Douchebag of the year goes to...

[whitewolf001]

this outstanding example of  :poop: .

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/highschool-prep-rally/coach-suing-14-old-over-little-league-baseball-204100538.html

 

A California Little League Baseball coach who suffered a torn Achilles tendon is suing one of his former players for throwing his helmet during a game-ending celebration, according to Sacramento's KCRA-TV (h/tBarstool Sports). The kid is 14 years old.

But that isn't stopping Alan Beck from suing the child and Little League Baseball for $500,000 in pain and suffering in addition to another $100,000 in lost wages and medical bills, per the Placer County (Calif.) Superior Court summons obtained by KCRA-TV.

"At first I thought it was joke," the boy's father, Joe Paris, told his local television news station. "Now, I think it's absurd."

Paris' son allegedly tossed his helmet while scoring the winning run in a game this past spring, and the equipment struck and tore Beck's Achilles tendon.

"He is a good guy who was volunteering his time and now he's in a wheelchair. Who's the victim here?" Beck's attorney, Gene Goldman, told KCRA. "This wasn't part of the game. To have someone throw a helmet in that manner, you just don't do that."

Except the kid's in Little League, and Little Leaguers do that. All the time. Heck, Little League's own YouTube channel shows kids throwing equipment during a celebration.

Recovery from a ruptured Achilles tendon can take six months, according to WebMD.com.

Except, the Paris family has been forced to shell out more than $4,000 in legal fees two months before the case is even scheduled to be seen by a judge, according to the report. Joe Paris told KCRA he doesn't have homeowners insurance, which in some cases can cover the costs of such apparent frivolous litigiousness.

Your problem, not ours, says the plaintiff's camp, basically. "If they owned a home," Goldman told KCRA, "they should have had homeowner's insurance."

So, let this be a message to all you kids out there having fun: Don't.

[Mariner]

Should have hit him in the head, except it probably wouldn't have hit anything vital.

[kckndrgn]

WOW, this guy is a total jerk.

 

I've read conflicting reports as well.  One article said "the helmet was tossed into the air", another said "the helmet was thrown". 

 

But how hard do you have to get hit to damage the tendon.

 

Oh, and this is a little league game, winning run, someone, somewhere has video of it.    

 

If the jerks suit is tossed out, and I hope it is, I hope he's sued for the legal costs of defending such a frivolous charge.

 

If the helmet was thrown at him in an attempt to do harm, I could see the suit and possible criminal charges, but it wasn't.

[E4 No More]

WOW, this guy is a total jerk.

 

I've read conflicting reports as well.  One article said "the helmet was tossed into the air", another said "the helmet was thrown". 

 

But how hard do you have to get hit to damage the tendon.

 

Oh, and this is a little league game, winning run, someone, somewhere has video of it.    

 

If the jerks suit is tossed out, and I hope it is, I hope he's sued for the legal costs of defending such a frivolous charge.

 

If the helmet was thrown at him in an attempt to do harm, I could see the suit and possible criminal charges, but it wasn't.

I wondered about it too, and I imagine that reacting to the strike perhaps was awkward and caused his weight bearing leg to move in a manner to rupture the tendon, otherwise it would take a laceration to severe a tendon. Just a WAG.

[Jonnin]

if someone put me in a wheelchair for over a month I would expecting they at least cover 100% of expenses.   Accidents happen ---  more often than not, from gross negligence, like randomly throwing things at people or driving like an idiot ---  and it is generally accepted that while accidents are not criminal, when negligence is involved the offending party should at least pay the bills.   If they will do that, I am not going to sue em over "pain and aggravation" for an injury that will heal back to 100%.   If they will not do that, their lack of decency ups the ante...

[E4 No More]

if someone put me in a wheelchair for over a month I would expecting they at least cover 100% of expenses.   Accidents happen ---  more often than not, from gross negligence, like randomly throwing things at people or driving like an idiot ---  and it is generally accepted that while accidents are not criminal, when negligence is involved the offending party should at least pay the bills.   If they will do that, I am not going to sue em over "pain and aggravation" for an injury that will heal back to 100%.   If they will not do that, their lack of decency ups the ante...

That would be well and good if you have disability insurance. If you don't then you are going to miss out on a lot of money from being absent of work.

[tnguy]

Was the helmet made out of lead?

[whitewolf001]

if someone put me in a wheelchair for over a month I would expecting they at least cover 100% of expenses.   Accidents happen ---  more often than not, from gross negligence, like randomly throwing things at people or driving like an idiot ---  and it is generally accepted that while accidents are not criminal, when negligence is involved the offending party should at least pay the bills.   If they will do that, I am not going to sue em over "pain and aggravation" for an injury that will heal back to 100%.   If they will not do that, their lack of decency ups the ante...

So sue a fourteen year old? My mother has had migraines and possible spinal injury from when a 8 year old girl accidentally hit her while riding a sled. Would you like to know what my mother did? She put an ice pack on it and called it a day because it was a child. We also don't know if that was the cause of it or if this was a preexisting condition that the plaintiff is just looking to cash in on. Their health insurance should cover them, unless that is, they didn't have any. Either way, still a sleazy in my eyes considering EVERYONE in this country is too trigger happy to call a lawyer.

[Guest RebelCowboySnB]

From the comments...

 

 

I went and tried to find additional info on this classic undetailed Yahoo story. The coach was a chiropractor, he didn't see the helmet thrower, the kid threw it up in the air as he went past home base, no "legal" determination has ever been made that the helmet was the cause of injury. I couldn't find any info about the immediate aftermath of the incident - like coach falls on ground with severed tendon, etc.
Other coaches interviewed on local news looked disgusted about the lawsuit. They all said the kid's actions were pretty much the norm for bringing in a run. Third party attorneys agreed it would be a hard sell for the plaintiff.
Good thing he didn't get hit in the head by a foul ball and killed. It would have been murder obviously.

Seems like the Explorers (boyscouts) made me sign a waver to help them an there was insurance involved... Seems odd that he would not have done one of the two at least...

[tnguy]

Good point there. Why wasn't there insurance already for this event? Surely that would be the coach's purview?

[JWC]

When I was like 7 my coach threw a ball and broke my nose. I wonder what the statute of limitations on that is?
Ha I still mess with him about it whenever I see him. Nowadays he'd have got sued I guess.