Only in the USA!

[fmxa]

Quick version - women texting falls into a fountain and is now suing because no one came to her assistance (only in the US!)

http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/fountain-lady-nobody-went-to-my-aid-23909987

[Sparky]

"Don't text and walk"

Jaw-dropping!

[Petrol feet driven]

[mayevora]

Love it! Lol

Can't believe that lawyer kept a straight face. Yes, she should sue - herself! - But the IRS needs to Introduce a 'stupid' tax for her to pay first.

[The Veg]

Fox News had a field-day with it.

[Moxie]

On behalf of the 90% of my fellow Americans who aren't morons or ideologically cranked up on one extreme or another, I think we need to create a new city for all these idiotic, litigious-minded twits (and their lawyers) with inflated senses of entitlement and compromised senses of personal responsibility and offer them a free lifetime salary, healthcare, and anything else they want, in exchange for not letting them out of the city limits, since they're much more dangerous to us all if let free, and far more embarrassing for us when their existence becomes known to the international community. We'll go British with the city and call it "Twitsandham-on-Hudson" and stick it in Westchester County (sorry Bob). The borders will be defended by people who actually have something to complain about, like North Korean refugees, who we'll pay double whatever the residents get, and will be armed with flamethrowers.

"I'm hoping nobody saw me"…and yet she wants to sue because no one helped her? That makes sense.

To quote George Carlin, "Think about how stupid the average person is, and then realize that by definition half of everyone is stupider than that."

[ifly]

Laughed my head off when I saw it a couple days ago, did not realize it had gone viral!

[comem47]

The best thing about this is the lawyer lets her speak and she single handedly shoots down her own case.

1) She admits it was funny

2) the only reason she is being humiliated is she came forward (nobody ever would have known it was her if she kept her mouth shut)

3) you don't see her traumatized screaming for help.(her complaining that nobody came to rescue her). A couple walks casually by her, but she doesn't ask them to help

BTW: Right after she left that TV interview she had to appear in court charged with five felony counts, including theft by deception and receiving stolen property.

click

[Moxie]

Pardon the expression, but I rest my case.

[Iconic Ride]

After much consideration and moral introspection, I have decided to file a lawsuit on behalf of the innocent fountain goldfish colony that was so deeply damaged psychologically by this shocking incident. Though I have no formal legal training, I have no doubt that I can produce sufficient evidence to meet the standards of the day to go forward with my clients' rights to be compensated for wrongful assault and injurious mental anxiety. I will take the case pro bono in the interest of community service, but will gladly accept donations at my Swiss bank account URL, www.savethefish.com.

[freshcut]

Is it just me, or do others feel that rather than filing a lawsuit, this lady should be posted to a kiosk erected near this particular fountain with the youtube video of her fall playing on several screens holding a sign explaining the dangers of walking and texting. I can respect her embarassment over this dumb move, and the fact that the video has been so publically distributed but to find it necessary to sue over it? If I were her, I'd be suing ABC broadcasting for putting a segment together that makes her look even more foolish than falling into a fountain. As for the lawyer representing this woman, umm, can we say "ambulance chaser"? He's just doing it to make a buck and get some publicity. It really makes me ashamed to know that somewhere WAY down my family tree I'm undoubtable related to this woman.

[molemot]

One of the major problems with the mobile phone is that the totally inept seem to be unable to avoid being mobile when using it...for voice, or text. They stumble about bumping into things and getting underfoot - or wheel - ....why can't they just stand still, out of the way, whilst using it? Instead, they fall into fountains....

[Kimbers]

I have 2 responses. One of hilarity and one of astonishment that you could sue for someones own stupidity....Even in America!

Whats next then? If she wins her case all fountains will have to have barriers around them? Jeez!

Was bloody funny though and you could hear someone laughing in the background as well.

[karmavore]

Isn't she actually suing for being made fun if all over the media? ..which I think is a bit more understandable.

[Bibs]

which I think is a bit more understandable.

An idiot being called an idiot does not equal a lawsuit!

[Petrol feet driven]

An idiot being called an idiot does not equal a lawsuit!

Try explaining that to an idiot, your be there for day's.

Edited January 25, 2011 by Petrol feet driven

[karmavore]

She's obviously a doofus (and an alleged thief), I'm jut putting myself in her shoes.

The real reason to call her an idiot is not because you fell, but because if she hadn't opened her month no one would have known who she is.

[freshcut]

As I understand it, she is suing because the security video was leaked. As I have come to understand only charges have been filed against the private security company that allowed this to happen, not the mall in which it took place in. Personally I find it incredibly interesting that the timing of this "accident" and her pending theft lawsuit are so closely related in time. Almost as if she's planned this to happen as a way to collect money to pay the lawsuit resulting from her stupidity for steeling from the co-worker. I can respect that she was embarassed over the whole tripping into the fountain thing and as others have said, no one would have a clue who she is if she hadn't come forward with this.

[USAndretti42]

If she were to win, would that mean that any criminal caught on security video which is then shown on TV or another public broadcast could successfully sue the security company?

Why would she think she could have been hit by a bus or a car in the mall? I've been to Reading in Pennsylvania and it wasn't that crazy that people are driving cars and buses in the mall.

[Moxie]

I think she's got nothing because as anyone who's watched Law & Order knows, she had no "expectation of privacy," plus no one would be able to recognize her from the footage anyway. That was only possible once she came forward, probably for the reasons stated above about the other suit against her. If anyone should be suing anyone, it should be the mall owners suing the security company for breach of conduct/contract.

[Iconic Ride]

Goldfish day in court tentatively set for Feb 15th, the honorable Judge Mack R. L. Phishbate presiding. Keep them donations comin' in folks!

[USAndretti42]

Ah. The scales of justice.

[ramjet]

Maybe she could also sue the phone manufacturer for the phone's GPS system not alerting to her to the imminent dunking? If the GPS knows where she is, which is hidden in any pics you take using a GPS enabled phone, surely the phone should know where fountains are? Or roads, or trip hazards or other silly texting phone users who aren't looking where they are walking either.

I thought, from what I read, that she was suing because no-one came to help her though in the same blurb, she stated that she hoped no-one had seen her???

Edited January 28, 2011 by ramjet