Man Dies In Taco Eating Contest. Son Sues!

Discussion in 'Food & Drinks' started by Trevalius Guyus, Apr 6, 2021.

  1. Trevalius Guyus

    Trevalius Guyus Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 22, 2020
    Messages:
    792
    Likes Received:
    1,039
    Come on! How much of this nonsense can we stand! Did all contestants sign a waiver? If not, the organizers are idiots, and the son will probably be very rich, in due time.

    Does anyone think things out, these days, when it comes to liability issues? Apparently, many do not!

    As a successful landlord for thirty-four years, who wrote my own leases, as a musician who wrote my own contracts, as a seller who wrote my own bills of sale, I learned, at twelve years old, that the name of the game is cover your a$$! Are most people so ignorant that they just don't get it? Again, apparently so. Scary!

    https://news.yahoo.com/family-sues-california-man-dies-235855390.html
     
    #1
    Bobby Cole and Tony Page like this.
  2. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
    Staff Member Senior Staff Greeter Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2015
    Messages:
    24,327
    Likes Received:
    42,631
    They may well have required contestants to sign a waiver. However, the attitude that is being fostered today is that someone has to pay whenever someone dies... unless, of course, they're killed by a vaccine or by a disease that the governor set them up for.
     
    #2
  3. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
    Staff Member Senior Staff Greeter Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    May 29, 2020
    Messages:
    22,684
    Likes Received:
    32,179
    I did vendor contracts full time for over 25 years, and advised on agreements of all types on occasion when I moved on to computer an analysis work. If you "think everything out" regarding liability issues, then you'll end up doing nothing. Everything has risk.

    Besides, you can sign all the agreements in the world saying you understand the risks. It cannot stop you from getting an attorney. I don't believe a consumer can assign away the right to seek redress. And you cannot contractually protect yourself against neglect.

    Those clauses are mean to filter out people who think it can stop them. That's the extent of the benefit such clauses offer. A more enforceable clause would be for both parties to agree to take their grievances to binding arbitration. The courts would rule that such a term is enforceable, as it does not attempt to fully prevent people from seeking relief and redress under the law.

    Regarding the specific subject:

    Just one more....
    [​IMG]
     
    #3
    Bobby Cole and Ken Anderson like this.
  4. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
    Staff Member Senior Staff Greeter Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    May 29, 2020
    Messages:
    22,684
    Likes Received:
    32,179
    Yup.

    The public sector is all about sunshine and accountability for the private sector, where (unlike the private sector) we cannot be compelled to do business.

    Our founders had it right.
    But time perverts everything.
     
    #4
  5. Trevalius Guyus

    Trevalius Guyus Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 22, 2020
    Messages:
    792
    Likes Received:
    1,039
    As one who has been writing contracts since the age of twelve, and who has successfully sued on matters regarding the same, I must disagree with the post, as above. (FWIW, I've been told, by a few attorneys, that I could teach Contract Law.)

    If I were writing a waiver of liability for the taco eating contest, I freely acknowledge that any competitor could lawyer up to sue the events coordinators and sponsors but, with me writing the legal instrument, as mentioned, they'd lose, in court.

    Gross negligence, on the part of the sponsors and coordinators of the event, might see a plaintiff prevail, but, even then, a well-written waiver might still protect a defendant, to an extent. The old, "Nail in the Taco," experience, would be a tough one to get around, though.
     
    #5
    Last edited: Apr 6, 2021
  6. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
    Staff Member Senior Staff Greeter Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    May 29, 2020
    Messages:
    22,684
    Likes Received:
    32,179
    I said nothing about prevailing in court.

    We are talking about the fact that a suit was brought. You cannot prevent that.

    I assume that's what you were talking about in your OP, since there has been no trial, much less a judgement rendered.
     
    #6
    Beth Gallagher likes this.
  7. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2018
    Messages:
    20,311
    Likes Received:
    42,316
    Exactly. Anyone can sue anybody for anything. Whether they prevail is quite a different story.
     
    #7
  8. Trevalius Guyus

    Trevalius Guyus Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 22, 2020
    Messages:
    792
    Likes Received:
    1,039
    Never said that suing someone can be prevented.

    I posted what I did, originally, because I'm sick of people getting rich, after the fact, off of dumb things they do, or their relatives do.
     
    #8
    Beth Gallagher and John Brunner like this.
  9. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
    Staff Member Senior Staff Greeter Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    May 29, 2020
    Messages:
    22,684
    Likes Received:
    32,179
    On THAT we all agree.

    It's as though when something bad happens, people think they've bought a winning lottery ticket. It's even more egregious when the litigant is at fault. It's even MORE egregious when it's complete B.S. (like those videos of someone in a store pouring a bottle of liquid on the floor, then laying down and screaming as though they slipped.)

    Regarding that taco situation: as we know, that these suits are often settled not on merit but on nuisance value, and on the myriad costs of litigation. If I owned a business (or if it were me personally) and were in that situation, I would not yield to the overt blackmail. There are higher costs to rewarding Bad Behaviour than just the cash; to wit, the outrage we feel at these situations when we're not even a party to them.
     
    #9
    Trevalius Guyus likes this.
  10. Trevalius Guyus

    Trevalius Guyus Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 22, 2020
    Messages:
    792
    Likes Received:
    1,039
    I wrote up reports for a company that followed the exploits of trip and fall artists who, literally, made a living doing so. For the Texas counties I covered, I read outrageous things at the county courthouses.
     
    #10
    John Brunner likes this.

Share This Page