Daughter Who Surprised Mom With Birthday Visit Sues Parents

[bluestateguy]

http://www.local6.com/family/9513070/detail.html

MADISON, Wis. -- An Illinois woman is suing her Wisconsin parents for maintaining an icy driveway that she blamed for a fall that broke her ankle two winters ago.

This week, a federal judge refused to toss out the lawsuit, setting up a trial for November.

Carriel Louah, 25, visited Darlington, Wis., to surprise her mother on her birthday in January 2005. But the next morning, she was injured when she slipped and fell on her parents' driveway. She filed suit against her parents earlier this year.

The daughter said that a letter from her mom apologizing months after the fall proves that her parents knew they had a defective gutter for years and did nothing about it.

more...

[benburch]

1. Ridiculous.

Snow and ice in Wisconsin? Unheard of! Must have been negligence.

[SensibleAmerican]

2. If she has cause, she should not be condemned

merely for proceeding with a legal action.

[Libby2]

26. Oh baloney

[MADem]

3. That is one disgusting daughter. And since she wasn't INVITED

to the house, and should not have been on the property without an invite, but was there to SURPRISE her mother, I hope the judge tosses the case.

The amount she wants is pretty stunning, too--what a hideous child:

She's seeking more than $75,000 in damages for medical bills and lost wages.

Her parents said that she can't prove the driveway was icy at the time or that their drainage system was faulty.

[SensibleAmerican]

5. The judge didn't toss the case

n/t

[MADem]

14. Who is claiming that he did????

Go back and read what I wrote. I said I HOPE the judge tosses the case.

HOPE. Future action.

[SensibleAmerican]

20. But he explicitly refused to toss the case

I doubt he is going to go back on his decision.

This case is going to trial ...

[MADem]

22. One more time, who is suggesting that he has tossed the case?

And what's to say the judge who is hearing it won't, after hearing all of the evidence, decide that there is no merit to it...and "toss" it.

[SensibleAmerican]

23. You're hoping he tosses the case, but he's made his decision

I doubt the judge will toss the case after he's impaneled a jury. JMHO.

[crim son]

29. Laughing. You are needlessly humble here! n/t

[phylny]

21. I know of a situation where a mother-in-law fell on an icy driveway

and is seriously debilitated - she ended up losing a leg, and is in a nursing home, in a constant down-hill slide medically.

I know it sounds weird for a family member to sue, but perhaps she's doing it so that the homeowner's insurance will cover medical costs.

[charlie]

4. Happy Birthday, Mom!

It's a summons. I made it for YOU. Hope you like it! *hugs*

[Lasher]

6. I wonder if her parents have a will

If my parents had a defective gutter I would fix it for them. Carriel's behavior is strange and loathsome to me.

[TreasonousBastard]

7. But there's another angle here....

what if daughter is sitting around trying to figure out what to do with those medical bills and doting parents say they've been paying for homeowner's insurance all these years and now's the time to get something back.

So she sues them, pays her bills, and everyone's happy but the insurance co.

[bluestateguy]

10. I never thought of that

You may have a point. But in the meantime the parents are going to have to front at least some money for attorneys fees.

[pitohui]

11. no the insurance co. does that

i got sued, never paid a dime, indeed i offered to testify and they hastily waved me off, i'm kinda odd in person so prob. it's understandable

i never even heard how it came out

:shrug:

[ConsAreLiars]

8. Insurance companies will not pay unless there is such a suit.

I suspect that the only way the daughter's insurance (if she has any) or the hospital by proxy, will allow treatment for her injuries if this suit is filed. Irrational and unjust? Yes, but that is all too often the way things work.

[spinbaby]

32. You're right

We have a friend who fell on a friend's icy porch and shattered her elbow. Her medical insurance wouldn't pay for treatment because it was on someone else's property. She also couldn't work for months after the fall. Her friend's homeowner's insurance wouldn't pay for anything at all until she sued them.

[MercutioATC]

33. Exactly. This is just a way to make insurance pay.

...with a little extra thrown in for "pain and suffering", I guess.

:o

[blonndee]

9. What a bitch!

I hope the judge gives her the what-for. Accidents happen. How DARE she do this.

[pitohui]

12. see treasonous bastard's post

it is entirely possible the parents suggested she do this so she could collect ag. their homeowner's insurance

we have a society where we have to game the system sometimes to get what we have paid for

[blonndee]

13. Ok, actually I can sympathize with this.

It's true that our "system" has brought us to this, and I should have taken that into account.

