Posted on 11/02/2005 7:54:36 PM PST by Clive
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) - Hardware retailer Home Depot has found itself in a sticky situation, defending a lawsuit filed by a man who said the chain's Louisville, Colo., store ignored his cries for help after he fell victim to a prank - and was glued to a toilet seat.
Bob Dougherty, 57, of Nederland, Colo., said he became stuck to a bathroom toilet seat on which somebody had smeared glue on Oct. 30, 2003 and felt "tremendous panic" when he realized he was stuck.
"They left me there, going through all that stress," Dougherty told the (Boulder) Daily Camera newspaper.
"They just let me rot."
His lawsuit, filed Friday said Dougherty was recovering from heart bypass surgery at the time and thought he was having a heart attack. A store employee who heard him calling for help informed the head clerk via radio but the head clerk "believed it to be a hoax," the lawsuit said.
Home Depot spokeswoman Kathryn Gallagher said she could not comment on pending litigation.
The lawsuit said after about 15 minutes, store officials called for an ambulance. Paramedics unbolted the toilet seat and while wheeling a "frightened and humiliated" Dougherty out of the store, he passed out.
The lawsuit said the toilet seat separated from his skin, leaving abrasions.
"This is not Home Depot's fault," he said.
"But I am blaming them for letting me hang in there and just ignoring me."
I call it the Homo Despot because lately some Sadist decorators from one of the remodelling cable shows have been hanging out there.
I find it very hard to believe too.
I try and stay away from all toilets that are not mine.
Stuck in the men's room at Louisville's Home Depot last October, Bob Dougherty began feeling chest pains. Shaking uncontrollably, Dougherty grabbed a bottle of nitro pills and took three before spilling the rest on the filthy floor.
A few minutes into his ordeal, a young employee named Greg walked into the room. Finally, Dougherty had help–or so he thought. Greg left the bathroom and reported Dougherty’s predicament on a walkie-talkie. Based on a report by Louisville Detective Cristi Gordanier, Greg said, "There's a guy on the crapper that needs help."
A head clerk and other employees heard the call but chose not to help because they didn’t like Greg's demeanor.
"They ignored Greg because he used inappropriate language," says Det. Gordanier's report.
History lesson: "Crapper" was a successful 19th-century English plumber who bought the patent for the first flushing toilet from Albert Giblin. Crapper marketed the device using his own name. Dougherty remained stuck. He was like a man adrift at sea who’d been spotted by a passing vessel only to be ignored. "I knew my heart was going to give out, but I had no phone. I couldn't get up, and nobody could hear me," he says.
Ten to 15 minutes later, a customer entered the bathroom and called 911. When paramedics finally arrived, they worked quickly to unbolt the seat from the toilet. They loaded Dougherty onto a pram on his side, propping his body with pillows and blankets in order to keep his weight from ripping the skin off his body.
"He lost consciousness and appeared to not be breathing," reads the paramedics' report.
So paramedics rolled Dougherty onto his back, which caused the seat to rip from his butt. Dougherty began breathing again and was treated at Boulder Community for chest pains and torn skin. In June, Dougherty was diagnosed with diabetes–which his doctor attributes to the glue incident.
"He does not have a family history of diabetes," wrote Dr. Melvin R. Stjernholm, M.D., of Boulder Endocrinology Associates. "This condition has been brought on by the extreme stress (PTSD) that he has been dealing with since that time."
If having one's butt glued to a toilet seat isn’t stressful enough, consider the way Home Depot treated Dougherty. They acted as if he didn't matter. They didn't call the hospital to check on him. They didn't apologize that he suffered as a guest at their store. They didn't offer to help with deductibles or the cost of Dougherty's ambulance ride. They didn't send a get-well card or a $10 gift certificate. Any of the above would represent civilized, kind, dignified behaviors that haven't been in vogue since the '80s.
"If someone trips on my sidewalk, even if I'm not at fault, I'm out there helping," Dougherty says. "I make sure the person is OK. These people wouldn't even send in help."
