Posted on 01/18/2007 5:09:34 PM PST by NormsRevenge
Lawyers for the family of a woman who died after drinking nearly two gallons of water in an on-air radio contest said Thursday they will file a wrongful death lawsuit to make an example out of the station and attempt to curb the recklessness of shock jock radio.
"We believe we can get a judgment that people across the country will have to pay attention to," said Roger Dreyer, a personal injury lawyer who accused radio station KDND-FM of knowing of the dangers of the water-drinking contest but continuing anyway.
He charged that the contest that preceded the death of 28-year-old Jennifer Lea Strange, a mother of three from the Sacramento suburb of Rancho Cordova, was nothing more than a ratings stunt designed to boost profits.
"Outrageousness at any cost has become the industry standard - the trashier and more humiliating the better," Dreyer said. "It's time to stop the recklessness."
Dreyer said the lawsuit would likely be filed within days, after a private memorial service for Strange this weekend, and following a determination by lawyers about which station employees - and perhaps which companies in addition to the station - should be named in the suit.
He would not specify how much in damages the suit would seek.
Charles Sipkins, spokesman for KDND's parent company, Entercom/Sacramento, declined to comment on Dreyer's remarks since a lawsuit has not yet been filed.
Thursday's announcement followed revelations Wednesday that the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department had launched a criminal investigation into the circumstances surrounding Strange's death.
Authorities decided to pursue the investigation after listening to a tape of the Jan. 12 "Morning Rave" show that was obtained by The Sacramento Bee. On the tape, disc jockeys can be heard joking about the possible dangers of consuming too much water. They even alluded to a Chico State University student who died during a hazing stunt in 2005 after drinking large amounts of water.
At one point a listener called in to warn the DJs that the stunt could be fatal.
"Yeah, we're aware of that," one of them responded.
Another DJ laughed: "Yeah, they signed releases, so we're not responsible. We're OK."
The object of the contest was to see how much water contestants could drink without going to the bathroom. The top prize was a Nintendo Wii gaming console. The DJs called the contest "Hold your Wee for a Wii."
Several hours into the program, Strange was interviewed and complained that her head hurt.
"They keep telling me that it's the water. That it will tell my head to hurt and then it will make me puke," she said.
"This is what it feels like when you're drowning," responded one of the DJs. "There's a lot of water inside you."
Eventually, Strange gave up and accepted the second-place prize, tickets to a Justin Timberlake concert.
Dreyer, senior partner of the Sacramento law firm Dreyer, Babich, Buccola & Callaham, said he had requested a copy of the release DJs spoke of on the radio but had not yet received it from Entercom.
Sipkins declined to comment on the status of that request.
KDND on Tuesday fired 10 employees connected to the contest, including the three "Morning Rave" disc jockeys. The company also took the show off the air.
Dreyer said the family is devastated by the loss of Strange, whose children are ages 11 months, 3 years and 11 years old.
"They're without their mother," Dreyer said. "One of their motivations in coming to me is they don't want to see this happen again."
I'm not completely sure about that.
Bottom line: the DJs will be fortunate to avoid prison time, and the radio station will be out well in excess of $1 million. And rightly so.
Predictable jackpot justice shyster scam. This Darwin Award candidate died of terminal stupidity.
How do they know that didn`t kill her? Or was this before she watched the putz?
She mentioned an 'intern'. . .I thought - good grief - bad advice and 'medical as well!
Now I am wondering if it was a 'radio intern'. . .
She mentioned an 'intern'. . .I thought - good grief - bad advice and 'medical as well!
Now I am wondering if it was a 'radio intern'. . .
The main question is....did they get the Wii?
She appeared to be concerned about how she was feeling, and instead of them insisting on her getting medical attention, they joked about it.
Not a Darwin award winner. Too late. She had kids. The gene pool remains at risk.
At least she didn't have to go to the Justin Timberlake concert...
Seriesly, if these idiots said over the air that they knew the stunt was dangerous, and they knew of the previous fraternity hazing death, they're going to face serious consequences. They are moving beyond civil liability into manslaughter territory.
The winner did, I think. tho they should give one to the family as a gesture of 'good faith' at least. tho they will likely be able to buy a lot of them after a settlement.
In other words, we personal injury lawyers have sensitivies, we allow for the body to get cold first.
We need more regulation of human water ingestion. For the children.
If there is negligence, a signed waiver is worthless. You cannot protect youself from you own negligence by having somebody sign a form.
And this is waaaaaay beyond negligence. This is knowing, willful, malicious, etc. You can't waiver you way out of that.
As I mentioned when this first appeared on FR: The family should sue for the 2007 Darwin Award - this woman deserves it.
In any case, she has met all the requirements for getting the award, including removing herself from the gene pool.
Pity about the children though - they'll have to suffer for mom's incredible stupidity.
How about they give them a Wii and call it even?
Ignorance is not an excuse especially when she continued with this stunt despite being in bad pain. She knew how she felt better than anyone else.
BTW, I saw the "winner" on Larry King yesterday. She indicated that she had fun participating in the contest and might do it again!
These morons deserve pity - for being born with nary a single ounce of grey matter.
Isn't she kind of old for that?She'd be out of place in a crowd of pre-pubescent little girls,which would be the make up of the audience.
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