating the better," Dreyer said. "It's time to stop the recklessness."
Dreyer said the lawsuit would likely be filed within days, after a private memorial service for Strange this weekend, and following a determination by lawyers about which station employees - and perhaps which companies in addition to the station - should be named in the suit.
He would not specify how much in damages the suit would seek.
Charles Sipkins, spokesman for KDND's parent company, Entercom/Sacramento, declined to comment on Dreyer's remarks since a lawsuit has not yet been filed.
Thursday's announcement followed revelations Wednesday that the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department had launched a criminal investigation into the circumstances surrounding Strange's death.
Authorities decided to pursue the investigation after listening to a tape of the Jan. 12 "Morning Rave" show that was obtained by The Sacramento Bee. On the tape, disc jockeys can be heard joking about the possible dangers of consuming too much water. They even alluded to a Chico State University student who died during a hazing stunt in 2005 after drinking large amounts of water.
At one point a listener called in to warn the DJs that the stunt could be fatal.
"Yeah, we're aware of that," one of them responded.
Another DJ laughed: "Yeah, they signed releases, so we're not responsible. We're OK."
The object of the contest was to see how much water contestants could drink without going to the bathroom. The top prize was a Nintendo Wii gaming console. The DJs called the contest "Hold your Wee for a Wii."
Several hours into the program, Strange was interviewed and complained that her head hurt.
"They keep telling me that it's the water. That it will tell my head to hurt and then it will make me puke," she said.
"This is what it feels like when you're drowning," responded one of the DJs. "There's a lot of water inside you."
Eventually, Strange gave up and accepted the second-place prize, tickets to a Justin Timberlake concert.
Dreyer, senior partner of the Sacramento law firm Dreyer, Babich, Buccola & Callaham, said he had requested a copy of the release DJs spoke of on the radio but had not yet received it from Entercom.
Sipkins declined to comment on the status of that request.
KDND on Tuesday fired 10 employees connected to the contest, including the three "Morning Rave" disc jockeys. The company also took the show off the air.
Dreyer said the family is devastated by the loss of Strange, whose children are ages 11 months, 3 years and 11 years old.
"They're without their mother," Dreyer said. "One of their motivations in coming to me is they don't want to see this happen again."
She should not have drunk the water.
"They keep telling me that it's the water. That it will tell my head to hurt and then it will make me puke," she said.
"This is what it feels like when you're drowning," responded one of the DJs. "There's a lot of water inside you."
Eventually, Strange gave up and accepted the second-place prize, tickets to a Justin Timberlake concert.
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Sympathy and best wishes to the family. She definitely met a fate worse then tickets to a Justin Timberlake concert, unfortunately.
Thanks!
Gee. What a surprise.
No case, she drunk the water of her own free will - NOT because the DJs held a gun to her head.
Darwin Award contender for '07 - NOT a cause celebre for a civil suit!
No, I remember a milk drinking contest as a kid with a peer, I puked and lost.
She was an adult which makes this all the worse.
Poor judgment all the way around, imo.
The DJ's told her that the headache wasn't a problem. They dismissed a caller who told them that it was dangerous.
The suit will win or at the very least settle for a 7 figures. The crew is lucky if they don't go to jail.
When I was a bartender I would offer "Bladder Busters" where all draft beer was 25 cents until someone went to the bathroom. Usually about 40 minutes was the norm. I probably would be sued today.
2 gallons is a lot of water for anyone to ingest, even over a few hours.
Public outcry will likely yield a settlement, signed waiver or not.
Who ever forced her to drink that much water should be prosecuted to the furthest extent of the law!!
Oh, she did this of her own free will?
The it's (almost) a Darwin award!
(yea - call me a callous jerk but anyone who risks theor life for a $250 game console is an idiot. Unfortuantly, she already reporduced)
I do feel horrible that the kids have to suffer for their moms stupidity. What's Daddy have to say about all this? Oh..nevermind..
Stupidity all the way around for everyone involved, including the deceased woman.
The other person must have had a higher sodium and potassium count when they started the contest, thereby saving themselves from a similar fate.
Cause DJ's are medical professionals who can make a call like that .....
Sorry, it's all her. Never sign anything you didn't read or understand.
I nominate her for the Darwin Award ....
Thank you. They've been fired already, as they should be.
The idea that these creeps should not be held responsible for a stunt they put together, and dismissed the dangers of is absolutely nuts.
I should have put a "Please try not and be too callous when you post your comments" disclaimer at the start of the thread. A mother of 3 children is dead after all.
Without a contest , no one dies.
Even if a waiver was signed, there was no obvious forethought for medical emergencies that could arise and the fact that a student died a year earlier should have made the likelihood of allowing such a contest to go forward all the more the reason not to proceed with it.
Thanks.
I vote for the jail option for the dj's.....
And 7 digits are not enough if the radio station is still on the air. The dj's were representatives of the station owners......
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