Man Sues Hotel Owner After Chair Collapses ($$$Cha-ching!$$$)

The Des Moines Register ^ | 9/19/2003 | Jeff Eckhoff

[hawkeye101]

Man sues hotel owner after chair collapses

By JEFF ECKHOFF
Des Moines Register Staff Writer
09/19/2003

An apparently hefty breakfast eater has sued the owner of a Lee County hotel after a plastic chair collapsed beneath him in the middle of his morning meal.

Kevin Reeder of Urbandale alleges that he suffered a fractured wrist and $6,500 in medical expenses after the June 17, 2002, incident at the Days Inn in Fort Madison.

Reeder's lawsuit, filed in Polk County against Ramji Corp., charges that the owners should have known "that some customers would weigh in excess of 350 pounds" and that "plastic chairs have a tendency to fail with age."

Court papers say Reeder was forced to endure "pain, suffering and disability both mental and physical" in addition to his medical bills. The lawsuit seeks compensation both for the bills and for more than $9,500 in earnings Reeder allegedly lost because of the injury.

Reeder's lawyer, Channing Dutton, declined to describe Reeder's occupation or to comment on the case.

Dutton stressed that Reeder's weight is irrelevant to a legal argument about the motel's duty to provide a safe environment.

"If you run an establishment where you invite people to sit in certain chairs, I think you have a duty not to let something like this happen," Dutton said.

D.J. Patel, owner of the Days Inn in Fort Madison, said he had not yet received a copy of the lawsuit.

Patel said Reeder had a choice of plastic or metal chairs at the time of the accident.

Patel said someone representing Reeder had contacted him earlier this year for information because "they wanted to sue the plastic chair company."

The owner said he is not certain how Reeder's fall occurred.

"There were plenty of people over there" when it happened, Patel said. "But none of those people said anything about it at the time."

[hawkeye101]

Didn't this happen to the girl in the movie "Shallow Hal"? I don't remember her suing!

[strela]

Award the tubbo one dollar and a pamphlet from the Cooper Aerobics Clinic in Dallas. The bloodsucking leech attorneys get nothing.

[Drammach]

Disagree.

It is obvious the man is obese. (350 lbs.)
A "plastic" chair for someone that size is asking for trouble.
Additionally, he's not asking for $1 million, just medical costs and loss of wages.

However, he should bear some responsibility for judging whether that type of chair could hold his weight as well, and asked for a sturdier chair.

I would award him reimbursement for medical costs, but no loss of wages.

[raybbr]

...charges that the owners should have known "that some customers would weigh in excess of 350 pounds"...

And, the first time someone offers these tubbos a "special" chair they start suing for emotional distress. Stop the lawsuits.

[exit82]

Mr. Reeder, we have your chair ready for you. It's called the floor.

[grumple]

one too many free continental breakfasts.

"Gee...I topped 350 this morning, let me grab this plastic chair in preparation for my upcoming lawsuit..."

The judge should award him a steelcase metal chair and order him to carry it with him wherever he goes until he drops below at least 250.

[Living Free in NH]

$9500.00 will buy him a lot of Twinkees & Quarter Pounders.

[Kozak]

So the restaurant has to have a range of chairs for the morbidly obese to the elephantine? do you think if he had been steered to one for lardo's he would have sued for the emotional distress and suffering? Doesn't anyone have any responsibility for allowing themselves to reach usch a state?

[Fresh Wind]

I had the metal back of a chair break off once due to metal fatigue in the bolts holding it to the seat. I was lucky and wasn't hurt when I landed on the floor. And, BTW, I am NOT obese, and it was my chair. Cheap furniture doesn't hold up with constant use. I think this guy has a valid case.

[Kenton]

Answer seems simple to me. The restaurant should respond by instituting a system similar to the one that have at amusement parks, where if you aren't a certain height, you can't ride certain rides.

Just stop serving the morbidly obese. This is a safety issue! Besides, nobody else wants to have to watch a human whale eat anyway. :P

[newgeezer]

This story reminds me of Louis Anderson. Back when he was first achieving nationwide popularity (1983?), he had a very funny bit about how, when he'd show up at a friend's house, they would do whatever it took to covertly direct him away from the wicker furniture, and toward the chair made of "concrete."

[Drammach]

So the restaurant has to have a range of chairs for the morbidly obese to the elephantine?

Yes.
Just as "the" restaurant is obligated to provide accommodations for the handicapped, they should expect that people who tend to "eat to the extreme" will come to a restaurant.
If they are not responsible for safe seating, they can just save money by spray-painting cardboard boxes, and letting ALL their customers take their chances, with no responsibility for the consequences.

(D)o you think if he had been steered to one for lardo's he would have sued for the emotional distress and suffering?

Possibly.
Whether it's a valid claim is up to the courts, isn't it?

Doesn't anyone have any responsibility for allowing themselves to reach (such) a state?

Yes.
That's why I suggested that the restaurant was only 50% liable, and the plaintiff himself "shared" liability.
Both parties were negligent of the consequences of providing inadequate seating and support.

I stand by my reasoning.

[Kozak]

What line of work are you in?
Do you make accomodations for every size customer?
Ever see an airplane that could accomodate a 400 pounderin a seat?
Or a bus.
Or a movie theater?
Even in EMS, we get a real big one we have to use a plywood board and load on the ambulance floor.

Bet you are lawyer.

[ErnBatavia]

$9500.00 will buy him a lot of Twinkees & Quarter Pounders.

Future litigant:

[Drammach]

1. I have (and will) worked in many venues, among them law enforcement, security, military, commercial art, advertising, carpentry, landscaping, and various types of production.
2. I often have, do, and will make accommodations for my customers.
That is what someone in business does, accommodate their customers.
3. Do a thread search. FR has numerous threads concerning overweight passengers & airlines.
It has been discussed to death, and the answer is, YES.
4. See #3, above. Substitute Bus for airlines.
5. See #3, above. Substitute Movie Theater for airlines.

You're just pissed 'cause you have to carry them to the amblulance.

Never been a lawyer, but I'll bet you're an Idiot.

[Kozak]

Why the personal attack? Did you consider it an insult to be asked if you are a lawyer?
I don't mind being called a doctor.

Airlines don't have extra wide seats for huge passengers.
Neither do buses or movie theaters.
No business in the US could make accomodation for every customer no matter what. Should restaurants be forced to have a " no peanut area" for the allergic?
Why don't you open a restaurant with seating for every imaginable size and shape. You can call it "Fatheads".

[Drammach]

Oh, and you didn't consider your previous post a "personal attack" ?
I did.

Of course you don't mind being called a doctor.
You aren't one, and don't qualify to be one.

Airlines often charge obese people for 2 seats. Likewise buses and movie theatres.
Ever hear of ADA? ( Americans with Disablities Act )
It requires certain provisions and accommodations be made for people with handicaps and special needs.
Stuff like wheelchair accessibility, braille signage, etc.

As to peanuts, you're not up on current events.
Both airlines, schools, and food products manufacturers / distributors are finding that they are required to either ban or restrict the availability of peanut products.
Many food products are beginning to carry warning labels.

When I open my "Fatheads" restaraunt, I am sure you will be among the first customers.

[Gabz]

There were plenty of people over there" when it happened, Patel said. "But none of those people said anything about it at the time."

Of course they didn't say anything at the time.

They couldn't - they were laughing too hard.

[FreedomCalls]

He could have his own little chair-pod made.

[FreedomCalls]