Posted on 03/11/2014 6:49:29 PM PDT by lowbridge
In America’s increasingly litigious culture, it is truer than ever that no good deed goes unpunished. The first responders who risked their lives saving a man trapped in his sinking car last year learned this lesson when they received notice that they could face a lawsuit stemming from their heroic act.
Last September, as Roy Ortiz drove to work in Boulder County, Colo., he reportedly lost control of his vehicle on a flooded road and ended up in a nearby creek. While he survived for two hours by using a tiny air pocket within the car, he would not have lived much longer without the decisive actions of individuals who pulled him to safety.
(Excerpt) Read more at westernjournalism.com ...
What is he going to sue them for? Not saving his life quick enough?
What a worthless and ungrateful POC.
I’d bet Ortiz did not come up with this cock and bull lawsuit, it had to be his ambulance chasing supposed lawyer.
Disbar the turkey and send Ortiz packing after he pays all court costs and attorneys fee of the defendants.
I hope a jury rules against him and makes him pay for the attorneys’ fees as well as the cost of the rescue.
Pretty much. This is really about bleeding the insurance companies for settlement money.
They wouldn’t want me or you on the jury.
it says the first responders did not initially realize that Ortiz was in the vehicle... or that if someone were in the vehicle, he could not have survived... then who/what were they trying to save? i do not get it...
I hope a special place in hell awaits people like this a-hole and his lawyer. This will put a chilling effect on the intentions of those who might otherwise offer to help.
Judges need to be a little more willing to just dismiss cases like this as frivolous— and there should be a penalty for filing a frivolous suit on top of that.
I recall during a first aid course years ago that there was some legislation that prevented just such lawsuits in the case of offering aid. This was in Canada so maybe it’s different in the US or varies from state to state. This came up because someone asked about being sued for offering first aid. This is not a new issue as lawyer scum have been around for a while as we well know.
Good Samaritan laws. Thank goodness for them!
I am in favor of Good Samaritan laws. In some countries, you can actually face charges for not helping in a desperate situation where you are in no immediate danger (doesn’t apply to being unable to run into a burning house to rescue someone, for example). If the laws were better AND people actually had confidence in them (important), garbage like this would be tossed with prejudice immediately, and I believe that people would be more willing to “get involved”.
Unfortunately I don’t think that Good Samaritan laws apply to professionals.
I would say put him and his lawyer back in the wreck if that would restore natural justice.
Maybe the judge will rule that he be put back into his car in the creek.
In the Colorado I grew up in, this man would have never made it to court let alone passed the first attorney
“Unfortunately I don’t think that Good Samaritan laws apply to professionals.”
In some areas, they do - I read that a medical professional cannot be sued for malpractice in a good samaritan situation IN SOME AREAS/COUNTRIES. Again, because there isn’t any apparent national policy (which exists in some countries), people just don’t want to help because of the uncertainties. Frankly, under the present circumstances (like the one described in this post), I would tend not to.
Shoot the lawyer first.
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