After all, I myself have cheated the system. I'd better not say how, but it did involve insurance and I STILL have no regrets because I felt cheated by the company and the system all around. It was not big, but it was big to me, and it fits perfectly with your statement "we have a society where we have to game the system sometimes to get what we have paid for." And that's exactly how I justified it.

Point taken. I'll reserve judgment.

[MADem]

15. Why would the media cover it, then?

Surely the scenario you pose must happen every so often. But we've got the parents weighing in here and denying negligence, and the daughter making statements about defective gutters and so forth. Not quite Kramer vs. Kramer, but it's got the ingredients for a human interest story for the family feud aspect of it all.

You'd think if this was on the Q-T and they both agreed to let it go this way, they'd just say no comment and keep it out of the news, ya?

[ninkasi]

16. All I can say

is that before one of my children would sue me over anything, they would slit their wrists first. All three of them are close to me, and to each other, and none of us would ever dream of taking a family member to court. That's just us, though, so obviously something else is going on in this family's case.

My 39 year old daughter, who can be quite emotional at times, once told me that she would crawl hands and knees over broken glass to help me. Yes, that's a bit over the top, but I felt the same about my own parents, and grandparents, so the thought of a daughter suing her parents over something like this is distasteful to me.

[DoYouEverWonder]

17. Did she ever consider picking up up a shovel

and cleaning up the driveway herself?

If the driveway was in such bad condition when she got there, wouldn't it have been an even better surprise to give her parents a hand and get rid of the snow and ice 'before' it became a problem?

[Skittles]

18. that's what I was thinking

although I'd be more likely to hire a couple of neighborhood teens to do it, heh heh :)

[Roxy66]

19. Republican my guess n/t

[B Calm]

24. My first thought too!

[no_hypocrisy]

25. Daughter is liable for short-term thinking.

If the case goes forward and her parents are held liable for her injuries (and they have to pay the $75,000 via insurance or not), there is potential payback: Removal from the Will. Parents are legally permitted to "disinherit" children (or the alternative, $1.00 bequest) to send a message from the grave.

[kanrok]

27. The judge did the right thing

The daughter also has a right to make a claim if she were injured due to anyone's negligence. Slip and fall cases on ice are typically difficult to prove. If there were a natural accumulation of ice or snow that was responsible for the person fallling and injuring themself, then no liability attaches. If it were an unnatural accumulation of ice or snow than liability could attach to the homeowner. Unnatural accumulations of ice occur when a drainage system deposits water on a walking surface and it freezes (It's not supposed to be designed this way, but many homes have this unfortunate problem...I suggest checking out your gutters to see where they deposit the rain). For instance, in colder weather if you have a rainstorm, followed by a freeze, the water from a downspout is deposited where the gutter drains. When the temperature dips below freezing, the water becomes ice. Add a visitor to the house who is unaware of the condition (night-time visit, thinks the driveway or sidewalk is clear, but it is really black ice) and you have a recipe for a slip and fall. It's a question of fact for a jury to decide. We can all feel that this is wrong if we want. The insurance company who wrote the homeowners policy is banking on a jury feeling just like many here do. Meanwhile, the daughter has a significant injury with no way out but to make a claim against the insurance policy. If she has facts sufficient to make the claim, there is no reason why she shouldn't. By the way, Wisconsin is a "direct-action" state where you do not have to name the homeowners as defendants, just the insurance company.

[Jamnt]

28. I agree with a previous post...it's all about the insurance money

[ProdigalJunkMail]

30. this is all just a way to transfer wealth and avoid taxes

ya see...get hurt on wealthy mommy and daddy's property. Sue mommy and daddy for everything they have. Win the case (that is the kicker). And voila...you have transferred money from mommy and daddy to daughter without taxes.

I know, I know...it is a stretch...but my mind is a little twisted this morning so it sounded good to me...

:tinfoilhat:

sP

[bleedingheart]

31. I know someone who scammed an insurance company that way

the person wanted to buy a bigger more expensive house, but didn't have the cash...it had all been sunk into their current house

this person made a deal with another relative ...

the relative falls on sidewalk, claims to have been egregiously injured and they got a doctor to go along...

huge settlement....and 4 months after the settlement....this person ends up having the down-payment for the new bigger more flashy house....this in spite of the fact that their old house was sold for a loss.

[LeftHander]

34. Universal Healthcare would make this moot.....

The battle of the insurance companies...who is going to pay...?

Had there been universal healthcare she would of gone to the hospital. Been fixed up, parents feel bad, she feels dumb for slipping...she heals, family still is a family.