Fall on April 27th

Oh jasmin, jasmin, jasmin.
I'm not to judge your situation or level of pain or need for
compensation or legal action. You sound like a saavy, very smart lady.
I do wish you the best of luck in your endeavors. I hope you and your
child have no long term chronic irretractible pain.
The problem is, you should have contacted Legal council before posting
a letter like this on any public website, flyer, newspaper
advertisement, or even telling your friends and or family. Their first
advice is to close your piehole. Why? Because anything you say can and
will be used against you. Watch an episode of Law and Order, or some
court or cop show. Its true in real life too.
By publicizing your letter, you leave the door open to the other side
to make a strong case against you no matter what the facts of the case
are.They have people who know ways to find any information they need
to poke holes in your lawyer's defense. They're very shrewd and good
at what they do.They take pictures of you doing things without your
consent and it's perfectly legal. They take notes, snoop on the net,
in your trash, and talk to your neighbors.
Their second piece of advice? Go directly to the emergency room within
12-24hours of the incident. Why? because it lends validity to your
case and it documents that an injury or injuries actually occurred on
that date. Third, They usually advise you to call the cops and
Ambulance. Why? Because it memorializes the incident, takes third
party, non biased witness statements as to the actual circumstances of
the case. (people besides your husband who saw it happen and have no
interest in your winning or losing a case. It's fact finding. Voir
Dire (the right to know what the other side has against your case)
assures a fair trial. That's a process the professionals should
explain, not me.
Fourth, Insist that the manager of the premisis write and file a thing
called an "Incident Report" Why? Because it again memorializes in
writing what information they have verified, any admission or denial
of evidentiary minutae (was the puddle icey, water, soda, beer, snow
or slush from the outside, when was the hardwood floor last waxed and
buffed, etc) They take pictures of your injuries, the conditions
present at the time, etc...so your lawyer has some idea what angle
their lawyer may take. Fifth, Your lawyer can recommend certain
professionals (doctors, psychiatrists, pain management clinicians,
test locations, and places to go for second opinions. Why? Because the
lawyers give certain people a cut of whatever they make if their
information leads to a favorable outcome. It's sad but true. It
happens in real life every day (can you believe it- dishonest lawyers
and doctors?)
I'm sorry if this information upsets you, but it's all common
knowledge. You don't sit in pain and enjoy a few free meals while the
world keeps turning on it's axis then complain and get an extra comped
meal. It shows that the pain couldn't have been half as bad and it's
just dosent' pass the sniff test.
Again, I'm not judgeing you, everyone else seems to have their minds
made up and have beat this dead horse. The above information may mean
a difference of being compensated say 30000 by the insurance company.
(At this point i'd take anything just to avoid a trial) Or a much
higher sum, perhaps enough to live well, pay your childs education,
and get treatment for any injury you may or may not have recieved.
Since the damage has already been done and this bell can't be unrung,
I do wish you the best. Keep us informed and rest assured, there are
people who believe you.

Scroll down to the posts with my name and tickytack's name and you'll
get a good explanation as to why there is no lawsuit to be had.

Well technically, if you saw the water before you slipped the defense
could say that you went through intentionally. Your lawyer's going to
have to be pretty good to bypass that. So just hope that Outback
Steakhouse has a crappy lawyer.

If you saw the water before you slipped in it then their lawyer may
accuse you of being an opportunist. While they are responsible for
keeping safety in the restaurant, their lawyers are going to protect
themselves from what you may admit doing. If there is a water spill
it needs a wet floor sign though. So in that case there could also be
negligence. That's why they have insurance policies too. Just in case
of human oversight or accidents. If you have acrued doctor bills you
may be able to send them directly to them provided they were
pertaining to the fall only. If you are not seriously injured that
may be all you will get. A lawsuit is timely and costly and not
always worth it unless you have permanent damage.
I wish the best of luck to you and that you don't have any serious
pain.

i mean why do people think that just because they fall it is an
automatic excuse for a lawsuit. ok so you fell, i have seen many
people fall in theoutback i work at and they don't threaten to sue.
they still comped you meal, but know you want legal action....mhmmm
seen it all and heard it all

mmm, sounds like they made a reasonable attempt to make up for a slip
and fall that resulted in a bruise or two, and a scratch.
I take it no bones were broken?
Yeah. Can you say frivilous lawsuit?

