BB Lawsuit

[toast21602]

$2.5 million awarded to snowboarder who hit snow gun in middle of closed trail.

 

https://www.law.com/thelegalintelligencer/2019/06/14/federal-jury-awards-injured-snowboarder-2-5m-in-lawsuit-against-ski-area/?slreturn=20190514183731

[JFskiDan]

Cant read article without subscription. 

Cliff notes please. 

[toast21602]

1 minute ago, JFskiDan said:

Cant read article without subscription. 

Cliff notes please. 

Really? I don't have one and it works for me. Anyway:

A federal jury has awarded $2.5 million to a man who broke his leg snowboarding.

On Wednesday, a jury from the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania found the operators of Big Boulder Ski Area negligent for failing to adequately close off a trail before putting a snow-making machine in the middle of the ski path.

Messa & Associates attorney Lee Rosenfeld said the evidence on both the liability and damages was very compelling, and helped convince the jury that 24-year-old plaintiff, James Ashmen Jr., would continue to suffer from the injuries for the rest of his life.

“I could not be happier for Mr. Ashmen. Big Boulder’s placement of a large and dangerous machine on an improperly marked closed trail goes well beyond what anyone could anticipate while snowboarding,” Rosenfeld said. “Big Boulder knew of this danger and its potential to cause catastrophic injuries, but carelessly failed to take reasonable steps to protect its patrons.”

According to his pretrial memo, Ashmen and a group of friend were snowboarding at the Carbon County ski resort on Jan. 24, 2015. After skiing that morning and relaxing during the afternoon, Ashmen and a few friends went snowboarding at about 8 p.m. The memo said Ashmen and his friends traveled to the opposite side of the mountain, and, about 400 feet down the trial, he and a friend turned onto “Snowdrift” trail. The memo said there was some evidence that a rope had been placed across the entrance, but the rope was down at the time Ashmen entered.

The memo said Ashmen was “in  complete control” of his board, as he did a jump off a snow platform. While airborne, the memo said, Ashmen saw a snow machine positioned about 10 feet down the hill. Ashmen then tried to get out of the way, but instead struck his left leg, resulting in a comminuted tibial fracture.

Ashmen needed to have a rod installed in his leg, and he subsequently underwent physical therapy and pain management. In making his damages argument, Ashmen further contended the injuries meant that he could not fulfill his dream of becoming a police officer.

Ashmen’s pretrial memo noted that several ski patrol members mentioned the rope blocking off the entrance had been knocked down several times that evening, and Ashmen’s ski expert, Mark DiNola, opined that Big Boulder negligently chose an ineffective means of closing off the trail.

Big Boulder, however, contended in its pretrial memo that Ashmen’s injuries were part of an inherent risk of the sport. The company contended it owed no duty to warn Ashmen about the snow machine on the trial, and noted that the friend who accompanied Ashmen down the trail said he had seen the rope and a sign indicating the trail was closed.

According to Rosenfeld, the trial lasted three days before Middle District Judge James Munley and the jury deliberated for about three hours before returning the $2.5 million verdict for Ashmen.

Big Boulder was represented by Anthony Hinkle of Cipriani & Werner. He declined to comment.

 

 

 

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[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

6 minutes ago, JFskiDan said:

Cant read article without subscription. 

Cliff notes please. 

Same!!!! But 2 million for a broken leg is amazing wow. I bet Root could have got like tree fiddy when he went ass over teakettle over the root roller. 

Edited June 14, 2019 by GrilledSteezeSandwich

[Shadows]

Hmmm

[RidgeRacer]

Have a feeling the PPL surcharge was nothing compared to what will occur at the ticket window next season.

[RidgeRacer]

So (in re-reading this) the dude jumped off of that platform / deck area separating BB trail and snowdrift onto snowdrift and hit a snowgun? That jump in itself is a pretty risky move. Can't speak to why BB had a snowgun parked there but damn....2.4 million??

