$10 Million Wrongful death lawsuit filed against Patriots

[kennyb]

Proximate cause "is a cause, which, in the natural and continuous sequence, produces the death, and without which the death would not have occurred." Commonwealth v. Rhoades, 379 Mass. 810, 825 (1980),

Suppose a) the guy deserved to be yelled at least a little bit and b) the amount of confrontation would in no way be expected to cause a normal person any heart problems at all?

If the security guard acted in a textbook appropriate manner and the plaintiff still had a heart attack due to the stress of even that interaction, would the security still be liable? I don't see how that could be.

 

[belichick010405]

From the complaint.




Oh no, mean security guy yelled at dad instead of the officials, even after the kid was off the field. And horror of horrors, he continued even when Dad was becoming AGITATED>

SHOCKING.


That's kind of what is known as an ARGUMENT. Like I said, it was a customer service complaint AT MOST.

Yea - too bad that the one who would have filed the customer service complaint had a cardiac arrest and died. Nice job Demos.

 

[BradyFTW!]

From the complaint.




Oh no, mean security guy yelled at dad instead of the officials, even after the kid was off the field. And horror of horrors, he continued even when Dad was becoming AGITATED>

SHOCKING.


That's kind of what is known as an ARGUMENT. Like I said, it was a customer service complaint AT MOST.

Sounds to me like the security guard was an *******, which shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who's ever been to a sporting event.

That said, if you keel over and die because of an argument, then I can't for the life of me understand how that can be held against whoever you were arguing with. It's perfectly reasonable to assume that you can have a conversation with someone--even a heated one--without them kicking the bucket.

 

[belichick010405]

Suppose a) the guy deserved to be yelled at least a little bit and b) the amount of confrontation would in no way be expected to cause a normal person any heart problems at all?

If the security guard acted in a textbook appropriate manner and the plaintiff still had a heart attack due to the stress of even that interaction, would the security still be liable? I don't see how that could be.

I highly doubt that the security guard "acted in a textbook manner" because had he, he would have approached the NFL officials. It is clear that he did probably did not.

 

[Demosthenes]

Kenny - that is the problem, the security guard, instead of doing his job, did two things wrong.

(1) Harassed and annoyed someone to the point that caused his death. (2) Failed to follow standard operating procedure to determine whether or not there was an ongoing security violation when the NFL officials brought that child onto the field.

And then he went above and beyond by going back to the father and continued his annoying and harassing behavior.

All of which are issues that should be taken up with the Customer Relations department.

The reason this guy died is because he had a heart condition.


I guess if Tom Brady threw 4 interceptions in the game and the guy became overly agitated and died, you'd say that this would be grounds for a lawsuit as well ?

 

[belichick010405]

You are ignoring the standard to be used.

Let's stipulate for sake of argument that it could conclusively be proven that the argument caused the heart attack.

There's no way that the security guard would have or could have known about the guy's heart condition.

Just because the security guard might of been an ass, doesn't mean that he's responsible for the guy's death. The question is whether or not his death was reasonably forseeable.

It doesn't have to be forseeable.

-30-

 

[Demosthenes]

Yea - too bad that the one who would have filed the customer service complaint had a cardiac arrest and died. Nice job Demos.

Yeah, I know he died. Mentioned in my first post that it was sad that he did.


Doesn't change the fact that the situation doesn't warrant a lawsuit. But rather, was something that should have been taken to Guest Relations or whatever the Pats call that department.

 

[belichick010405]

All of which are issues that should be taken up with the Customer Relations department.

The reason this guy died is because he had a heart condition.


I guess if Tom Brady threw 4 interceptions in the game and the guy became overly agitated and died, you'd say that this would be grounds for a lawsuit as well ?

And how do you know that pray tell?

 

[Demosthenes]

It doesn't have to be forseeable.

-30-

So without knowing anything about you personally, if you were to suddenly keel over and die after getting upset and stressed over one of our arguments on this board, I should be subject to a lawsuit from your estate ?

That's downright silly.

 

[Kontradiction]

No offense - but you don't know that.

