NY - aunt who sued 8yr old nephew over hug loses lawsuit

[mego0456]

BBM

It's not about greed. It's about a woman who has legitimate medical expenses, probably long term. Is she supposed to go bankrupt paying them herself when insurance is available? Do you honestly think she wanted to sue her nephew? Come on. Are you aware that she and her nephew have clarified what happened? And now she has to suffer attacks on social media (including WS) orchestrated by the media? Is there no compassion for her? I'm appalled and disappointed.
JMO

I was thinking about this earlier. I fell in my yard and broke a rib. My insurance sent a letter asking me if it was on someone else property so they could go after them rather than pay my bill. I guess this new health law is going to make people go after everyone.
If I fell in my best friends yard and my insurance insisted on suing her insurance, I don't think I could look at my best friend in the eyes anymore. But medical bills are expensive and I wouldn't want to be stuck paying out of pocket. Glad I fell in my own yard...

 

[jjenny]

Insurance companies can be very tricky to get money out of (even if you have insurance, they in my experience are not eager to pay claims). I think this woman was vilified for no reason. Internet just has to be outraged at somebody or something (rightly or wrongly). How did press even got a hold of the lawsuit?

 

[Lilibet]

Why not stay and try to understand why these differences of opinion?

I get what you're saying. Normally I'm very open to differences of opinion. If someone has had a bad experience with frivolous lawsuits or some other related situation, I'm open to taking that into consideration and discussing it. I haven't seen reasons given for different opinions expressed on this thread. I see a repeated refusal to consider and respond to facts, and a clear desire to be angry and just pile on. To me, this is online bullying of this woman, not mere differences of opinion. It hurts to see this going on. I honestly don't see what there is to understand, but feel free to make it clear. I'll listen. eace:

 

[Hope4More]

Insurance companies can be very tricky to get money out of (even if you have insurance, they in my experience are not eager to pay claims). I think this woman was vilified for no reason. Internet just has to be outraged at somebody or something (rightly or wrongly). How did press even got a hold of the lawsuit?

All of us at WS who have followed even one trial gavel to gavel know how much the media misses or distorts, even when they're attending every day, paying attention, and know anything at all about the law.

In this case I think it's obvious that the reporting was dreadful, that whoever glommed onto the story didn't take the time to understand squat about what was actually at issue. Shame on that newspaper.

And I agreed that many Americans have been conditioned to ridicule civil lawsuits in general, a position I couldn't disagree with more. The aunt isn't at fault here anymore than her nephew is. What's at fault is a system in which a person with medical insurance couldn't get her medical bills paid without suing her own nephew.

 

[jjenny]

When media reports something, people don't seem to stop and think. On the opposite side of this story, there are plenty of stories about somebody supposedly wronged, which turns out to be a hoax. Yet every time people buy it hook, line and sinker.

 

[LinasK]

I was thinking about this earlier. I fell in my yard and broke a rib. My insurance sent a letter asking me if it was on someone else property so they could go after them rather than pay my bill. I guess this new health law is going to make people go after everyone.
If I fell in my best friends yard and my insurance insisted on suing her insurance, I don't think I could look at my best friend in the eyes anymore. But medical bills are expensive and I wouldn't want to be stuck paying out of pocket. Glad I fell in my own yard...

A few years ago I fell and broke my ankle at a Girl Scout sponsored Ice Skating event. Another women broke her leg the same night. She called me and asked if I wanted to join her suit- my answer "Absolutely Not!!!" I knew that my accident was a fluke and my own fault. I did not want to put the Girl Scouts nor the skating rink out of business for my mistake. My medical insurance paid all my costs. No need to sue someone's homeowner's insurance. This is where I'm coming from.

 

[al66pine]

A few years ago I fell and broke my ankle at a Girl Scout sponsored Ice Skating event. Another women broke her leg the same night. She called me and asked if I wanted to join her suit- my answer "Absolutely Not!!!" I knew that my accident was a fluke and my own fault. I did not want to put the Girl Scouts nor the skating rink out of business for my mistake. My medical insurance paid all my costs. No need to sue someone's homeowner's insurance. This is where I'm coming from.

^ bbm shows one major difference between your situation and Evil Aunt's situation, assuming her atty's stmt was accurate - that her med/health ins co was only willing to fork over $1 to help pay for treatment.*

For the moment, assuming your fall & injuries were caused by G/Scout org and/or skate rink, no negligence on your part. What if your expenses for 2 surgeries, OccTher, & other med treatments had been $120,000?

After your fall & treatments, if your med ins had offered only $1 for all your med exp. and your med providers had successfully sued you & collected $120,000 judgment from your bk a/c or by garnish your wages, would you have reconsidered a lawsuit?