I just fell Thursday, 6-1-06, at a nail salon. Apparently, the person
who was giving a client a pedicure, sloshed water on the floor. I did
not see the water on my way back from getting my eyebrows waxed in
another section of the salon. I slipped and fell.

Of course it hurt, but I didn't break bones, thank goodness. The two
women helped me up and everyone, including me just laughed. When I
returned home, my lower back tightened up and the pain really got more
intense. But I just took two motrins and put an icepack on my back
for a couple of hours then a heating pad for about a half-hour. My
husband, before bedtime, applied some Icy "Cool" oinment on my lower
back and also placed a Tiger balm "cool patch" on the same area.

TA-DA!!! I was in no pain the next morning. I'm a middle-aged woman,
mid 40's, and suffer from other ailments. But thinking about suing,
NAH!!!

You'll just get tied up for approximately 3 years, with lawyer
jargon, tons of paperwork, doctor's appts., specialists appts., MRI's,
Cat scans, X-rays. If you are employed, can you afford to take this
time off? You have a small daughter, are you able to care for her?
Their lawyers will want to know this as well. Do you or your husband
have decent insurance coverage? The system moves very, very slowly.
There were no broken bones or compound fractures. You didn't go to
the hospital immediately or asked for an ambulance to be dispatched to
the restaurant and you moved from the location where you fell on your
even with assistance. You stayed and ate a "comped" meal. You didn't
even go to the emergency room after leaving the restaurant. You were
more concerned about your daughter and husband not getting comped than
going to the hospital - you stated that you were in so much pain, why
didn't you? This restaurant can afford to pay for better lawyers than
you. Can you afford to retain a good attorney? Hope so!!

Think about it very carefully before rushing into a lawsuit!

As for me, I called the owner of the nail salon about my mishap and
will be comped with a free "spa day"!!!

Good lord I'm sick of the word "sue". (No offense to anyone named
Sue). From what I can tell, the staff response was immediate and
exceptional, the meals for the "injured" were free, and you were in
good enough condition to sit and eat your free food. If it was that
bad, you should have had the restaurant call an ambulance. I can tell
you right now the "steps you should take": take it easy for a couple
days, put ice on it, put Neosporin on your elbow, and watch where
you're walking from now on. Your weekend was living hell? No, dying
of AIDS is a living hell.

Your initial pain, suffering, and the chronic pain that might follow
are serious considerations. It sounds like Outback was negligent and
they need to compensate you for the consequences of the accident. File
a report with the local city or county office that supervises
restaurants. See a doctor and find out what was damaged. If there is
no permanent damage, send Outback a letter stating that you haven't
retained an attorney, but you reserve the right to do so, and then lay
out your settlement offer as an itemized list. I'd ask for full
reimburesement of medical expenses, rehabilitation expenses, any lost
wages, and $10K-$40K for pain and suffering (depending on the length
of time for recovery).

If there is permanent damage, or if they balk at your offer, you need
to hire an attorney to represent you.

Whether or not this woman is truly injured, saw the water ahead of
time, etc. means nothing discussed on this board. Suing is a crap
shoot. Some people have totally legit cases thrown out of court, and
others manage to scam their way to big money. Ultimately, we will not
be the ones to decide the fate of this case.

The most important thing, if this woman wants to sue, is that she
should have seen a doctor and lawyer INSTEAD of writing this letter
and posting it on the internet. This letter could be damaging to her
case, and any lawyer would have advised her not to write any of this,
and especially not to post it on a public forum.

I have to say, they did wait on you hand and foot for your fall. But
I do have something else to say.

You can try to sue all you would like. But... if you're in a no slip
state, good luck! I used to work at McDonald's, and our manager told
us that Ohio has become a "No-slip" state, meaning, quite honestly,
businesses can no longer be sued for people slipping on liquid on the
floor and hurting themselves.

You should be greatful that you got what you DID from the people at
Outback, and a bandaid to boot (Places are generally not ALLOWED to
give out bandaids since they are for employees only) and move on.
Unless you have a bunch of broken bones, count your blessings that
falling was the only thing that happened and continue on with your
day.

