Won#8217;t somebody in authority stop the madness?
Published 12:00 am Monday, April 3, 2006
Well, have you heard the latest ridiculous lawsuit?
A woman from Chicago is seeking $20 million because she says she suffered several hundred bed-bug bites during a stay at a posh Upstate New York resort.
It seems that Leslie Fox, 54, and her husband traveled to the Nevele Grande Resort and Country Club, a 700-room facility in Ellensville, N.Y. for her husband’s work.
They booked a five-day stay.
One morning late into that visit the woman said she awoke to find more than 500 bites all over her body. Her husband also had bites, according to published reports.
That happened on the third night.
Fox said they returned to the resort on the fourth night to complete their stay. She didn’t say if they changed rooms or not.
Then, two weeks later she and her husband returned to the resort for another week’s stay.
Fox told Matt Lauer of the Today Show that both trips were necessary as her husband had contracted to lecture in the area (she didn’t say where).
Now, along with her lawyer, the woman is seeking $20 million from the hotel.
Excuse the pun, but this story really bites.
First of all, I think $20 million is excessive, especially when people suffering life-altering injuries at the hands of others often times don’t receive anywhere near that amount.
I think she should be reimbursed for her original week’s stay and the resort pay the medical bills. Then, they should give her something, maybe a few grand, but not millions.
Secondly, if the experience was so traumatic, why did she return for that fourth night, and then book another week just two weeks later?
She says it was because of their contractual obligation and they couldn’t leave.
I did some Internet searching and found nearly two dozen hotel/motels and no fewer than eight B&Bs listed for that town. And all of them were within a 25-mile drive. She could have gone to another hotel or a B&B.
I think it was a prestige thing.
To listen to this woman talk, it sounds as though she is “upper crust,” and at least in her mind, better than most other people. Her friends would probably snub her if she stayed in a Holiday Inn Express instead of the very pricey and high-brow Nevele Grande.
I am so tired of people taking advantage of the system and trying to milk every dollar they can out of their unfortunate circumstances.
We need some tort reform.
But more than that, we need at least one jurist who will stand up and say “Enough is enough. I am not going to allow the madness to continue.”
If that man or woman will do that, others will likely follow. And then, and only then, we might see an end to frivolous lawsuits.
But until that happens, I have one thing I might need to take care of in the courthouse.
Seeing photos of Fox’s bare back, showing the bug bites, and hearing her talk, nauseated me. I want to sue her for that discomfort, and I think $4 million ought to be enough.
Is there an attorney out there who wants the case?
To me, that is no more ridiculous than what she is trying to do.
Again, I think she is due something, but not $20 million.
And as for her lawyer, I can’t think of anybody lower on the food chain.
He doesn’t care about this woman and her problem. He sees 1/3 of whatever she may eventually make from this case going into his bank account. And believe me, it shows when you see him and hear him talk.
Please, I implore those who sit on the benches across this country. Stop this insanity. As Nancy Reagan once said about the drug problem, “Just say ‘No.’”
Grant is the managing editor of the Suffolk News-Herald. Contact him at dough.grant@suffolknewsherald.com
Grant is the managing editor of the Suffolk News-Herald. Contact him at dough.grant@suffolknewsherald.com