[saltyant]

11 hours ago, RidgeRacer said:

Have a feeling the PPL surcharge was nothing compared to what will occur at the ticket window next season.

I assume (e.g. speculate) they will be covered by insurance to some degree?

@toast21602 Thanks for the shout out!

Edited June 15, 2019 by saltyant

[toast21602]

41 minutes ago, saltyant said:

I assume (e.g. speculate) they will be covered by insurance to some degree?

@toast21602 Thanks for the shout out!

Of course! Fresh tune on the car?

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

1 hour ago, saltyant said:

I assume (e.g. speculate) they will be covered by insurance to some degree?

@toast21602 Thanks for the shout out!

Correct but then their insurance premiums will go up and it’s bad publicity for a mountain that’s a real technical gem. 

[saltyant]

2 hours ago, toast21602 said:

Of course! Fresh tune on the car?

Yep. Got an oil change, new tires, inspections and brakes fixed all in one shot so I should be good for a while.

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

1 minute ago, saltyant said:

Yep. Got an oil change, new tires, inspections and brakes fixed all in one shot so I should be good for a while.

Nice is your car up to 100,000 miles yet?  

Edited June 15, 2019 by GrilledSteezeSandwich

[saltyant]

3 minutes ago, GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

Nice is your car up to 100,000 miles yet?  

Nah only 86,000 so far. 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

30 minutes ago, saltyant said:

Nah only 86,000 so far. 

Right on was trying to remember how many miles you have on it I remember you saying 70something during ski season.  My car is almost at 7,000 miles. 

[RyGuy19]

This all happened in January of 2015. Don't think it will change too much in the pricing 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

4 minutes ago, RyGuy19 said:

This all happened in January of 2015. Don't think it will change too much in the pricing 

But the money was just awarded. 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

5 minutes ago, RyGuy19 said:

This all happened in January of 2015. Don't think it will change too much in the pricing 

But the money was just awarded. The dude will never have to work again if he manages the money well.  Doubt that happens. Most who win the lottery blow it within a year or two. 

[RyGuy19]

3 minutes ago, GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

But the money was just awarded. 

Makes sense. I remember this past season I was waiting to go down Boulder Park and they had it closed for grooming and they had two ski patrols sitting at the top of it not letting me down along with the ropes and closed signs.

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

15 minutes ago, RyGuy19 said:

Makes sense. I remember this past season I was waiting to go down Boulder Park and they had it closed for grooming and they had two ski patrols sitting at the top of it not letting me down along with the ropes and closed signs.

That would have never happened to me because I’ve been skiing so long that when I’m getting mad steezy air off a big dawg booster, I follow Smartstyle and look before I leap...I also yell my drop in multiple languages...and easystyleit as well...remember respect gets respect from the terrain park to the parking lot and remember kids, never trust a big butt and a smile. 

[JFskiDan]

@toast21602 Comminuted tibial fracture - life long debilitating injury?  

 

The settlement seems excessive to me, but i dont know shit on the subject, but i feel people are just ready to sue for anything.  I kind of want to say this guy aint bright enough to figure out he is on a closed trail?  But it also sounds like he may have been on BB trail, then jumped the platform onto snowdrift.  I get that there was a snow gun there, but assumed risk means nothing?  

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

9 minutes ago, JFskiDan said:

@toast21602 Comminuted tibial fracture - life long debilitating injury?  

 

The settlement seems excessive to me, but i dont know shit on the subject, but i feel people are just ready to sue for anything.  I kind of want to say this guy aint bright enough to figure out he is on a closed trail?  But it also sounds like he may have been on BB trail, then jumped the platform onto snowdrift.  I get that there was a snow gun there, but assumed risk means nothing?  

 

We had a family who had a monument company design them a real custom memorial stone/bench/sculpture combination and give a deposit but the family for some reason didn’t like the particular monument company so cancelled their order and went with us.  Fast forward and the other monument company said they’re going to sue us for using their design. Turns out this custom design was from a catalogue one of the importers has lol..they can come at me bro.