Posted on 03/16/2006 5:33:17 AM PST by Mr. Brightside
Man Hits His Own Car Then Sues Himself
LODI, Calif. - When a dump truck backed into Curtis Gokey's car, he decided to sue the city for damages. Only thing is, he was the one driving the dump truck. But that minor detail didn't stop Gokey, a Lodi city employee, from filing a $3,600 claim for the December accident, even after admitting the crash was his fault.
After the city denied that claim because Gokey was, in essence, suing himself, he and his wife, Rhonda, decided to file a new claim under her name.
City Attorney Steve Schwabauer said this one also lacks merit because Rhonda Gokey can't sue her own husband.
"You can sue your spouse for divorce, but you can't sue your spouse for negligence," Schwabauer said. "They're a married couple under California law. They're one entity. It's damage to community property."
But Rhonda Gokey insisted she has "the right to sue the city because a city's vehicle damaged my private vehicle."
In fact, her claim, currently pending at Lodi City Hall, is for an even larger amount — $4,800.
"I'm not as nice as my husband is," she said.
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I guess this pair isn't bright enough to get ahead by putting dead mice in a taco.
The land of fruits and nuts.
"I'm kicking my own a$$!" -- Jim Carrey, Liar Liar
LOL - glad I didn't just take a sip of my coffee!
I never laughed harder!
Aren't they right though? He wouldn't be sued personally even if it was someone else's car, he was driving the truck as an employee of the city, and the city would be responsible.
If the city could prove he did it on PURPOSE, they could then sue him and fire him, whether it was his car that was hit or not.
If ANY other public employee had backed a truck into his car, I would expect the city's insurance to cover the damages. It shouldn't be any different simply because he happened to hit his OWN car (and certainly his wife being part-owner, while not necessary, is a useful distinction).
My son and I had a fender bender with each other. We didn't sue though.
We briefly thought of contacting Jerry Springer however.
Exactly my thought, why does it matter who was driving the City truck on City Time?
They're saying if it was any other city employee, the guy would have a claim?
"LODI, Calif. - When a dump truck backed into Curtis Gokey's car, he decided to sue the city for damages. Only thing is, he was the one driving the dump truck. But that minor detail didn't stop Gokey, a Lodi city employee, from filing a $3,600 claim for the December accident, even after admitting the crash was his fault."
Here's another, GET REAL point. All these, GET REAL points show morality has gone astray, along with a bit of common sense...
If he had hit some other random car, would you expect him to personally pay for the cost of repairing the car he hit?
Are you making a case for this man to not use common sense? If so, count me out.
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