Posted on 10/14/2015 7:50:31 AM PDT by JoeProBono
SAN FRANCISCO, - A $5 million lawsuit filed in San Francisco alleges a man taking a nap in a public park suffered a brain injury when a 16-pound pine cone landed on his head.
The lawsuit, filed Sept. 4 in San Francisco federal court, alleges Washington state resident Sean Mace was napping under a tree in San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park Oct. 12 of last year when a 16-pound seed pod, or pine cone, fell from a coniferous Araucaria bidwillii tree and landed on his head.
The Araucaria bidwillii, native to Australia and better known as a bunya pine or false monkey puzzle tree, can grow seed pods measuring up to 16 inches in diameter and weighing up to 40 pounds.
Mace was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where doctors conducted surgery to relieve the pressure on his brain from internal bleeding. The lawsuit says he needed a second surgery five days later.
"This guy has an irreversible brain injury and he's only in his mid-50s," Johnson told the San Francisco Chronicle. "He's had two surgeries already and he is going to need a third."
Court papers state Mace suffered "traumatic brain injury, with severe and likely irreversible cognitive deficits."
The lawsuit, which names the U.S. government, the National Park Service, the Department of the Interior and San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, says there were no signs posted to warn visitors about the possibility of dangerous falling pine cones and no fences to keep park-goers away from dangerous areas.
The suit says warning signs and orange fences were installed after Mace's injury.
Johnson said he was unable to find a similar incident in researching the case.
"I've not found another case that is factually similar," Johnson told KNTV. "This is relatively novel."
One way to look at it is by the "reasonable man" method. A reasonable man might expect the possibility of lightning during a storm. But would a reasonable man be expected to guard against 16-pound (!) pine cones?
When I read the title to this post, I thought it was about another frivolous lawsuit. But now I think this guy just might have a case.
Because, this was entirely avoidable by the City.
I feel sorry for the guy, but not everything in life that is bad is someone else’s liability.
The kind that just got 1/3 plus expenses of a $5M settlement...
Poorly written story. ‘Johnson’ is referred to only by that name, with no identification as to who he is or how he is tied to the story. You can click through to the story in the San Francisco paper to learn that it is Sam Johnson (apparently the UPI editor doesn’t even know how to cut and paste a name), the plaintiff’s attorney.
If attorney Johnson hasn’t done so, he might want to read the Federal Tort Claims Act and some of the cases under it. While it is possible that the agency has already denied the claim, it would be the unusual federal bureaucrat who could obtain approval for a denial that quickly (the agency has 6 months to determine the claim.) If the story can be relied upon, it also appears that he may have named too many defendants.
I think a reasonable man who is sitting/standing/lying beneath the canopy of a tree which bears 16 pound pine cones should be expected to guard against having one fall on him.
Any lawyer, ask John Edwards.
Should someone be able to sue the city because they got bit by a rattler or mauled by a wild bear? I don't think so. If you don't ever want to get hurt by nature, don't go out of your house.
Sad, but true.
Newton didn’t sue … he studied. Perhaps this guy ought to study. I recommend starting with how to pick a napping spot.
Dang … those coconuts don’t just fall - the tree throws them at people!!!
I have ordered copies of old ship blueprints from this place. How much do I get for a paper cut?
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