You want compensation - what kind of compensation? Would a free meal
cut it? Would $5.00 to buy a bottle of Tylenol be enough? $150.00 to
cover your doctor's appointment? $10,000 for the emotional suffering
of falling in public?

It's not a problem to ask for compensation - but you have to tell them
what kind of compensation you're looking for. And it might be nice,
if this ever happens again in the future, to give them some time to
respond before threatening them. I don't know about a large
corporation like Outback, but when people threaten me, I get pretty
defensive and a lot less likely to work with them.

Hope you and your daughter are feeling better!

how does slipping on water relate to a car accident?

she wasn't thinking of suing until someone put that thought into her
head or something to that effect?

I am not sure I understand here, but it seems that one of the
contentions with the posters here is that she didn't decide to sue
until the next day. Would that be a fair thing to say here?

What I don't understand about that is, would it have made any
difference if she had made up her mind to sue right then and there? I
mean, right after the fall? Why should that make any difference? I
mean, wouldn't she need to take some time to think about what she was
doing or about to do, and "count the cost", so to speak? I would
trust her less if she had decided to sue right then and there, I would
be more inclined to believe that she was a sue-happy person if she had
jumped and decided to sue right then.

I have never sued anyone, but if I did, I would think that I would
think about whether or not it would be a feasible thing to do, whether
or not it would be worth the time, energy, effort, money, etc., and of
course I would question myself as to why I was suing, and whether or
not I would have a chance at winning.

I talked about the whiplash injury, because that is most likely what
her neck injury is if her fall was the way she describes it. I am not
a doctor, but due to a severe head trauma at age six, and two major
auto accidents (not my fault), I am extremely familiar with the
medical community. (More than I want to be). I mentioned the whiplash
because of some of the posts I read here that completely dismissed any
possibility of her being injured just because she didn't go to the
doctor right away or because they believe she only wants freebies. I
can tell you for certain that whiplash is a real, genuine, and painful
injury, that unfortunately, has been used to scam many insurance
companies to the point that the mere mention of "whiplash" conjures up
the vision of a person who is a fraud. I was only offering up my
knowledge of the diagnosis in light of that. I am not an expert on
whiplash, but have experienced it several times, and know that it can
present itself one, two, or even three days later, when the soft
tissues are at their peak of swelling, and that is when it is most
painful.

I too, think that we live a sue-happy world. My husband and I have
let go of many situations that we would have loved to taken to court
because we knew we would have won. But, it wasn't worth the time and
money in the long run. While we live in an age where people like to
lay blame anywhere they can, there still are situations where someone
has been clearly wronged, and by law should be compensated.

I am not saying she should be or should not be compensated, that is up
to the courts to decide. But, I think that it's unfortunate that most
people tend to dismiss anyone who doesn't do things the way they think
they would if they were in that situation. I don't have a problem
believing what she wrote after considering everything she wrote in her
letter. Some do, and that is certainly their perogative.

As for me, if I were to take a fall like that, especially with one of
my kids, and be injured, you can bet that I am least going to get all
the medical paid for. And I think I just might be willing to go to
court and sue knowing that the water should not have been there in the
first place, whether I saw it or not. But, that's just my opinion.

BTW, where were these stitches that your boyfriend popped? I mean,
where at on the body? Just out of curiosity........that sounds
painful, did he get it stitched back up again?

Peace

Threatening to sue before you even know you have something to sue over
is bulls***. Bottom line. There is no excuse for crying "lawsuit"
without basis. There just isn't. And for you to say "That's for the
courts to decide" is wrong. People who threaten to sue without basis
are like people who walk in front of cars, throw themselves down and
whip a neck brace out of their pockets. Generally people wait to see
what the outcome of their accident was. MOST people will wait,
months, or even years, to estimate the extent of their damages, what
the cost to their day to day living has been, etc. When one threatens
to sue IMMEDIATELY after an accident, that is nothing more than pure
greed. And I am telling you from someone who has worked in the legal
field for years and years, those are the people who don't get
anything. I have said it before, I will say it again. The burden of
proof is on the person suing. And threatening a lawsuit BEFORE going
to the doctor is going to play very much against her.

