Woman loses “When robins attack” lawsuet. Dick Grayson overjoyed.
Back in April I noticed what I referred to as the “stupid lawsuit of the week“. As it turns out, a federal district court judge seems to agree.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times and the St. Louis Post Dispatch, U.S. District Judge William Stiehl has thrown out the lawsuit filed by Rhonda Nichols.
If you will recall, Ms. Nichols alleged that a bird flew into the back of her head while she was at the outside gardening area of a St. Louis, Missouri, area Lowe’s Home Center. As a result of the store’s negligence in allowing a wild bird to enter their outdoor garden center, Ms. Nichols claims that she has sustained injuries to her “head, brain, neck, muscles, bones, nerves, discs, ligaments, as well [sic] leading to the loss of neurological functions and cognitive skills.”
But U.S. District Judge William Stiehl ruled Tuesday that a “reasonable plaintiff” either would have noticed the birds or understood that contact with them was possible in any outdoor area with plants.
The lawsuit was nothing more than a bird-brained extortion attempt all along anyway. I have little doubt that a bird hit her, but certainly not in any incapacitating manner. Besides, the judge’s ruling here is directly on point:
[The burden on] all gardening centers, nurseries and other outdoor retail facilities would be tremendous. Retailers of plants and flowers would risk liability resulting from the presence of animals and insects that may feed on or be attracted to such plant life.
I’m certain that her attorney knew this going in and was hoping that Lowe’s would want to keep this out of the press and agree to a quick settlement. It appears now that Lowe’s did the right thing here. They’re only out a few thousand in attorneys’ fees instead of the more than $500,000 Ms. Nichols was seeking, and I think they got some favorable publicity out of it too.
Congratulations, Lowes!
MickC @ January 5, 2006