Would filing a lawsuit to compensate you for your out-of-pocket exp's for injuries caused by someone else's negligence be greedy? Just curious. LinasK? Anyone?

ETA: LinasK - hope your ankle gives you no more trouble, and you have recovered entirely.

_____________________________________________________________
* http://nypost.com/2015/10/14/aunt-wh...y-lawyer-says/ Oct 14
"Connell, 54, filed a lawsuit against then-10-year-old Sean Tarala in 2013 for $127,000, because her insurance company was only willing to fork over $1 to help pay for the treatment of her broken wrist, according to her law firm, Jainchill & Beckert."
"Connecticut law states that people who file injury claims on their insurance must take the responsible party to court."
"Because of this, Connell was obligated to sue the youngster, her lawyers said. “From the start, this was a case was about one thing: getting medical bills paid by homeowner’s insurance,” the law firm said in a statement." bbmSee my post 34.

 

[Disguiseduser0308]

The aunt likely has medical coverage through her employer, Linask. She doesn't get a choice how good or bad it is for the time being. The accident happened and she had no choice but to follow through in attempt to have her medical bills covered.

 

[Disguiseduser0308]

Then why not list the parents instead? Why drag a small child into court unnecessarily??? Obviously it was an accident. Now this little boy has the additional trauma of having to get up on the stand and be grilled, and he's missing out on school while he does that.

The child would have ended up testifying either way. We're not talking about a six year old who has no clue what court means. This is a 12year old boy who seems to love his aunt and wanted to do the right thing.

As to why the child was listed on the suit? You'd have to contact her attorney for that reason.

 

[Disguiseduser0308]

A few years ago I fell and broke my ankle at a Girl Scout sponsored Ice Skating event. Another women broke her leg the same night. She called me and asked if I wanted to join her suit- my answer "Absolutely Not!!!" I knew that my accident was a fluke and my own fault. I did not want to put the Girl Scouts nor the skating rink out of business for my mistake. My medical insurance paid all my costs. No need to sue someone's homeowner's insurance. This is where I'm coming from.

If your medical insurance carrier covered all of your medical bills with no question, consider yourself lucky. The aunt's medical insurance was said to have only offered $1. Aunt's medical insurance response is typical and expected in the industry. I don't know which company you have, but you're pretty darn lucky.

 

[Disguiseduser0308]

She sued the child. He was the one named in the lawsuit. Insurance wasn't. So it wouldn't be accurate to say aunt was suing the insurance. Now, if she won her lawsuit, insurance presumably would pay and not the child personally, assuming the amount was within the insurance.

Right, but her intent was not to destroy her nephew. She likely had to name him because it was his actions that caused her broken wrist.

 

[Steleheart]

If your medical insurance carrier covered all of your medical bills with no question, consider yourself lucky. The aunt's medical insurance was said to have only offered $1. Aunt's medical insurance response is typical and expected in the industry. I don't know which company you have, but you're pretty darn lucky.

Every time I herniate a disc I have to fill out a questionnaire. They always want to know where the accident happened. I always simply write there was no accident - it's a congenital condition. I blew a disc brushing my hair once - when I had hair.

 

[LinasK]

If your medical insurance carrier covered all of your medical bills with no question, consider yourself lucky. The aunt's medical insurance was said to have only offered $1. Aunt's medical insurance response is typical and expected in the industry. I don't know which company you have, but you're pretty darn lucky.

^ bbm shows one major difference between your situation and Evil Aunt's situation, assuming her atty's stmt was accurate - that her med/health ins co was only willing to fork over $1 to help pay for treatment.*

For the moment, assuming your fall & injuries were caused by G/Scout org and/or skate rink, no negligence on your part. What if your expenses for 2 surgeries, OccTher, & other med treatments had been $120,000?

After your fall & treatments, if your med ins had offered only $1 for all your med exp. and your med providers had successfully sued you & collected $120,000 judgment from your bk a/c or by garnish your wages, would you have reconsidered a lawsuit?

Would filing a lawsuit to compensate you for your out-of-pocket exp's for injuries caused by someone else's negligence be greedy? Just curious. LinasK? Anyone?

ETA: LinasK - hope your ankle gives you no more trouble, and you have recovered entirely.

_____________________________________________________________
* http://nypost.com/2015/10/14/aunt-wh...y-lawyer-says/ Oct 14
"Connell, 54, filed a lawsuit against then-10-year-old Sean Tarala in 2013 for $127,000, because her insurance company was only willing to fork over $1 to help pay for the treatment of her broken wrist, according to her law firm, Jainchill & Beckert."
"Connecticut law states that people who file injury claims on their insurance must take the responsible party to court."
"Because of this, Connell was obligated to sue the youngster, her lawyers said. “From the start, this was a case was about one thing: getting medical bills paid by homeowner’s insurance,” the law firm said in a statement." bbmSee my post 34.