Police had a similar experience when asking Home Depot management for help in finding the gluer. Det. Gordanier left a message for Manager Joe Mack on Nov. 13. No response. She left another on Nov. 14. No response. Seven days after her initial inquiry, she tracked down Mack, who showed no interest in helping.
Dougherty's attorney, Mark Cohen, wrote to Home Depot's Consumer Affairs Department to ask for their internal safety guidelines. They responded with an e-mail:
"Thank you for your feedback. Listening to our customers is very important to us."
The e-mail promised that the Customer Care Department would "create a record of your feedback."
Among other things, Cohen was trying to find out if the company has restroom maintenance guidelines. Before Dougherty sat down, Cohen says he tried to grab "one of those waxed-paper, oval-shaped products that establishes a protective layer between a toilet seat and the skin." Dougherty calls it an "ass gasket" and suspects it would have saved his butt. Whatever one calls them, they were gone that day.
Dougherty's lawyer got no information from Home Depot for two reasons: The company doesn't care about Dougherty and is concerned only with covering its own butt. Even teenage aisle clerks have watched enough TV to know that helping someone in need comes with risk. Sending a get-well card to someone harmed on your toilet, or calling to wish him well, might be viewed as an admission of guilt. Besides, what’s in it for us?
The cover-your-own-butt-first mentality has led to physicians–even emergency room doctors–failing to give aid when coming upon injury accidents. We're all supposed to understand when it's explained that liability concerns preclude medical professionals from administering spontaneous first aid. In other words, "please understand that my financial interests are more important than another person’s life."
Theyre not.
Dougherty plans to sue Home Depot for its part in a trauma his doctor blames for his new chronic illness. I'm convinced Dougherty wouldn't be suing had Home Depot treated him with an ounce of care, concern or respect rather than tons of neglect. It's time the courts hold people accountable for not helping when confronted with life-threatening emergencies. A lawsuit can’t undo a prank that Home Depot likely didn't commit. But it might instill some court-ordered compassion that’s no longer in fashion.
…listen close…
HD will pass on the cost of doing business after the lawsuit to YOU.
Everything YOU buy will cost more to pay for the award to the guy who either put the glue on his own butt or failed to use due diligence for his own, now public, bowel movement.
Thanks for that MR. GLUE BUTT!
It is high time to penalize attorneys who take on frivolous suits.
Are you forgetting this was a MAN. Men don't look at the toilet seat to avoid urinating on it. Why would he bother to look at it before he sat down. Also, the glue may have been white or clear and not noticable. This would probably never happen to a woman in a public restroom. There are only two kinds of women in public restoom (1)squatters, who end up peeing all over the seat and probably down both legs or (2) those who cover the seat with toilet paper before they carefully sit on it (drying it first if a squatter has recently used that toilet).
Your wrong, men do look at toilet seats, especial in public restrooms. There is no way I would ever sit on a wet seat, let alone one with glue on it.
...as a man...
I would never sit on a seat without looking at it. Especially if a potential squatter, squinter or sprayer is sighted leaving the room!
Why would he bother to look at it before he sat down?
Because men don't look at the toilet seat to avoid urinating on it.
For 15 minutes? They only left him for 15 minutes before calling an ambulance, not several hours. I think 15 minutes is not extreme since it was not a life-threatening situation.
I must remember to compliment the manager the next time I am there. Maybe I ought to buy him lunch.
I remember that story! Can't believe it was 2004. Mucky wet indeed.
kaching alert...sounds like he wants to win the lottery in court...
Yes, superglue can stick you to a toilet seat quite quickly, but if the previous person put it there, it would have dried quickly...
And you mean he sat down on an obviously wet seat? Women never do this...(I'll leave you men in suspense for what we do)...
Any wagers on how this guy votes in terms of party?
Are you saying you don't wipe the seat before you sit in a public restroom?
No... I am dead sure that he is a whining liberal looking for a payday.
Good grief!! I'm female, and always check the seat before I sit. Don't guys check first? I think he glued the seat himself. Possibly, he hasn't been able to go back to work after his surgery and was looking for some easy cash.
Jeez, Dog, I don't know about you, but I look at the seat before I sit on it, even at home (got kids).
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