The frivolous law suit returns...

Actually, I think this will be an interesting case to see what the rebuttal of why we didn't warn them. From all of the hearsay I've received about it, we apparently new with a significant amount of time to spare.

I don't think they'll win much if anything dollar wise, but it would be good to get some testimony on the matter.

 

Well, it does have some merit. However, if such departments downsize like the rest of American workplaces, is it going to be a new employee position to keep everyone else up with the forecasts? or are they supposed to subscribe to an email bulletin? Check sites? How?

As for warning them, how much of an advance would they give? And how much good would it actually do after all the chaos commenced? A few hundred? Maybe a few thousand lives tops? If so... yup, it would have been worth it.

 

I read that an LA based wave monitoring facility did try to get the word out. The problem is how are you supposed to get to these people, smoke signals? There was one tribe of people there that knew to watch for animals scurrying for higher ground and they did too. Their elders taught them that and all were saved.

 

The First Law of American Jurisprudence in the 21st century:

"Every injury to person or property is caused by someone with either deep pockets or an insurance policy."

 

Well, of course they're not doing it for money, they want the information. And if it indicates that there was sufficient knowledge of a tsunami threat, guess what happens next?!

 

For some reason, the term "frivolous law suit" makes me think of the scene from "My Cousin Vinny".

(The two youts ...)
("law suit" or "lawsuit"?) (Picking nits -- I hear the orange nits are nice.)
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"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers."

--William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

 

The truth is that the Indian ocean does NOT have an adequate Tsunami warning system. The pacific rim does, and there procedures to follow to get people out of harms way.

As for the "plenty of time", not true, the Tsunami was traveling at speeds of 500 mph or so, and hit some places like Banda Aceh within an hour of the quake. the scenario of trying to evacuate tens of thousands of people in that time frame is totally unrealistic.

Sometimes, we just have to face the sad truth that there isn't much we can do to prevent some of the things that happen in our world. Comparing this lawsuit to the post-holocaust suit is wrong. The holocaust was a deliberate act, and with tsunamis being much less frequent in the Indian ocean than the pacific, governments didn't see a need for a warning system.

 

If you're going to quote him, use the entire quote:

"If you want to forment revolution, first .....kill all the lawyers"

Puts it in a different context doesn't it?

Art

 

That's a lawsuit that's begging to be dismissed.

 

That's the problem with trying to help out....If your help is not perfect you get slammed...The NOAA didn't have to put a warning system out there at all!! This is what the legal system is doing to the people....I recently read a report of about 100 items of usefulness from cold/flu OTC to safety items in vehicles that the manufacures pulled at the last second after good testing results because they just didn't want the liability risk.....People sue because the car doesn't have an airbag, and then they sue because the airbag doesn't work right.....WTF did they buy a car in the first place if they are so worried about a wreck?? It's making a discrace of the legal system.....Some lawauits are needed, I agree......But the predatory lottery searches are pissing me off as I may miss out on some fantastic product or medical breakthrough because of it.....

 

Spidr - part of the issue you're talking about is based in early 1900's American jurisprudence. There was a railroad that provided a watchman at the tracks to help cars and traffic avoid getting hit. Well, one night the watchman wasn't at his post and a car got hit by a train. The court then held that if a private company offers a service to the public long enough like that, and if the public begins to rely on it, they are liable if that service fails. So there is a theory by which this tsunami warning service - even if a private company - failed it's publicly announced task, that they could be liable. A tenuous argument to be sure, but it could pass with certain judges.

There are later cases about apartments where the security measures in place when the renters start are stopped - and if someone is a victim of a robbery or attack in the building the landlord is liable because they made the rental contract with an understanding of a level of security.

 

I suppose those are not the best examples that I used....
The issue that I was pressing was to be thankful there was anything at all....
Things are going to be happening that could have been prevented via mechanical safery systems, medical advancement, ect when someone will be saying, "I really wish someone would have designed a better this or that so my family, job, friends, ect would still be around...when in fact, it was already developed but stopped at production because of liability fears....A perfect exampe is the flu shot that was so low in numbers specifically because of liability fears..I have have been flat on my back for 6 days with the flu because my "age" does not constitute importance...Have the vaccine company not had the fears they openly discussed I would have had the shot and not been laid up and lost 6 days of my life. I'll be Ok but some people have lost their lives over the flu....This is just one small example...Not many guarantees in life...If something saves your ass, consider yourself lucky.....If it didn't, why were you expecting someone else to look out for it in the first place???

 

Yeah, I understand Spidr, and pretty much agree. I'm just playing lawyer/devil's advocate. It does get very perverted. This is the same strain of thought that leads to many car lawsuits too - if you go above and beyond safety standards and provide airbags even if people don't ask for it, and they fail, and people are relying on it to work, then bam! you get a lawsuit.