No I don't. You're right. I'm simply assuming it to be the case since people who have excellent heart health don't normally die from a heart attack because they got into an argument.

 

[Demosthenes]

And how do you know that pray tell?

Because he was 40 freaking years old and died of cardiac arrest.

 

[belichick010405]

No I don't. You're right. I'm simply assuming it to be the case since people who have excellent heart health don't normally die from a heart attack because they got into an argument.

It happens more often than you think Kontradiction and it is ok that you assume that he wasn't in "excellent heart health". With that said - if the security guard exacerbated his current medical condition that led to his death, then the security guard is certainly negligent regardless if he knew what his medical condition was or not.

 

[belichick010405]

Because he was 40 freaking years old and died of cardiac arrest.

Yea, ok Demos.

Tell that to Reggie Lewis, Hank Gathers or the hundreds of thousands of those who died without even knowing that they had a cardiac condition.

 

[Kontradiction]

It happens more often than you think Kontradiction and it is ok that you assume that he wasn't in "excellent heart health". With that said - if the security guard exacerbated his current medical condition that led to his death, then the security guard is certainly negligent regardless if he knew what his medical condition was or not.

Being a douche doesn't necessarily mean that you or the team you're working for deserves to get hit with a wrongful death lawsuit. The guy had a weak heart, he got into a heated argument (when he could have simply just ignored the guard as well) and died. Now, three years later, the wife is seeing dollar signs. It's simply a sad situation that the wife is turning into a despicable one over her greed.

 

[dannydyn]

I'm no lawyer, but having taken a few business laws courses back in college, I can tell you that I have a better chance of hitting the powerball jackpot, than this ****** getting a dime.

 

[goheels22002]

I see that Florio, who is an attorney, provides the terminology I was looking for: proximate causation.

If the allegations are accurate, the security guard apparently used excessive efforts to deal with a minimal threat to the playing surface. However, the problem will be establishing a link between the guard’s behavior and Chartier’s heart attack. The legal term is “proximate causation”; Mrs. Chartier’s lawyers will have to prove that her husband’s death as a result of an angry interaction falls within the reasonable range of risks created by the guard’s alleged behavior.

Patriots sued for incident resulting in death of fan | ProFootballTalk

Here is the memorial web page for Mr. Chartier with a photograph in Patriots garb, smoking a cigar and enjoying his favorite beverage:

In memory of Jeffrey Chartier - Good Grief

With all due respect and condolences to the family for their loss three years ago, maybe they should have named Cuba and Budweiser in the law suit as well. My guess is that this photograph will be entered as Exhibit A by the defense.

 

[Kontradiction]

I'm no lawyer, but having taken a few business laws courses back in college, I can tell you that I have a better chance of hitting the powerball jackpot, than this ****** getting a dime.

It's pretty hard for me to think of a scenario in which the team doesn't settle with her out of court.

 

[Demosthenes]

Yea, ok Demos.

Tell that to Reggie Lewis, Hank Gathers or the hundreds of thousands of those who died without even knowing that they had a cardiac condition.

WTF ? I said that the guy died because he had a heart condition.

You asked "How do you know that?"

I replied with "Because he died at 40 from cardiac arrest"

And you respond by pointing at others who have died young DUE TO A CARDIAC CONDITION ?



That makes no freaking sense what so ever.

 

[dannydyn]

It's pretty hard for me to think of a scenario in which the team doesn't settle with her out of court.

I was referring to her lawsuit in and of itself, at a court of law. She ain't getting a dime.

Now, if the Pats decide to settle with her outside of court to shut her up, that's a different ball of wax.

 

[belichick010405]

WTF ? I said that the guy died because he had a heart condition.

You asked "How do you know that?"

I replied with "Because he died at 40 from cardiac arrest"

And you respond by pointing at others who have died young DUE TO A CARDIAC CONDITION ?



That makes no freaking sense what so ever.

Demos - do you even know who Hank Gathers and Reggie Lewis are?

They are two of many people out there who did not know that they had a heart condition.

It is clear that you are over here just to argue. Do yourself a favor, go back to the Tebow thread.