Is liability destroying core values?
 

Just a thought because examples of it keep cropping up. Here is what happened today.

The parking lot that I use for work everyday is an utter mess from the non-stop snow storms that we've been getting. As everyone knows we got hit again last night with another foot of it. I got in today and had a little trouble navigating the small lot and getting unstuck once but I finally found a decent spot. The lot attendant had a shovel that I was allowed to use to clear the spot a bit before I actually parked (So that I could get out again at the end of the day)

As I was bringing the shovel back a woman had just came out from inside the adjacent apartment building and was asking the attendant where her car was. Many of the cars were buried under snow so I helped to look for it. After a few seconds we was spotted and I went back to my car to actually park it and get my things.

As I was leaving the lot I saw the same woman with the shovel attempting to dig her car out. Now she was small (Maybe 5'2" or so?) and had one heck of a lot of snow to dig through. I would say it was a good 18 inches of snow with an area of about 6 by 9 feet plus what was on top of the car itself. Her spot was the first one next to the road so the plows had added to the depth. I literally couldn't not offer to help her out, it's just the way I am. If i'm walking in the rain with an umbrella and I see someone getting soaked i'll offer to keep them dry for a little.

So I put my lunch bag and laptop down and went to it. She was very grateful that I was helping and explained that she had asked the lot attendant for help but all he said was that it wasn't his job. I was actually quite puzzled by this for a little and as I was digging I tried to figure out why. Eventually I cleared enough of a path for her to drive out. She was extremely grateful and gave me some very nice compliments :)

As I walked to the office that burning question came up again.....why hadn't he helped her? Now don't get me wrong I see this attendant every day and he's alright so that really only left one answer....liability :mad:. More likely then not his company won't let him help people because of it. To me that's wrong; if you see someone who is in need of help, you help them. Plain and simple. My theory is that if I slip and fall it's my own damn fault for not watching where I was going.

This isn't the first time i've personally seen examples of this. Of course all someone has to do is turn the news on to hear about yet another BS lawsuit being launched purely because of greed.


I'm curious to hear other peoples thoughts on the subject...

I worked at a gourmet food and wine shop on the square in a small town. The fellow I worked for was a great guy; his lawyer advised him not to shovel the snow outside the shop (for liability reasons). Sad.

I agree with you that we should help those in need of help. I try and do it when ever I can. Just to play devils advocate though, what happens if he helps that land, she gets into her car and slips on the snow that he did not shovel up and she breaks her back. She can't walk and now she is pissed and gets a lawyer. He sues the attendant and the parking lot and who ever else because he shoveled snow but did not do it 'right'.

Now I know it may not be a likely scenario but I am just saying that we both know people like this exist. It sucks, and I won't not help someone out of fear of being sued and I hope that it does not come back to kick me in the ass.

Or perhaps his company doesn't want the hassle of workman's comp or health insurer dealing with a possible injury obtained outside the scope of his 'normal duties'.
I try not to obsess over potential liability issues, but the threat of litigation is constantly hammered home these days. For example -
We had only about three inches of snow here in Northern Virginia, and much of it had melted from the pavement by this afternoon.
That didn't stop some panhandler from knocking on my door to ask if I'd like him to shovel my smow.
When I refused, he commented "If someone slips on your sidewalk, they can sue you!".
I replied "Thanks for the advice, and kiss my ****!".

Happy Motoring, Mark

Yeah....that's the problem.

I think the liability issue is definitely a problem, however sometimes it is just an excuse for someone to be lazy. There was a thread here awhile ago about whether or not to help a friend do his brakes. The poster was worried about the potential liability if something went wrong. To me that is a sad state of affairs and I refuse to live that way, even though I have suffered for helping someone out. Life is too short to live it for the lawyers and insurance companies so I say f*^k em and do what is right and let the chips fall where they may.

"No good deed goes unpunished."

This can especially be the case if you try to help out total strangers.
For all we know there are people planning out situations just so they can lure someone into a lawsuit.

As a society we never hear too much of the good of people and the assistance that is provided to each other on a daily basis.

We only hear about how much trouble and problems there are around us and the bad consequences of helping out the wrong kind of people.

Plenty of stories can be found where the person/people who tried to do a good deed for a person/group in need ended up getting ruined by a huge financial burden as a result of a frivolous lawsuit. For every story there is about something like that, there are probably 100 other instances of the same thing happening.

Most people will probably think twice about pulling you out of a mangled car with a fuel leak.
In fact, most people would keep on driving after getting a good glance.

How many counties now charge you for calling the police? Very few and hopefully it will remain that way, but in those counties, that fee alone will scare people out of making a phone call to get you that help.

Most people will probably not walk grandma across the street for if she happens to fall while you are helping to walk her, her sue happy son will take you and your entire family out financially.

I was in Atlanta walking with a couple of friends to grab lunch from a place near our apartment. We were waiting for the signal to cross an intersection. A car misjudges the time/distance of oncoming traffic while talking a left hand turn and get T-boned by another car. There was a car in the other lane traveling in the same direction as the car that t-boned the first one. That does not even stop, just slows down to a slow pace, the driver then decides to slowly work his way around the wreck and then crosses the intersection right before the light turns yellow. The people waiting at the stop light in the perpendicular direction get the green light. Every single car in the unobstructed left lane drove past. Any cars that were in the right lane simply flipped on their blinkers and shifted over to the left lane so that they could go about their day like nothing happened. What did we do? My roommate called the APD and let them know. Did we bother to try to help anyone in the wrecked cars?

No, we did not.

We all recalled those stories and did not want to get placed in the gun sights of a greedy lawyer. What if we moved someone and it turns out they had a fractured vertebrae? What if while we move them, we damage nerve endings in that persons compound fractured leg?

In this country, you have to think twice about helping people because of the fear of getting ruined by the very person you want to help. :mad:

The only people I would help in emergency situations are close friends and family whom I know would not be convinced to sue me by their greedy immoral lawyer brother-in-law.

The problem is simple its to easy to sue. Every moron who is trying to make a quick buck can do it and they do. Also every moron broke attorney; which thanks to our law schools cranking them out in mass; are only to eager.

Probably has nothing to do with liability.

The attendant probably sees this scenario a dozen times a day or more. I can understand his reluctance for not wanting to get involved. He's not getting paid to shovel out cars.

You' should be thankful he had a shovel to lend out.

It's not my fault I have to blame someone.

Yes.

If he helped everybody he would get nothing else done. As a practical matter it is not a good idea for him to get involved.

Now the OP is a great fellow for helping her, and I probably would have helped her too. But I don't blame the attendant for not.

Torts and Liability
 

"It's not my fault I have to blame someone." (Thanks Knudson)
Is ONE of the Phrases vying for Replacement Honor,
instead of "In God We Trust" on the U.S. Currency.

That said,Nothing and No One will Protect Your and Yours as well as a
Juris Doctor...When the opposing party(s) are Corporate Hooligans.

"Reform Tort Law in the United States,and We're all at Imminent Risk!"

Risk tolerance.

I'd say fear, not liability.

In relation to the OP's post title, I'd say undoubtedly.

- Peter.