The California Supreme Court ruled this week that a woman who pulled a co-worker from a crashed vehicle can be sued due to damages her actions caused.
Alexandra Van Horn was one of a group of co-workers heading home in 2004 when the car they were in was involved in a serious accident. Van Horn managed to climb free of the wreckage, but fearing the car would be engulfed in flames pulled her co-worked Lisa Torti out of the wreck, in an attempt to save her life.
Torti though is now suing Van Horn, claiming that the good samaritan act of attempting to save her life worsened her injuries. Torti claims that Van Horn pulled her from the car “like a rag doll” directly causing her to become a paraplegic.
The High Court said in a tight ruling 4-3 that rescue efforts are the responsibility of trained professionals, and as such Van Horn can be sued for her act. A dissent ruling from three of the seven justices said that by making a distinction between medical care and emergency response, the court was placing “an arbitrary and unreasonable limitation” on protections for those trying to help.
Although the situation is undeniably tragic, it’s a sad state of affairs when the law could now prevent citizens providing assistance in emergency situations due to the fear of being sued. It won’t stop people trying to help, but imagine a situation where some did, and how many lives could now be lost due to the law in this situation being an ass.
(in part via LA Times)
What they've done here is promoted selfishness. I wouldn't help anyone in that situation now for fear of being sued for all my assets. What an asinine decision.
thats it, next time i see someone trapped in a car on fire I am just gonna sit tight, have a drink and enjoy the show instead of potentially getting myself or my family into law trouble by trying to helping someone else.
Unbelievable…
I hope emergency teams are always on hand to help because i won;t
I don't think this is right. It's wrong for the courts to allow this woman to be sued. I was in need of emergency surgery after the emergency room doctors botched the diagnosis. I couldn't sue them for not having a signed release for surgery because they said the surgery was a life- saving measure. This was probably how the good Samaritan felt when she pulled her co-worker from the car. Maybe she should have left her in the car which probably would have burst into flames resulting in the woman's family suing her for not pulling her out. Seems like a lose-lose situation anyway you look at it.
This is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Not only has this woman reached a new low in the rush to sue some one but she has also managed to cause half the world to think she is a B*%^&. To bad the crash didn’t kill her instead as now when someone see’s a person drowning or being malled by an animal they will have to stop and think can I save the person without risking everything I have? This is the worst case of faliure to see from the other persons point of view I have ever seen. Imagine how bad Lisa Torti feels about this. She has inadvertanley parilized her friend when all she wanted to do was protect her!!! If Van Horn continues with this it will not only be a travesty of justice but will single handedly bring to an end many good samaratin acts. WAY to go Alexandra Van Horn
This is ridiculous. The more professional human being is becoming the more and more human being is losing common sense. I think Law should be a subset of common sense rather than treating it as a separate entity.
I comforted a young lady who was involved in car accident a couple years ago. I remember feeling disappointed that others didn't stop to help. Based on this ruling, you can rest assured that I will never attempt to help another person in dire straits. This goes against my nature, but it's the prudent thing to do based on the California Supreme Court's ruling. Too bad.
That woman should have been left to die. Her coworker may or may not have cuased her to be a paraplegic but how do you know that in an emergency. Obviously the “victim” is sue happy and hopefully is denied her claim. If the courts allow this case to go through this will pave the way for every nut case out there a “reward” .
This is bullshit, if only Alex knew the outcome of rescuing that woman, she would''ve left her to burn and die. If this is the situation today, if i see a lady crawling across the street after a car accident, im just gonna watch her until she dies.
You are so right…but it is still not known if Torti is even the reason why this lady is paralyzed…the crash may have already done this to Van Horn. Of course Van Horn is hoping that Torti did cause it so she can make someone as miserable as she is. Either way, instead of being thankful that she survived this wreck, she is wallowing and blaming others..UGH! Oh, and I wonder if Van Horn had any alcohol at the bar they left from and if the wreck would have happened in the first place had she not….just stipulating…I have not actually heard anything whatsoever about alcohol being involved (done want to start any false rumors) but I am curious.
I heard the paralyzed woman's lawyer on the radio today. The lawyer's view was that he did not want to discourage people from being Good Samaritans, but just wanted them to exercise common sense and not do things that they weren't qualified to do.
It was a sound bite situation, so I didn't hear him talking about the rescuing woman's belief that the car was about to explode.
I couldn't, in good conscience, sue anybody for trying to save my ass, this lisa torti lady is not worthy of capitalization, and basing from this, she is a heartless bitch and this is probably just something like karma or some other higher power catching up with her. I'm starting to hate America's justice system being enablers to all the “gimme dat” people out there. I only sued one person in my life because she blatantly crashed into me while I was at a red light, tearing my shoulder apart, and tried to not report it, causing me to have to wait 2 months to replace my car and start treatment. We should sue lisa torti for being stupid and give the other lady the money.
Actually, this is nothing new, as the common law was and is that if you decide to intervene, you don't get to make things worse.
Think about, those who haven't. Do you want someone rushing to “save” the soul with a spinal injury? Or would you prefer that we not move the soul until someone with a true clue arrives and takes matters in hand?
The key to the case will be, was there any more danger. The injured gal's lawyer says that no one else believed that the car was in danger of catching fire. He also claims that our gal didn't drag her clear, but just outside the car door [presumably, to now die there when the car caught fire, and with paralysis to boot].
And if you have problem here, don't complain when you've a spinal injury, some unqualified souls sees “emergency” and moves you, and now you are paralyzed.
what a b**** i would be thankful if my friend saved me from a burning car no matter what…
This is truly sad when the rescues are getting sued! I am not helping anyone after reading this.
Van Horn should have let Lisa Torti die in that car.
I hope every breath that ungrateful bitch takes hurts
Wrong. Torti pulled Van Horn out of the wreck…
FACT CHECK: The article posted here has a factual error.
Lisa Torti is the woman who pulled Alexandra Van Horn from
the wrecked car. It is Ms. Horn who is suing Ms. Torti.
CHECK your FACTS before posting the story, Duncan Riley.
WTF!!!@!!!!!!!!!