Young soon figured out who had left the cookies and complained to Taylor's mother, Jill Ostergaard. She said Ostergaard and Lindsey's mother, Martha, offered, "even insisted" on paying almost $900 in medical bills not covered by insurance. But the months dragged on, and the families never sent the money.
"I really tried to settle this out of court four different times," Young says. "I'm not sure where it all went bad."
= = = = =
So the teenagers mother offered but never paid. Interesting.
It is interesting, but if it had been me in that situation, I wouldn't have gone as far as a lawsuit. Of course, if it had been me, I wouldn't have needed a visit to the emergency room because somebody pounded on my door late at night and left a plate of cookies. Although I wouldn't have eaten the cookies, either...
Except if you read on, it looks like there were two conditions: 1. seeing the bill (makes sense to me that they would want proof of the expense before paying it), and 2. the woman had to agree not to sue for additional money. The second condition also makes sense, otherwise paying could, I think, be seen as automatic admission of liability and, rather than resolving the issue, would open the door to more damages. Both of those conditions seem reasonable to me...
And you are taking what this harpy says over the sworn testimony in court??
From the article:
The Ostergaard and Zilletti families said they first waited to see a bill. Then they asked Young to sign an agreement that, with the roughly $900 paid, she would not make additional claims. Young said she was bothered by that request and the lack of trust she believed it signaled. By Dec. 30, she said, she felt that she had to go to court.
You're busted on a charge of sloppy reading.
They requested a copy of the medical billing that showed the unpaid $900... She didn't provide it. She also wouldn't signed the agreement to hold them harmless against future claims. When she refused to sign the release or provide evidence of her loss, they refused to pay. (I wouldn't have paid it either!) So, she dragged everyone into court with hopes of getting "pain and suffering" compensation in addition to the "actual damages." The judge awarded the woman exactly what the girls' parents had already offered.
Asking for a release from future claims was just a smart thing to do - especially when you have someone like this complaining against you. If you don't get it, they'll come back and try to hit you up for more money down the road, claiming that the initial incident is continuing to cause them harm.
She made a mountain out of a mole hill, and then complains because she is getting all of the negative publicity? She was blinded by the dollar signs in her eyes... I would even bet that she already had the "Pain & Suffering" money spent before they went to court...