His Fat suit doesn't fit- CVS not liable for big man's chair break

ny daily news ^ | 12-15-06 | adam nichols

[Rakkasan1]

Charles Kovit, outside his Hempstead office yesterday, lost suit over chair that didn't hold his 6-foot-5 frame.

A hefty man who fractured his tailbone after smashing through a seat has been told he can't sue its manufacturer because a label warned him he was too heavy to sit on it. Charles Kovit's 245-pound frame was too much for the outdoor chaise lounge he bought at a Long Island CVS store. The wooden seat snapped, sending 6-foot-5 Kovit crashing into a metal leg support and leaving him sprawled on the concrete floor.

But efforts to blame the store for the collapse failed after a judge heard his bulk overloaded a 225-pound weight limit.

"I'm not even fat, I'm tall," said Kovit, 49, an attorney

[Rakkasan1]

another rare judge with common sense.

[RexBeach]

Mr. Kovit sounds like a real meathead. But then, he's a lawyer!

[rocksblues]

You weigh 245lbs, buy a chair that is rated for up to 225lbs, break the chair, and you can find a lawyer to take your case.

Priceless!

[Anti-Bubba182]

Any company who makes chairs for use in the US with a weight
limit of only 225 lbs. has not paid any attention to the people you see walking around here.

[beltfed308]

"Yes, there was a warning label, but it wasn't apparent and I didn't read it. What reasonable person checks a label to see if they're too heavy to sit down? I had no idea it was liable to break under me."

Coming from an attorney no less who probably goes after manufacturers because they do not have a warning label. Sheesh..

[jimtorr]

another rare judge with common sense.

Right. Mr. Kovit is wondering what happened to the judges and juries who constantly ruled that the tip-over warning labels on Jeeps were too small.

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

If his butt could not fit you must acquit!

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Wife and I were waiting to pick up our Golden Retriever at the vet's office when a very fat man and his yap-yap dog came in and sat down on a wood bench. The bench collapsed almost instantly, landing the guy on his butt. His frightened dog landed in his lap and promptly bit him on the leg. Fatso sued the vet over the bench and dog bite. A year later, the judge ordered the vet to pay $250 for "humiliation."

[Rakkasan1]

We got plenty of chicks here in MN with the proverbial
"2 axe handles wide" asses.

[Neidermeyer]

Any company who makes chairs for use in the US with a weight
limit of only 225 lbs. has not paid any attention to the people you see walking around here.

---

You're right on that ,,, what I find ridiculous are ladders , most are rated for 200 to 225 lbs. except for the hyper-expensive commercial units... a 175 lb. man carrying a single bundle of shingles overloads them; at least on ladders though the weight limit is clearly advertised , on most chairs you'd be hard pressed to see a weight limit label... I know I haven't seen one.

[wideawake]

If you're 6'5", 245 lbs isn't necessarily "fat" at all.

It was still a stupid lawsuit.

[BreitbartSentMe]

"I'm not even fat, I'm tall," said Kovit, 49, an attorney

Yea, that's my problem. I'm not overweight, I'm under-tall. I would be the perfect weight if I was a woman who's 8'4"...

[Rakkasan1]

Would most normal people even think of suing in the 1st place?

What were his injuries? Can you hurt an attorney's feelings?

[Anti-Bubba182]

Very true! The only thing different is that the weight capacity of a ladder is more prominantly labeled and a person
would more likely look. On a chair a person simply sits down.

[RexBeach]

Eric - This is superb story! I can picture this in my imagination. Kah-Boom!!! No more bench and the dadgummed rat on a line bit the SOB. Great story!

[COUNTrecount]

He should sue the floor.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I've got one more from the police beat.
Cops were watching a Des Moines apartment house for a drug dealer known to frequent the building. A detective decided on his own to go in the main floor and heard music coming from one of the apartments. Using his foot, he pushed open the door and the occupant's dog jumped up and bit. The detective sued the occupant (an older man who worked as a watch maker downtown.)
The judge ruled against the detective saying "Every dog is due one bite." The case was upheld on appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court and the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals and this became the Great Des Moines Dog Bite Case, published in several papers in the 1970s.

[MotleyGirl70]

Yea, that's my problem. I'm not overweight, I'm under-tall. I would be the perfect weight if I was a woman who's 8'4"...

ROTFL!

You're not overweight you're just big-boned ;)

[MotleyGirl70]

another rare judge with common sense.

Good to know the judge saw this as nothing but a frivolous lawsuit.

[Rakkasan1]

every dog should be allowed to bite tresspassers as many times as necessary to finish the task.