Tried to reply from my phone, but for some reason it didn't post. We have United Healthcare and it is through my husband's employer. I don't consider $1 for medical insurance payouts typical nor expected. I say get other insurance!!! Even Kaiser would pay more than $1.
Yes, my ankle recovered after a couple of months. I can wear heels again, run, walk, dance, do Jazzercize, ice skate, etc... It only gets wonky when it's about to rain, then it either gets stiff or feels like it's going to give out and there's nothing there. I still would not sue and 8-year-old child. His parents, maybe.

 

[Hope4More]

Tried to reply from my phone, but for some reason it didn't post. We have United Healthcare and it is through my husband's employer. I don't consider $1 for medical insurance payouts typical nor expected. I say get other insurance!!! Even Kaiser would pay more than $1.
Yes, my ankle recovered after a couple of months. I can wear heels again, run, walk, dance, do Jazzercize, ice skate, etc... It only gets wonky when it's about to rain, then it either gets stiff or feels like it's going to give out and there's nothing there. I still would not sue and 8-year-old child. His parents, maybe.

His mother is dead. His father couldn't be sued. Suit had to be against the nephew.

Aunt's choice: have over $100,000 of uncovered insurance bills she couldn't pay, with more surgery in her future which she also couldn't afford, and just say....oh well, that's how it goes.

OR.

Talk with her nephew and his father and explain that her lawyer and med insurance co had told her this was the only way to get her bills covered.

Sorry, but no reasonable person would agree to sacrifice their own financial and physical well being when a stupid but obvious solution was available.

And yah, her nephew seemed baffled in court because the whole situation IS baffling, even to adults.

 

[LinasK]

His mother is dead. His father couldn't be sued. Suit had to be against the nephew.

Aunt's choice: have over $100,000 of uncovered insurance bills she couldn't pay, with more surgery in her future which she also couldn't afford, and just say....oh well, that's how it goes.

OR.

Talk with her nephew and his father and explain that her lawyer and med insurance co had told her this was the only way to get her bills covered.

Sorry, but no reasonable person would agree to sacrifice their own financial and physical well being when a stupid but obvious solution was available.

And yah, her nephew seemed baffled in court because the whole situation IS baffling, even to adults.

Why exactly couldn't the father be sued???:waitasec: And I thought the mother was alive at the time.

 

[Wyle_E_Coyote]

Why exactly couldn't the father be sued???:waitasec: And I thought the mother was alive at the time.

Up thread it was explained that state law requires that the person actually responsible for the injury is the one who must be named in the suit, not the policy holder.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[iamnotagolem]

I'm not understanding all the hatred for the aunt. It's naive to think that this isn't SOP for injuries. My son was injured in the home as a result of being dizzy and falling. The ER only charged our insurance $35 as it wasn't a major injury and no treatment was required. Our insurance still sent us pages of information to fill out to assure them that no one else could be held responsible for the injury.

That's how it works, why this particular case made the news is beyond me, this happens daily. $127k isn't that much money when considering lost wages. How long was she unable to work due to the injury? 2 surgeries? Doesn't sound like she asked for anything outside of what she needed to cover her losses.

 

[Lilibet]

Why exactly couldn't the father be sued???:waitasec: And I thought the mother was alive at the time.

The mother died before the suit was filed.

 

[Lilibet]

I'm not understanding all the hatred for the aunt. It's naive to think that this isn't SOP for injuries. My son was injured in the home as a result of being dizzy and falling. The ER only charged our insurance $35 as it wasn't a major injury and no treatment was required. Our insurance still sent us pages of information to fill out to assure them that no one else could be held responsible for the injury.

That's how it works, why this particular case made the news is beyond me, this happens daily. $127k isn't that much money when considering lost wages. How long was she unable to work due to the injury? 2 surgeries? Doesn't sound like she asked for anything outside of what she needed to cover her losses.

Thank you. I don't understand the hatred either. The aunt asked for very little and was following the laws in CT.

You are right about the paperwork. A friend of mine turned suddenly, tripped and fell off a mutual friend's porch. It was not the homeowner's fault, but in order for the injured friend to get her insurance to pay, the homeowner had to sign forms, etc. Accidents of any kind are handled this way, unless of course, the injured party neglects to truthfully answer at ER or the doctor's office when asked if their visit is caused by an accident.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

The mother died before the suit was filed.

She died after. The suit was filed in March of 2013, the mother passed away in May or June of 2014.

http://civilinquiry.jud.ct.gov/CaseDetail/PublicCaseDetail.aspx?DocketNo=FBTCV136033608S