Oh - the stitches. They were in his chin; he'd had some minor surgery
(removal of a cyst). He was told it was okay to go back to work if he
was careful. He wasn't careful and moved around too much, looking up,
etc. Popped his stitches, and everyone on the planet was like "you
can sue!" I told him, no - he had no case, and even confirmed it
through an attorney I work with, but that was all I heard for weeks:
"I'm going to sue that doctor!" I asked him to list what, exactly,
his damages were, etc. He couldn't. Once he realized that, he
stopped with the lawsuit rants. That is why I said it's possible the
OP had someone tell her to threaten to sue. It's not uncommon that
when anything happens to anyone, someone who thinks he/she knows what
he/she is talking about tries to convince the other person that they
have a lawsuit. I have seen a case where a woman fell in her own yard
and tried to sue the city she lived in and another where a woman bent
over in a store to get something from a bottom shelf, stood up and
bumped her head against an auto-coupon dispenser. Yep, she tried to
sue. I have also seen MANY of these "there was water on the floor and
yes, I saw it, but I managed to wipe out in it, anyway" cases
completely dismissed. For one thing, the plaintiff has to PROVE that
the restaurant, in this case, KNEW of the water "hazard" and had
opportunity to clean it up but failed to do so. If the OP can't prove
that, she won't prevail (she won't prevail without sustaining SERIOUS,
LASTING, DEBILITATING injuries, either, but no one seems to want to
believe that).

If you don't believe me, look it up. There are websites devoted to
what one would have to do in order to prevail in a slip and fall
case.

The last line says this

I would compensation and if the only way I will be getting that is to
take legal action....I will.

If you truely were injured than getting a free meal will not make her
feel better. How will a compensation heal your injuries. If you
really cannot get off your bed for a weekend and are in great pain a
free meal will not get rid of the pain. Sounds to me like you just
want a free meal. You could have simply walked around the water to
save you and your daughter the pain.

She could have been spinning circles in the water, smoking a joint and
snorting powder in the bathroom.
The fact that she was injured on their property entitles her to be
compensated for medical bills at the very least.
Remember the burglar that broke into a house and sued the homeowners
insurance for personal injury. He won!

It's simple.

THIS WAS ON PURPOSE.

Purposeful slips and falls are the biggest scam going.

If this wasn't a scam this woman would have walked around the hazard
AFTER POINTING IT OUT TO SOMEONE.

She purposely slipped and fell and was hurt more than she thought
although someone who would do this is lying through their teeth.

You're standing up for someone who would purposely injure their child
to make money.

And I won't even begin on the scammers who admit to being such
themselves with saying insurance will cover it.

ONly fellow scammers are standing up for this woman.

this is amusing ... really

I personally think you should sue. You got hurt and you are legally
right to do so. Hope you feel better!

Also... might I point out that everyone is assuming that she does not
have any serious or long term injuries. What if she does? She is still
in pain. What if she ruptured a disc?
Go to the doctor. See a lawyer! Again, don't listen to boneheads!

Go to the Doc! Call a lawyer! Disregard negative comments that any
bonehead might post!

Go to the Doc! Call a lawyer! Disregard negative comments that any
bonehead might post!

First of all. Why the hell, (can I say hell on planet feedback?) would
you even think about waiting almost 2 hours for dinner at OUTBACK?
Now, due to the emotional trama and the damage to your ankle, I would
get a lawyer and ask for at least 25k.

Do you really need $5 from a kids meal? Wow...

Let's all sue for being clumsy.





So what if the mess on the floor wasn't noticed immediately. Do you
really expect every waitress to walk around with a mop?

In January 2004, while nine months pregnant, I tripped on a wooden
board lying on the sidewalk and totally busted my face. Honestly, I
wasn't looking where I was going, I was checking behind me to see if
the bus was coming. I walked on to the bus stop after the fall, and
stood there in the freezing cold mopping up the blood waiting for the
1/2 hour late Metro bus. My baby happened to come two weeks early four
days later. I just chalked it up as one of life's little
kicks-in-the-pants, shrugged off the pain (and embarrassment), and the
scars were gone in a couple of months. Now I know I could have sued
the City of Cincinnati, the owner of the closest home (hence the
property), and the Metro bus for pain and suffering, humiliation,
premature labor, ruining my hospital photos (if you look closely, you
can see scabs on my lip and nose, and a still swollen upper lip). I
thought it was my fault for not looking where I was going. Now I know
the city, the metro, and the homeowner recklessly and perhaps
intentionally plotted to trip me and should pay for their crimes. Does
anyone know if the statute of limitations is up yet, and the number of
a good (okay, willing) lawyer?

