Posted on 03/27/2013 8:27:48 AM PDT by Huntress
A wheelchair-bound man was awarded $8,000 by Disneyland after the "It's A Small World" ride broke, stranding him for a half hour while the theme song played continuously, according to an attorney for the plaintiff.
Jose Martinez, who suffers from panic attacks and high blood pressure, did not medically stabilize for three hours after the ride broke down in 2009, attorney David Geffen said.
"He has panic disorder and that was really what started everything rolling," Geffen said. "What caused the court concern, as well, because Disney was alerted about his panic problem and didn't call for the fire department right away."
Disneyland spokeswoman Suzi Brown said the Anaheim theme park believes it provided appropriate assistance during the incident, and is disappointed that the court did not fully agree.
Martinez uses a wheelchair, and Geffen said the plaintiff's high blood pressure was aggravated by a need to urinate while he was stuck on the ride.
While the other riders were able to get off, Martinez was stuck until he could access his wheelchair.
Half the award ordered last week is for pain and suffering, and the rest is for a violation of disability law, Geffen said.
Brown told NBC4 the violation concerning the height of the counter in Disneyland’s first aid station has been corrected.
Speaking of demographics...
I have to laugh at the commercials on this channel, at least the ones I see here in the Bay Area.
This channel's commercials are waaaay past the Viagra and Cialis audience. We're into scooters and end-of-life insurance programs.
Oh, and the usual "can't get auto insurance?" for the 3AM TV viewers.
-PJ
my point exactly, he should have been at the art gallery, not the amusement park smarty
LOL!
I notice that the Seaview always seemed to be bucketing along at about 30 knots with bubbles from...somewhere...boiling out of her and pinging constantly with active SONAR. Every Babushka sleeping in bed in the Soviet Union had a solution on the Seaview at all times.
yldstrk;Pan_Yan;wideawake;Zulu;UCANSEE2;CAluvdubya;old and tired;ALL
Which is probably why Jose Martinez, who had filed 41 disability lawsuits in the past, thought he had struck gold. The combination of deep pockets and the most annoying ear- worm ever composed should have made him a millionaire several times over.
Unfortunately, the judge only awarded $8,000, just a handful of billable hours. You would think that the settlement would include the cost of electroshock therapy to remove the song from your head. Half the settlement was for violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, because Disney did not adequately warn disabled passengers that their rides occasionally break down.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/03/27/Disney-on-Trial-It-s-a-Small-Small-Settlement
Which is probably why Jose Martinez, who had filed 41 disability lawsuits in the past, thought he had struck gold. The combination of deep pockets and the most annoying ear- worm ever composed should have made him a millionaire several times over.
Unfortunately, the judge only awarded $8,000, just a handful of billable hours. You would think that the settlement would include the cost of electroshock therapy to remove the song from your head. Half the settlement was for violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, because Disney did not adequately warn disabled passengers that their rides occasionally break down.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/03/27/Disney-on-Trial-It-s-a-Small-Small-Settlement
No kidding! I'm betting he was riding every single ride HOPING one would break down and give him a nice payday.
“No kidding! I’m betting he was riding every single ride HOPING one would break down and give him a nice payday.”
Read my post at #125.
And you’re correct:
“Half the settlement was for violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, because Disney did not adequately warn disabled passengers that their rides occasionally break down.”
“Which is probably why Jose Martinez, who had filed 41 disability lawsuits in the past...”
I served on a jury for case involving a professional disability plaintiff, like this chap. In Orange County CA like this case.
And our jury saw through his methods, and he walked away with a big zero.
The plaintiff’s MO is to sue small food service places; Mom & Pop types, with shallow pockets, over accessibility issues. The cases often do not go to trial.
He took on a local Del Taco restaurant. They decided to defend with vigor. Their lawyer was super sharp, whereas the plaintiff had a crappy lawyer.
To the plaintiff and his lawyer, it was merely a numbers game. Roll the dice enough and they win a few.
