Posted on 03/02/2005 5:47:46 AM PST by FlyLow
(CNSNews.com) -- George Soros, the billionaire liberal financier who spent more than $23 million of his own money trying to defeat President Bush last year, is being sued and could end up having to testify over a dog attack at his estate in Westchester County, N.Y.
Attorneys in the case appear to have made little progress in reaching a financial settlement to the lawsuit that arose out of the April 7, 2004 incident, and the New York Supreme Court for Westchester County has ordered a preliminary conference for March 10, which could lead to depositions and an eventual trial.
The victim, Brian McKean, suffered "two deep wounds in his leg," according to his attorney, Herman Kaufman, and is planning to undergo plastic surgery to cover up a scar left from one of the bites.
McKean was bitten by a black Labrador named Naomi, which had been purchased along with several other dogs by Soros for his son Gregory, according to Kaufman's lawsuit.
(Excerpt) Read more at gopusa.com ...
Some interesting details about Soros in this story.
Leave it to Soros--he can even make a Lab mean...
George Soros backs the ACLU and is at the heart of trying to drum Don Rumsfeld out of office. That makes Soros America's number one enemy along with the terrorists!
Who did soreass attack? A canine is held in much higher estemm than soreass will ever evolve in life. NSNR
"Let loose the hounds!"
hope its a bush voter and he takes every dime this commie fool's got
Heh, heh. Looks like the financial pit bull owns a mean Labrador. Like someone said, the little tyrant manages to make even a Lab nasty.
Of course that does not apply to the cat, who sees him as a horrible monster.
Definitely a 'man bites dog' story.
Purebred or a "lab-mix"? If it's pure, I don't believe it. Not unless the dog was provoked by an idiot looking to score a lawsuit.
Naomi? I thought it was Hillary. THAT's the beeotch that needs a muzzle on her.
$6 million for a dog bite? Gimme a break.
Soros's insurance offered $5000, which I'm guessing they estimated would cover the guy's medical bills.
The lawyer comes back with $45,000. Kind of a big drop from $6 million, huh?
Then the lawyer whines about having to talk to a paralegal at the oppositions firm, "To me it's an insult that I have to talk to a paralegal,"
What a piece of work.
I've worked at law firms and some of these lawyers really do think they're God, or at least Deity's
As much as I'd love to see Soros taken down a peg or two, this certainly isn't the way iti's going to happen.
Another contestant in the victim lottery . . .
I think your analysis is the correct one.
That said, it's another case of who has the
better lawyer. Soros wins.
If the bitee came over the fence or snuck through the gate then I'd have no sympathy and my comment would be Soros should teach his dogs to finish the job.
Since he was let into the estate, the property owners are responsible for his safety.
Anything over ten thousand is ridiculous.
However, there's nothing too bad that can happen to Soros.
Rapid America-hater George Soros living on his NY "estate."
Soros' Quantum biz does not pay U.S. corp. taxes - it's "off-shore."
Soros is Hillary Clinton's main political patron. Beware because both of them are ruthless.
I was thinking the same thing-- there is no dog more laid back than a Lab (at least my Lab-almation is). Won't even bark at a possum.
cheap bastards. 40K for the family is like anyone else paying a parking meter.
You think that's excessive?
Try this from the Stella awards.
19-year-old Carl Truman of Los Angeles won $74,000 and medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Mr. Truman apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal his neighbor's hubcaps.
HONORABLE MENTION:
Jerry Williams of Little Rock, Arkansas, was awarded $14,500 and medical expenses after being bitten on the buttocks by his next door neighbor's beagle. The beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard. The award was less than sought because the jury felt the dog might have been just a little provoked at the time by Mr. Williams who was shooting it repeatedly with a pellet gun.
FIFTH PLACE:
A Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, $113,500 after she slipped on a soft drink and broke her coccyx! (tailbone). The beverage was on the floor because Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument.
FOURTH PLACE:
Kara Walton of Claymont, Delaware, successfully sued the owner of a night club in a neighboring city when she fell from the bathroom window to the floor and knocked out her two front teeth. This occurred while Ms. Walton was trying to sneak through the window in the ladies room to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge. She was awarded $12,000 and dental expenses.
THIRD PLACE:
Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas, was awarded $780,000 by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store. The owners of the store were understandably surprised at the verdict, considering the misbehaving little toddler was Ms. Robertson's son.
