Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler 'Pending Lawsuit'

Clumsey Woman

I guess fountains in the malls will be banned after this one.

It wasn't her fault.

Rule one: before hinting at a lawsuit, make sure you don't have any outstanding felony charges yourself.

Fountain Lady, who became an Internet sensation last week after walking into a mall fountain while texting, said on Good Morning America Thursday that she might sue the mall where she fell.

I guess malls have to plan ahead for visitors who abstain from watching where they're walking.

Fountain Lady's lawyer told ABC News he intends to "hold the responsible parties accountable" for the incident, though it's unclear whether this references that no railing prevented her from falling in the fountain, that nobody responded to the incident after she fell or that a video of her fall was released.

But it turns out that "Fountain Lady," also known as Cathy Cruz Marrero, faces legal charges herself - charges even more serious than assuming that pedestrians can avoid large structures on pathways.Marrero was charged in late 2009 with running up bills of more than $5,000 on a coworker's credit account at Target and Zales, according to ABC News. She was supposed to repay the money but never did, and will appear in court for sentencing in April.

We can only hope her lawyer will give her a two-for-one discount.

Meanwhile, Fountain Lady is complaining that none of the mall staff helped her out of the fountain or even asked her if she was okay.

Regardless of whether this is grounds for legal action, there is no denying that the video is still hilarious.

Well as long as she wins enough money to repay her co-worker's outstanding credit debt and a little extra for goodness sake all should be good with the world then.

The video was funny, too bad it wasn't up close and in HD. I would have loved to have seen the look on her face.

Ahhh, the 21st Century American Dream. Be stupid, find someone else to blame, sue, collect millions. Queue It's a Wonderful World.

She's been on Good Morning America, so that's like half of the American Dream right there. Next up, she'll be on The Apprentice.

What ever happened to the days when people took responsibility for their own actions?

And get off my lawn.

I don't think her lawsuit case will make a big splash...but she did!

PeterC, agree 100%. You nailed it.

I'll point out to the curmudgeons that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of similar incidents where the victim/perp doesn't sue anyone. Miraculously, none of these are reported on by Good Morning America.

I doubt that she would win because that would open the flood gate for people to sue for doing stupid things on purpose.

Oh, I don't think the courts would allow that, even if she did win. There is a thing called frivolous lawsuits, after all.

There have already been a number of lawsuits based on that principle. the most famous of which is the Mcdonald's coffee cup lawsuit

Some people seem to think they can text and drive at the same time, yet here is proof some people can't even walk and text at the same time

The McDonald's coffee cup lawsuit has been blown out of proportion and was, to my knowledge, actually legitimate. See here. Couldn't find it on snopes, for some reason.

Heck, even based on that wikipedia link, it's not a good example of a frivolous lawsuit.

I'd sue someone if their coffee gave me 3rd degree burns, too.

Spill your own coffe you just made on yourself would you sue the coffee maker company, the manufacturer of the coffe cup you used for not printing a warning on the side etc.? Seems frivolous to me. Coffee is hot and and as some of the links from the wiki show properly brewed coffee is at a temp that will give 3rd degree burns no matter where you get it.

Things like she did. Walk into a fountain while texting, but on purpose, appearing it was an accident, then lying about it later.

The legal system appears to have not collapsed yet.

And Jason, no, I wouldn't if I had just made the coffee--but suing the company that made the coffee at too hot a temp for recovery of medical bills, yeah, I can see that.

Give her a break....I mean she was chewing gum at the time....

Falling on a neighbor's sidewalk and suing because you slipped on a small rock. My homeowner's insurance used to only have $1000 allocated for stuff like this. When I asked my agent why this was only $1000, he said because they usually will offer this small amount to possibly avoid a bigger amount later. When my agent changed, I reviewed this again and had it raised to $5000, because $1000 seemed awfully small for damages.

That is definitely frivolous and should be thrown out of court.

Conversely, if a homeowner left their front steps in such disrepair that the mail delivery person fell through them and broke his leg, that's not (as?) frivolous.

I originally thought the McDonald's case was frivolous, but when I heard the facts a few years back, I changed my mind. Serving coffee at 185 degrees is reckless endangerment, IMHO. Asking for trouble.

I agree. Coffee should be brewed anywhere between 88°C - 95°C which is very close to the boiling point of water. It can give you 3rd degree burns. Coffee is supposed to be a hot drink and it is of no surprise the consequences of it spilling on you.

I just don't feel sorry for stupid people and that they should not benefit off of something like this. She was stupid enough to put a hot drink in between her legs and was clumsy enough to spill it on herself. I am in the frivolous camp on this one. Though, I am not surprised with the lawsuits you hear about in the American justice system. There are a lot more frivolous cases out there than this one.

I guess that means I shouldn't install that boxing glove on a spring in my mail box then.

Just checked my own coffee maker and the temp is 170deg which is more than enough to give 3rd dgree burns in a matter of seconds, not much different than Mcdonald's. Look out Braun I feel a lawsuit coming on.

It's amazing when you look at the outrageous claims, via advertising, made by companies back in the 40's and 50's. There must have been potentially hundreds if not thousands of lawsuits just waiting to be...umm...lawsuitified in them times.

We are able to adjust the temperature of the coffee on our Cuisinart coffee maker, the lil' missus has it set for 190° ... maybe I'll sue her if I ever burn myself.

190°F - 200°F is the optimal water temperature you want for brewing coffee.

Yah. Good luck with that Rick. You'll be suing the frying pan manufacturer right after you tell her.

Actually, this dumbass was heading back to the "gene pool" and ended up in a fountain. Stupid is as stupid does

Justice is best served cold, anyways.

When it rains it pours.

!

Hey guys,

To further Ken's point about there being more to the McDonald's case, I urge everyone to watch today's news report on the incident and how corporations have spent millions of dollars distorting her story to promote tort reform.

That college student ain't too smart, is he?