Home Depot's fault?

[JJackFlash]

Man glued to toilet seat, sues store

Fri Nov 4, 8:26 AM ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Colorado man who had a panic attack when he found he was glued to a toilet seat in a Home Depot restroom has sued the home improvement giant for negligence, saying staff ignored his plight...
Retired electrical engineer Bob Dougherty, 57, said on Thursday he was stuck in the stall with his pants down for about 20 minutes and that two years after the 2003 incident he was suffering from post-traumatic stress, which has triggered diabetes and heart complications.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051104/od_nm/glue_dc

[tularetom]

1. I don't know who put the glue on the seat

but I guess I kinda would hold store management, and thus upper management as well, responsible for their staff's slow response to the inceident.

[JJackFlash]

3. Are they supposed to constantly check the bathroom?

I can't see it.
The poor bastard really suffered, though.

[unblock]

8. he's not suing for that

at least the article doesn't say that.

he's suing because when he told them, they ignored him at first.

[William769]

2. Just reinforces my reasoning for NOT using public restrooms.

[unblock]

4. the complaint is that employees ignored him at first

and thereby delayed aid. for damages based on that, he would have to show that the extra time caused problems.

doesn't sound like he's suing for some prankster putting the glue there, although, property owners do generally have some liability for accidents that happen on their premises.

[Syncronaut Seven]

5. I never use a public toilet without checking the seat

Call me odd, I just don't like sitting in other peoples urine. Strange huh?

[Fescue4u]

18. no doubt

I *NEVER* sit down without wiping the seat twice with two different pieces of toilet paper.

[napi21]

6. Something doesn't sound quite right with this story.,

Why wouldn't he have immediately noticed something very strange when he first sat down? I couldn't have been super glue because it sets up too fast. I feel quite sure there's much more to this story than we've heard so far.

[JJackFlash]

7. It was a powerful, transparent (invisible) glue

This is Home Depot, remember?
He was firmly glued, alright.

[napi21]

9. Sorry, I worked with a lot of glues, and I don't know of ANY

that wouldn't have been comspicuous, or bond that well on contact!

I know you want to believe this story, but something's not right.

[barb162]

16. maybe the light in the john was very dark and he couldn't see it

[hfojvt]

19. but he would feel it and most likely stand up

before it could set. Wouldn't anyone? Superglue sets fast, but that is the difficulty too, because somebody puts it on the seat and it sets quickly and thus is not sticky by the time anybody sits in it.

[jobycom]

10. He didn't wipe the seat first? Who doesn't wipe a toilet seat before

sitting down?

I don't know, maybe it happened that way, but it seems fishy to me.

And why did the store clerks think it was a joke at first? Someone tells me they're glued to a toilet seat, I'm not going to assume they are joking. Was there something else going on? Did they know this guy, did they think he was a joker? Did the clerks hear him?

Maybe everything happened as he says, but it just sounds hard to imagine as he tells the story.

[barb162]

17. If the store clerks were the typical untrained teenagers that we

have around here then I can easily believe it. I swear, they must have about one hour of training max. They are taught to use the cash register and that's it. They aren't taught to know the store layout and be able to respond to customer questions, etc. I am seeing more and more of that as store owners get rid of long-time employees who knew what they were doing.

[clmbohdem]

12. two years later,suffering from post-traumatic stress

Maybe this should tell you something.

[Wcross]

13. Smells fishy to me.

My guess is that he put the glue there himself. Looking for a payday by fraud.
Who would sit on a public or even private toilet seat without at least a quick glance? If I did sit on a seat without looking and felt any kind of moisture I wouldn't continue to sit.

This is Fraud 101 right here. I love the "PTSD" claim, its almost like being caught in a combat zone when your glued to a toilet seat?

[pinniped]

21. Check this out: Doubts Raised About Toilet-Seat Case

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2005/11/08/national/a115654S37.DTL

(11-08) 11:56 PST DENVER (AP) --

A man who sued Home Depot last month claiming a prank left him glued to a toilet seat made a similar allegation about another restroom more than a year ago, an official told a newspaper.

more...

[Gogi]

11. PTSD will not give you diabetes or heart disease.

This is purely a nuisance suit and I hope it's thrown out of court.

[electricray]

14. What did this guy just back into the stall with his arse out?

I feel for the guy, really I do, but come on. Is he going to sue circle K for his crabs, or Chevron for his Chlamydia? If you don't at least put the ass gasket down you are asking for at the very least a urine soaked bum.

As far as the whole lawsuit thing, far be it from me to be the one to say what some other person's suffering is worth so let him sue. And maybe the trauma did cause all those problems, I think that is for a jury to decide after all of the facts have been presented. I'm sure Home Depot isn't hurting for representation that can expose an illegitamate suit.

[unblock]

15. bottom (pardon the pun) line: you can sue for anything. winning, however,

is another story.

the mass media is terrible about this, and the banana republicans capitalize on it bigtime.
they show outrageous cases getting filed as if the defendants were screwed.
then they show outrageous verdicts as if the defendants were screwed.
then they show outrageous awards as if the defendants were screwed.
then the defendants get the award reduced or the case dismissed and the msm is nowhere to be found.

meanwhile, the banana republicans push through limits on lawsuits, as if the system didn't already have enough checks against ridiculous awards.

and, of course, there zero coverage of the millions of cases where the little guy gets screwed and can't afford to go after the well-lawyered corporation....

[JJackFlash]

20. Agreed

the repug obsession with "frivolous lawsuits" hurts ordinary citizens who deserve their day in court.
This case is kinda funny, though.