SECOND PLACE:
Terrence Dickson of Bristol, Pennsylvania, was leaving a house he had just finished robbing by way of the garage. He was not able to get the garage door to go up since the automatic door opener was malfunctioning. He couldn't re-enter the house because the door connecting the house and garage locked when he pulled it shut. The family was on vacation, and Mr. Dickson found himself locked in the garage for eight days. He subsisted on a case of Pepsi he found, and a large bag of dry dog food. He sued the homeowner's insurance claiming the situation caused him undue mental anguish. The jury agreed, to the tune of $500,000.
GRAND PRIZE WINNER:
This year's favorite could easily be Mr. Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Mr. Grazinski purchased a brand new 32-foot Winnebago motor home. On his first trip home, having driven onto the freeway, he set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the drivers seat to go into the back and make himself a cup of coffee. Not surprisingly, the RV left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Mr. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising him in the owner's manual that he couldn't actually do this. The jury awarded him $1,750,000 plus a new motor home. The company actually changed their manuals on the basis of this suit, just in case there were any other complete morons buying their recreational Vehicles.
Merv might be a ledgend, but here are a few more cases
Merv Grazinski: An Urban Legend
by Walter Williams (January 6, 2004)
Summary: Thirty, 40 or 50 years ago, no one in their right mind would have believed the Merv Grazinski urban legend possible, but not so today.
[www.CapMag.com] Literally hundreds of readers informed me that in last week's column, "Some Things I Wonder About," my reference to a Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City -- who set his 32-foot Winnebago on cruise control, left the driver's seat to brew a cup of coffee, crashed, then sued Winnebago for not having a warning against the dangers of doing so and received a jury award of $1,750,000 plus a new motor home -- was an urban legend and as such totally false.
My having fallen for this "urban legend" points to more due diligence to fact-checking. Without making any excuses whatsoever for my lapse in due diligence, let's look at it.
Thirty, 40 or 50 years ago, no one in their right mind would have believed the Merv Grazinski urban legend possible, but not so today. Personal responsibility has taken a back seat in our increasingly immoral and litigious society. Consider some actual lawsuits researched at (www.overlawyered.com).
The wife of a hockey fan who crashed his car after drinking too much at a Minnesota Wild game has sued the team, saying her husband who was paralyzed in the Feb. 8, 2002, auto crash shouldn't have been served so much alcohol.
According to the July 10, 2002, Akron Beacon Journa, "Two carpet installers who admit they read the label of an adhesive they used, admit they understood the adhesive was flammable and should not be used inside, used it inside anyway, caused an explosion, were burned badly, sued and won $8 million dollars."
According to the April 18, 2003, Indianapolis Star: "A convicted robber is suing the convenience store clerk who shot him as he fled after a holdup. Willie Brown, 44, claimed the clerk acted 'maliciously and sadistically' in firing five shots as Brown ran out of Zipps Deli with money from the store's cash register." Brown, who has earlier convictions for robbery and burglary, pleaded guilty to robbery and was sentenced to four years in prison.
In Galveston, Texas, a jury awarded $65 million to the parents and estate of a woman who drowned after her car rolled off a boat ramp. She couldn't disengage her seat belt. The jury found Honda of America Manufacturing Co. Inc. and Honda R & D Co. Ltd. 75 percent responsible for the death of Karen Norman, even though her blood-alcohol level measured at nearly twice the Texas legal limit (.17). Fortunately, an appeals court threw out the award, which a trial judge had previously reduced to $43 million.
Then there's the infamous McDonald's case, where Stella Liebeck purchased hot coffee, placed it between her legs, spilling it and scalding herself, and was awarded $2.9 million for her troubles. Clearly, she was at fault, but George Mason University Law Professor Richard Bernstein points out that a proximate cause for her injury was the fact she was wearing a cotton sweat suit that absorbed the coffee and held it close to her body. However, if she were wearing a Gore-Tex suit, or some other liquid resistant material, she would have suffered no injuries. Bernstein asks what's the tort principle that holds McDonald's responsible but not the sweat suit manufacturer?
None of these cases, and many others, differs in principle from the Merv Grazinski urban legend. What's common to all of them is the absolution or the attempt at absolution from personal responsibility. Are people to be held responsible for their actions? In the case of tobacco use, it's not the smoker who's responsible for his illness, it's tobacco companies. In the case of obesity, it's not the individual, but fast food companies and food manufacturers who are responsible. It's the same with criminal violence -- the gun manufacturer is partly to blame.
What does all this say for the future of our nation?
Claim: Six outrageous-but-real lawsuits showcase the need for tort reform.
Status: False.
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