Jasmin?

This website is made up of hundreds, if not thousands, of members of
the public. Your peers, if you will.

You couldn't convince even one person out of hundreds on this web site
that you deserve compensation.

How much of a chance do you think you have of convincing ten out of
twelve of your peers on a jury that you deserve compensation?

Since you didn't fall on your place of employment, maybe you will or
will not get paid. The defense attorneys will make you as a
bloodsucking leech and will pound you and do anything so you won't get
a large settlement.

Sorry Sweetcheeks-not every booboo in life is compensable. Besides, it
sounds like they did more than enough to make the situation better for
you.

Its very interesting how you injured your face but you could still
chew food.

Also interesting how much pain you were supposedly in yet you stayed
to eat food.

Did you file a report with Outback? You don't say.

I don't understand people who say such and such happened but didn't
take the time to do it.

By the way, you have way too much detail. They don't care what you
were thinking.

You saw the water yet you still fell and this is the resturant's fault
how?

I know when I am in excruciating pain (as you describe in your
complaint) I have no appetite left. If I was in that kind of pain I
would have immediately left.

Also, isn't it incredibly convenient how your back and neck hurt?
Whiplash can't be proven. Wow, you've really done your research
before going in and NOT using common sense when approaching a
NOTICABLE puddle of water.

You failed to mention the damage to your face/chin yet you emphasize
that your fall was broken by that very body part. Gee how strange it
is that you don't complain about injuries to your jaw.

I don't think you are fooling anyone with this letter.

"I would compensation and if the only way I will be getting that is to
take legal action....I will."

It's bad form to start with the legal threats. Have you even
contacted the manager of the restauarant to tell him about your
injuries? No, because you've incurred no medical expenses. I wanted
to believe your story, honestly I did, but you're not behaving like
someone with real injuries did. You sound like you're exaggerating
(sp?) the pain, and you didn't go to a doctor (which is what someone
who truly was in such pain would do).

Therefore, your credibility is hurting big time.

I was literally assuaultd by an insane McDs manager. The only reason
*I* sued McDs was I discovered the next day when I spoke with another
manager at that store that the crazy woman had had altercations with
other customers (that's where McDs went wrong: knowingly keeping a
bad employee on board). (Notice, I called the manager the next
morning to discuss what had happened.)

I wanted her fired, and yeah, we all complain when some OP wants an
employee fired, but this lady was crazy (picked up a food tray and
slammed it into my face, giving me a 4-inch cut across my cheek under
my eye). I settled my lawsuit out of court.

In order to sue and recover damages, you need to have suffered actual
damages. Your injuries need to be extreme/severe, long-lasting,
and/or keep you from living your life and working. Tough standards
(as they should be).

This remindes me of what happened when my sister wrecked our van a
couple of years ago. The lady that hit us didn't go to the hospital at
the time and the tried to sue several days later. She was told that
she couldn't get anything because she hadn't gone to the doctor right
away. I've been in two wrecks (neither when I was driveing) and heard
of several more people haveing wrecks and I've learned that if you
want anything you have to prove you deserve it right away by going to
the hospital when it happens.

Are you complaining about the long wait, the sassy hostess, your OR
your daughters injuries????

What do you WANT? You fell, learn how to walk instead of complaining
about nothing.

So your knees, elbow, back and neck were all throbbing. But you stayed
because you didn't want to sacrifice a free meal - I mean, ruin "date
night" with your husband (and daughter). The horrible pain didn't keep
you from noticing and pointing out to the waitress (was this the same
"sassy" one that told you there would be an hour and 40 minute wait?)
that your daughter's meal wasn't free.

You spent the entirre weekend in a "living hell" and have not left
your bed because you are "in extreme pain", and yet you didn't go
right to the emergency room.

What kind of compensation are you looking for? Free steak? A million
dollars?

Scammer. People like you disgust me.

Am I the only one who instead of walking over some walter on the floor
and risking falling especially with a small child with me, calls
someone to make sure they know about it then walks around the spill?

But of course I'm not out to try and get free meals.

I'm just curious. What are you expecting in the way of compensation,
since you have not seen a doctor and have no medical expenses nor
proof of your injuries?