We had a diverse jury, and at first the seemed to fall for it. But a couple of us went back over the story, and they remembered he was a pro at this.
And they were reminded it was business owners like in their own communities, that were victimized, driving up costs, prices, etc.
The plaintiff in our case was wheelchair bound, from a dirt bike accident as a teen/young adult, riding off road.
He did well enough for extended vacations to Hawaii and a Rolex watch, pointed out be the defense team.
But we said, no—no payoff from this jury.
“because Disney did not adequately warn disabled passengers that their rides occasionally break down.”
—
There’s a very strong implication in that attitude that the disabled are inherently stupid.
Astonishing.
.
Very interesting!
My heart goes out to this man because of his disability, but I am so against lawsuits such as this one and the one you describe.
When I was reading about Disneyland/Disneyworld today, I was
couldn’t believe the numerous lawsuits accusing the Disney characters of racism. Geez...my family is white and I remember Mickey Mouse couldn’t take photos with my kids many years ago. No big deal.
People just look for the big companies and try to sue for the money. I worked for United Airlines, and you couldn’t believe what people tried to pull off and sue.
Two stand out. One woman told me she probably just got hepatitis because the drink I just served her had urine in it. She said she’d sue.
Another guy said he would sue us...that he cut his finger on his pen knife because he couldn’t open the bag of peanuts we gave him without using his knife.
One first class passenger told me, after a first class and attentive service, that he’d complain about it because that’s how he gets to sit in first class. They compensate him for bad service. I wanted to slap him!
I could go on and on...greedy people...
WORST RIDE EVER!!!!!
“There’s a very strong implication in that attitude that the disabled are inherently stupid. Astonishing.”
Sad how it’s all about money for some people. 41 previous lawsuits!
Very interesting. The guy is a professional parasite who goes places just looking for a lawsuit. I hope he and his corrupt lawyers lost a bundle on this suit.
I know of that a hole caused lots of trouble for an auto repair place we sell to
Oh, and when those giant underwater monsters who looked like men in costumes but much bigger hit the Sea-view BOOM not only did it rock back and forth, with lots of bubbles as you note, but all these circuit panels on the bridge popped open sparking in scarey looking electric fires with lots of smoke. Same thing with the Flying Sub.
Then Crane or Nelson would yell ‘damage patrol’ and by the next scene they were all fixed, assuming the plot didn't require them to get stuck on the bottom of the Ocean.
What was nice about the 1980s (the years the show portrayed) is that the circuits were so simple that Sharky or Kawowski could fix any amount of damage in a half hour with a soldiering gun, no need for spares. These microcircuits are nothing but problems today.
Oh, and they had neat laser guns back then too. Sometimes the Sea-view shot laser beams right through the Sea-water instead of torpedo's.
I noticed that on FNC on weekdays during the day:
"Get your *free* scooter from the scooter store while Medicare still has money left, time is running out"
Although Goldline is really popular during Cavuto.
I did see a mechanical stair-lift/ride commercial the other day on Me-TV, the TV geezer says "Now I can be independent again and be safe."
Some of those TV shows are pretty old, my first exposure to those ones was reruns on broadcast TV in 1970s before cable came through. We first got cable TV in 1976 and like I said it was all re-broadcast TV (from other Cities stations within 200 miles) except for HBO the first movie channel.
Oh.... so he's an experienced Professional Claimant. So what we really need is his 'average' take, instead of just the net on this one claim, before we feel sorry for him.
Isn't that why we have the Second Amendment ?
I was there 20 yrs ago and that song comes back clear as a bell.
Oh, Man!
Creature Features.
The Bowery Boys Sat AM.
My kids are not allowed into teen hood without being well versed on the Marx Brothers, The Thin Man and Hepburn Grant screwball comedies. I Love Lucy. We were just referencing the Maharincess of Franistan today.
But they’re snobs. They cannot watch the crap their peers are watching. They don’t see the humor.
Good
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