Apparently you can sue for just about anything

[gr8fl4porsche]

A Texas woman is suing Continental Airlines and three other carriers over mental trauma she says was caused by a turbulent flight, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Colleen O'Neal alleges that the October 2009 flight from College Station, Texas, to Houston -- a usually short flight that ended up taking more than two hours -- encountered extreme turbulence that caused her to fear for her life.

O'Neal experienced post-traumatic stress disorder and now fears flying, which has had a detrimental impact on her career, according to the suit filed Tuesday in Harris County district court.

Also named in the suit are regional carrier Pinnacle Airlines, which operated the flight; Pinnacle's owner, Colgan Air; and United Airlines, which recently merged with Continental.

Spokespeople for United and Pinnacle declined to comment.

[svandamme]

i doubt the court finds frivolous litigation amusing.

[Dottore]

That's why you need tort reform.

[stomachmonkey]

She probably called this douchnozzle.

[Rick Lee]

I have a similar, deathly fear of turbulence. But the thought of filing a lawsuit because of it never entered my mind. I hope she ends up on the no-fly list. Then everyone wins.

[krystar]

unfortunately u can't sue the FBI for totaling your F50

[red-beard]

I expect it was Jim Adler

Jim Adler, Houston Texas Personal Injury Lawyer Launches New Mob - The funniest videos clips are here

She probably should have hired this guy



The best part is the Spanish Version!

[stomachmonkey]

I REALLY hate the way insurance is pronounced here in TX.

I have no idea what a surance is much less how one can be in it.

[widgeon13]

They ought to put a bounty on those ****ing lawyers! POS a-holes!

[livi]

Only in America.

Well, perhaps not.

But still..

[Mark Henry]

In Canada if you lose you have to pay all court costs, including the defendants legal fees, missed work time, etc.
Since most lawyers work on only getting paid if they win and are also liable if the lose, no lawyer here will file a frivolous lawsuit.

[red-beard]

Unfortunately, in many states here, the lawyers have niche industries to extract money from businesses.

Reported on the news this morning. A Restaurant owner installed a mirror in the bathroom 2 inches too high. This meant that a handicapped person could not use it. A lawyer found a person to go to the place and create violation. He went back 27 times, so that it is a higher level of violation. To my understanding, until the lawsuit was filed, no one had informed the business owner of the problem.

The cost SO FAR to defend against the suit is more money than the business owner made in profit last year.

Also reported another lawyer went around Bakersfield, CA with a handicapped person, looking for violations. He sent letter of intent to sue to 200 businesses. They could settle out of court for $10,000. 90-95% of them just paid the $10K.

Again, a law intended to help people is used to extract money from productive in society and give it to the unproductive.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Mark Henry

In Canada if you lose you have to pay all court costs, including the defendants legal fees, missed work time, etc.
Since most lawyers work on only getting paid if they win and are also liable if the lose, no lawyer here will file a frivolous lawsuit.

I like that rule. I hope this chick can never fly again.

[dad911]

I was sued for assault 20 years ago. Said I hit him with an envelope, yup, an envelope.

Judge heard his side, he had no med bills, never saw doc, judge dismissed before I even had to start defense. Still cost me 15k in legal fees back then. Today it would probably be 50k+.

Judge even said if we countered with frivolous lawsuit, we'd win... but it wasn't worth the expense & aggravation.

[speeder]

Being able to sue for anything and being able to win are two different things. That said, I agree that there are a lot of ridiculous lawsuits in the news.

[LeeH]

Class actions suits bug me.

A couple of years ago I owned Tyco stock. It went down. I sold it eventually and lost about $6000. Recently, I got notice of a class action suit against various members of management. This week the settlement paperwork arrived. I'll be awarded an amount equal to less than 1% of my loss, or <$60. The two stockholders who initiated the suit will get $2500 each. The lawyers will get $1,050,000.00.

[Rick Lee]

Class action suits exist solely for the lawyers, not the plaintiffs.

[MRM]

You can sue for anything, but recovering is something else. Tort reform is a good idea, but it needs to be done so that it eliminates the frivolous suits without barring claims that really should be made, especially by people who can't afford to pay significant fees to gain access to the judicial system. Think it over. I have a lot. It's harder to devise a system that fairly excludes frivolous cases without barring good cases than it seems like. Trying to devise a more fair system is certainly a conversation worth having. I like the idea of fee shifting and making the attorneys share equally with their client.

Final thought: these claims are being brought by individual people - not lawyers. They're just hiring lawyers to represent them. Be mad at mankind for being so dense that some members of the human race think that suing over turbulance or the positioning of mirrors is a good idea. People that thick would sue whether they could hire a lawyer or not.

[gprsh924]

I REALLY hate the way insurance is pronounced here in TX.



I have no idea what a surance is much less how one can be in it.

Ironically, the people that pronounce insurance as IN-surance, are the least likely to have insurance

[doug_porsche]

Here is my favorite lawsuit.

Alton attorney accidentally sues himself
3/11/2005 9:57 AM By Steve Korris

Alton attorney accidentally sues himself | Madison/St. Clair Record