Goodness Grief, if nothing else, learn how to fall properly so you
don't injure yourself. The way you describe it makes it sound like
some sort of slap-stick routine done for laughs.

What other compensation would you like, by the way? They gave you free
meals, apologized, presumably cleaned up the mess and generally bent
over backwards to make it up to you. What more do you want? Blood?

Jasmin,

If falling down in a restaurant and getting (perhaps) a slight injury
is the worst experience ever, what do you think it's like for people
in this world who are homeless, dying of cancer or some other disease,
suffering the loss of a loved one, and so on?

If you really did get injured that you could not walk I don't think a
compensation would make you heal your injuries. You should never have
taken the offer of free food in the first place. However they are
responsible for the fall.

You had the presence of mind to accept the free dinners but did you
request that the manager complete an accident report so that you could
take legal action? I also find it interesting that this accident
happened on 4/27 and you have waited over 4 days to seek medical help.
I'm curious - - are your seeing the doctor or lawyer first tomorrow?

By the smiley face next to the subject.. i take it that your happy
with the way you were treated after that happened.. but then you
threaten to take legal action? Accidents happen. A lady that got her
little toe cut on a chair that fell on it because she moved it is
suing our store now. It's sad that people will use pathetic reasons to
get $$ they DON'T deserve.

People like you cause sky high insurance rates. I hope they laugh you
right out of court.

While I sympathize with your pain which, I presume, is from your
injuries, If I were you, I would be embarassed to post a letter like
this after I got comped 2 meals and were waited on hand and foot by
the staff.

It was an accident - an unfortunate, unforeseeable incident and not a
meal ticket. The threatening tone of your letter tells me all I need
to know about you and that is that you are trying to capitalize on
your misfortune.

You admitted you saw the water, you were loaded down with a glass of
iced tea and managing your daughter at the same time and yet you still
feel that you are entitled to more. Regardless of what the ambulance
chaser lawyers on TV tell you - you aren't entitled to ANYTHING.

But that's OK, because when you try to take what doesn't belong to you
(i.e. "compensation"), it will come back to haunt you. Karma is a
wonderful thing!

Question:

Since she took the free meal, is it even possible for her to sue now?


Would it have been possible for her to sue if she hadn't taken the
meal, and gone to the hospital or something instead?

This seems a little out there just for the fact nobody (I would hope)
would continue to dine in "immense pain" in order to try and get the
free meal... That is what allegedly happened right?

Another letter that needs more paragraphs :(

I'm not a lawyer but I have worked for many....every attorney I have
worked for would have been aghast at your decision to post publicly
about your "incident".

And what does "I would (sic) compensation" mean anyway? You WANT
compensation???? Yeah, I'd like compensation too but I realize I have
no entitlement to $$ that is not mine...Anyway, you got free food! If
you are NOT physically injured, you will get nothing else....if you
are physically injured, a doctor wil evaluate your injuries and
recommend treatment and a repuatable lawyer will decide whether there
is some money to be made on your "case" and that will determine if he
accepts your case or not...

BTW: I didn't see you fall, I don't know you or anything about your
alleged injuries but I can tell from my own experiences that when the
attorneys I worked for discovered someone was "faking it" they
promptly and immediately dropped that client and refused any future
business with them...

Good luck taking legal action - you won't find a lawyer to take your
case unless you incurred serious, permanent injury, which you did
not.

I get such a kick out of people who think they can sue for anything
and everything and win.

Like I told the lady who slipped in the Target parking lot-If your
intention is to sue, then it is not in your best interest to post a
letter detailing the incident on a public forum. If you want to take
Outback to court, you should have gone to the ER and contacted a
lawyer immediately.

Things I don't get --
Who would wait almost 2 hours to eat at the Outback?
If you were in so much pain, why did you stick around to eat the free
meal?
IF your whole weekend was ruined because of pain and you couldn't get
out of bed, why did you not go to the Emergency Room? That is what it
is for.
If you fell so hard and "I caught myself with my chin on the hardwood
floor" Why do you not have facial/mouth injuries? It would seem to me
that if the rest of you is injured that badly, you would have some
broken or chipped teeth.

The Outback's lawyer should love your admission, in this letter, that
you saw the water on the floor prior to your fall.