Supreme Court to Hear Tuna Can Case?
The Supreme Court agreed to consider Tuesday whether family members can sue in federal court after a 14-year-old girl cut her finger on a Star-Kist tuna can and suffered permanent damage.
The case raises a technical issue over the family's access to federal courts if their alleged harm does not amount to at least $75,000 — the minimum required under U.S. law — but the girl's separate lawsuit alleging physical damages and pain and suffering does.
Beatriz Blanco-Ortega, then 9, was at school in Puerto Rico when she cut her finger on the tuna can and bled profusely for nearly 30 minutes. After a nurse stopped the bleeding, her mother took her in for surgery. The doctor reported she suffered scarring and a minor permanent impairment that could get worse over time.
Blanco-Ortega and her family then filed separate lawsuits in federal court against Star-Kist Foods Inc. The girl's suit alleged physical damages and pain and suffering; the relatives claimed emotional distress after seeing the girl's anguish...
Here we go again. We have a mom, and I'd guess at least one other person since the wording said "... the relatives (plural) claimed..." who could have seen this happening, but did not, or did nothing until the accident actually happened. I remember, when I was about this girl's age as of the accident, that I was licking the inside of a can of something and my grandmother said, "don't do that you'll cut yourself." in a calm voice. I of course continued to do so because I have a history of being stupid and ignoring advice until I cut my tongue. It hurt, I bled, and to top it off I couldn't eat because it hurt so I didn't even get to have the finished food - whatever it might have been. It would never have crossed my grandmother's mind to sue anyone, nor would I think of it today if it happened to my family.
The tuna can is to blame though, and the evil corporation who designed it should be the one to pay for this poor child's situation. And people wonder why there needs to be a limit to the lawsuits related to injury.
George Bush understands this, and with a good November election something might actually happen to limit the amount of these cases in our courts.
People have surrendered all ideas of responsibility in favor of blame. Become a victim and make money. The American Dream should be that success in life comes from hard work and determination combined with a few smart and lucky choices, not making a mistake and then suing any and all parties in order to gain wealth.
This all began with the post-modernistic approach that no one is better or worse than anyone else, and 'good' decisions and 'bad' decisions are subjective and thus hold little value. When you combine this attitude with the anti-capitalistic mentality that says if you have any money at all you have probably taken advantage of people and so if you can be sued, then you probably should be. They call it 'social justice', and is very different from actual justice.
While some also gripe that only the poor go to jail, I would be willing to wager that the family of this girl would not feel that justice was served if the CEO of the tuna company went to jail. Punishment is not the objective, but getting money is.
While I deplore corporate greed and corruption, I also deplore people who think that they are entitled to some sort of Robin Hood'esque pay out because they were either stupid, ignorant, or acted with neglect. We should not need warnings stating not to use hair dryers in the shower, not to aim nail guns at our face, nor should we have to have our coffee cooler because some dolt can't drive and hold coffee at the same time.
There are exceptions, like when a product is very new and people really don't understand how to make it work, and so forth. But a tuna can is not a new product, nor is a sharp edge in general, so this is idiocy.
I do feel sorry for the girl if she does lose more and more function with her finger, but I can not see how awarding her any money for the injury - let alone pain and suffering for her AND HER FAMILY is going to make anything right or just.
The case raises a technical issue over the family's access to federal courts if their alleged harm does not amount to at least $75,000 — the minimum required under U.S. law — but the girl's separate lawsuit alleging physical damages and pain and suffering does.
Beatriz Blanco-Ortega, then 9, was at school in Puerto Rico when she cut her finger on the tuna can and bled profusely for nearly 30 minutes. After a nurse stopped the bleeding, her mother took her in for surgery. The doctor reported she suffered scarring and a minor permanent impairment that could get worse over time.
Blanco-Ortega and her family then filed separate lawsuits in federal court against Star-Kist Foods Inc. The girl's suit alleged physical damages and pain and suffering; the relatives claimed emotional distress after seeing the girl's anguish...
Here we go again. We have a mom, and I'd guess at least one other person since the wording said "... the relatives (plural) claimed..." who could have seen this happening, but did not, or did nothing until the accident actually happened. I remember, when I was about this girl's age as of the accident, that I was licking the inside of a can of something and my grandmother said, "don't do that you'll cut yourself." in a calm voice. I of course continued to do so because I have a history of being stupid and ignoring advice until I cut my tongue. It hurt, I bled, and to top it off I couldn't eat because it hurt so I didn't even get to have the finished food - whatever it might have been. It would never have crossed my grandmother's mind to sue anyone, nor would I think of it today if it happened to my family.
The tuna can is to blame though, and the evil corporation who designed it should be the one to pay for this poor child's situation. And people wonder why there needs to be a limit to the lawsuits related to injury.
George Bush understands this, and with a good November election something might actually happen to limit the amount of these cases in our courts.
People have surrendered all ideas of responsibility in favor of blame. Become a victim and make money. The American Dream should be that success in life comes from hard work and determination combined with a few smart and lucky choices, not making a mistake and then suing any and all parties in order to gain wealth.
This all began with the post-modernistic approach that no one is better or worse than anyone else, and 'good' decisions and 'bad' decisions are subjective and thus hold little value. When you combine this attitude with the anti-capitalistic mentality that says if you have any money at all you have probably taken advantage of people and so if you can be sued, then you probably should be. They call it 'social justice', and is very different from actual justice.
While some also gripe that only the poor go to jail, I would be willing to wager that the family of this girl would not feel that justice was served if the CEO of the tuna company went to jail. Punishment is not the objective, but getting money is.
While I deplore corporate greed and corruption, I also deplore people who think that they are entitled to some sort of Robin Hood'esque pay out because they were either stupid, ignorant, or acted with neglect. We should not need warnings stating not to use hair dryers in the shower, not to aim nail guns at our face, nor should we have to have our coffee cooler because some dolt can't drive and hold coffee at the same time.
There are exceptions, like when a product is very new and people really don't understand how to make it work, and so forth. But a tuna can is not a new product, nor is a sharp edge in general, so this is idiocy.
I do feel sorry for the girl if she does lose more and more function with her finger, but I can not see how awarding her any money for the injury - let alone pain and suffering for her AND HER FAMILY is going to make anything right or just.
posted by Edward W. Prather at 16:19
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