If you have a guest off and their kid tries to pet a wild dog and is killed, how much should you have to pay? Wild animal attacks are an expected and unavoidable part of life.
If you have a guest off and their kid tries to pet a wild dog and is killed, how much should you have to pay? Wild animal attacks are an expected and unavoidable part of life.
Sophocles_Beesknees wrote:
They should (as per moral precepts) and could (as per legal precedent and negligence) get a very big pay day. It's clear Disney was criminally negligent and utterly stupid. They had this problem before and couldn't even do the bare minimum that Australians do, supposedly. Which is failing to even put up alligator warning signs (just "do not swim" warning signs). The toddler was just on the edge of the lagoon! A totally reasonable thing in a water resort region of a huge professional corporation/theme park company. They should have had a fence , net, etc.
There definitely should have been a fence, to keep people out of the water.
Arnold Arnold wrote:
I read an excellent op ed piece from a Personal Injury Attorney from Florida that the family would have a very difficult time winning in court. Trying to summarize it it into 2 reasons... It's a wild animal in its native habitat, and act of god if you will, even if it is on Disneys property, it's the animals natural habitat. Second main reason, although it was not specific to alligators, the sign said no swimming, and the child should not have been in the water.
THE CHILD WAS NOT SWIMMING.
Hulk Hogan got $140 million(!) for Gawker publishing his sex tape. A 2 year old getting killed by an alligator at a (family friendly) Disney Resort on outdoor movie night?? This one is WAY worse!
I´m going with settlement for undisclosed amount that will be around $200 million.
O. Ignorance is not a defense. If you go to Florida it is your responsibility to know gators can be in any body of water. Signs? Should they also have "beware of lightning" and beware of snakes and beware of heat and beware of falling trees signs? They will settle but not because they should.
The people that are saying they should get nothing, it's a good thing you're not a lawyer as apparently you'd be wiling to walk away from a massive payday yourself.
Like other's have mentioned that actually have a clue of how the law applies here, we're looking at a solid 7 or 8 figure payout. I just hope that they're savvy enough to know they don't need to give away a third to the attorney. They're being contacted by a million lawyers because they all know this family is a walking winning lottery ticket. Offer a flat fee of no more than $50k for legal work and keep the rest of the settlement. If it goes to trial (which it won't) then it would be different.
I just hope someone in the family is smart enough to not give away a third of the settlement for no reason.
Exactly` wrote:
Sophocles_Beesknees wrote:They should (as per moral precepts) and could (as per legal precedent and negligence) get a very big pay day. It's clear Disney was criminally negligent and utterly stupid. They had this problem before and couldn't even do the bare minimum that Australians do, supposedly. Which is failing to even put up alligator warning signs (just "do not swim" warning signs). The toddler was just on the edge of the lagoon! A totally reasonable thing in a water resort region of a huge professional corporation/theme park company. They should have had a fence , net, etc.
There definitely should have been a fence, to keep people out of the water.
There definitely should have been a BRAIN, to keep people out of the water.
^FIXED
I've only been to Florida twice, both times to Disney. I never once thought about gators and it would never have entered my mind. I stayed in the Animal Kingdom Lodge where the wildlife outside your window *was* the attraction, but it was all behind large fencing.
I don't remember the place I stayed the other time, although there was water and we could take a boat ride to Downtown Disney. Again, gators never entered my mind.
These were my only two trips to Florida.
And as someone who lost a young child (although not as horrific as this case), I can guarantee there is no amount of money that would make a bit of difference to my wife.
No Brain Parents wrote:
Exactly` wrote:There definitely should have been a fence, to keep people out of the water.
There definitely should have been a BRAIN, to keep people out of the water.
^FIXED
Come on, 90% of foreign families that visit Florida would have no idea that every body of water might have gators in it.
Of course there should have been a sign.
The compensation will be huge but the family will not be able to enjoy it. Sad, sad story.
Only in America would such a question be asked...
Weird, strange country (and people). Very strange values.
Very scary country...
Metric Miler wrote:
No Brain Parents wrote:There definitely should have been a BRAIN, to keep people out of the water.
^FIXED
Come on, 90% of foreign families that visit Florida would have no idea that every body of water might have gators in it.
Of course there should have been a sign.
The compensation will be huge but the family will not be able to enjoy it. Sad, sad story.
Ahem, the family is from Nebraska.
Hulk Hogan wrote:
Hulk Hogan got $140 million(!) for Gawker publishing his sex tape. A 2 year old getting killed by an alligator at a (family friendly) Disney Resort on outdoor movie night?? This one is WAY worse!
I´m going with settlement for undisclosed amount that will be around $200 million.
That Hulk Hogan case shows that the American injustice system is corrupt.
Insurance companies put a value of about $5 million for a human life so that is what they should reasonably expect.
No Brain Parents wrote:
Metric Miler wrote:Come on, 90% of foreign families that visit Florida would have no idea that every body of water might have gators in it.
Of course there should have been a sign.
The compensation will be huge but the family will not be able to enjoy it. Sad, sad story.
Ahem, the family is from Nebraska.
It doesn't matter! It was an accident waiting to happen. There have been a sign!
You think that there shouldn't be a sign and hopefully all the visitors know that there are alligators in the lake at Disneyland?
The signs said "No swimming."
The kid was 2-years old. Even if if was in the water, he wasn't swimming.
I don't know how he wouldn't win a lawsuit.
So if he wasn't swimming but wading, fell and drowned, then Disney should also get sued because the signs specifically only said, "no swimming"?
rojo wrote:
The signs said "No swimming."
The kid was 2-years old. Even if if was in the water, he wasn't swimming.
I don't know how he wouldn't win a lawsuit.
Should have been a fence then.
Of course they will win. In the UK we have a thing called 'corporate manslaughter'. If someone at Disneyland was found to have been negligent in their actions (such as making the decision to not put up a fence having known there were dangerous animals in the lake and children running around) then from my understanding they can face similar criminal charges to 'ordinary' manslaughter.
I wonder if the same is true in America. This is not a simple 'slipped on a wet floor despite the sign I want money' case. A boy lost his life and it wasn't his or his family's fault. There should be compensation and someone could potentially go to prison also.
The amount of money put into making facilities safe for people is about 400,000 dollars per person. Think of a roller coaster. A park could put millions of dollarsinto a roller coaster to make sure there is a 1x10^-20 chance of failure. But they usually go a little cheaper and with a larger chance. That money usually works out to 400,000 dollars per person for safety. In manslaughter, the amount are usually 1 to 2 million for a settlement (right?).
Something to chew on.
Disney is make believe. I think I saw one picture where this looks like a big lake but I can easily see how I could assume their aren't gators in bodies of water at Disney.
I'm usually against suing but Disney should have had signs up.
Unfortunately no amount of money will bring back a lost child.
wejo wrote:
Disney is make believe. I think I saw one picture where this looks like a big lake but I can easily see how I could assume their aren't gators in bodies of water at Disney.
I'm usually against suing but Disney should have had signs up.
The alligators are real apparently.