I have a legal question

[La_Serpiente]

Where I live, there is this watersports and outdoor recreation store that has been in business for about 24 years. It is a small business, and the owners are great people.

A few years ago, a couple from California came to spend their vacation here. They wanted to do something in the ocean, so they rented a Kayak from the place. It was sunny and calm the day they rented it, but it was slightly windy when they went out into the ocean two days later.

They were swept out into sea and remained in the channel between the island of Kaho'olawe and the island of Maui.

So they were out in the middle of the channel and the wife decided that she wanted to go swimming in the water. The husband, who was in the Kayak, claimed that a shark came up from under the water and killed her. He said he tried to help her, but there was nothing he could do.

The man ended up on the shores of Kaho'olawe where helicopters later came and picked him up. Although the story seems really really suspicious, the D.A. could not prosecute him because there was so little physical evidence.

The man later sued the small business for not telling him how the conditions were. He claimed that they were liable for his wife's death since they did not warn him of the conditions that day.

The plaintiff won, and the small business ended up owing 1 million dollars.

My question is, "Was the business liable?" "And why?"

[bearfan454]

1. I would say no

Taht doesn't sound right to me.

[rucky]

2. Whener I rent a kayak...

I have to sign a release.

Did they sign a release?


BTW: I will be in Kahana on tuesday for a week. :)

[La_Serpiente]

10. you will? Wow, cool

It has been raining here off and on. I think the worst of it is over though.

However, the drier sides of the island are so GREEN!!!

It was a sunny day here today. :-)

[laura888]

3. that's messed up! Unless the store was responsible for clearing...

...that area of sharks, why should they be held liable?!

You go in the ocean. There are sharks in the ocean.

duh!

[Redneck Socialist]

4. I'm no lawyer...

...and don't pretend to be, but my answer is probably yes.

Summers during college I worked at an outdoor tourist attraction as a guide. This place was a glacially formed gorge with boardwalks and you could take the tour with me or go on a "self guided" tour. Now if you stayed on the board walk you were perfectly safe. If you ignored the many and obvious signs and went off the board walk you could hurt yourself, potentially seriously. Wet rocks, long falls yadda yadda.

As you can imagine people often decided to go "exploring" on their own and got hurt. We were sued more than once and lost. The argument generally being as a commercial enterprise we were inviting people to come here and thus were responsible for their safety no matter how stupid they were.

I am guessing that the situation you outlined is similar. The small business advertised their services (renting kayaks) and thus are responsible for their customers safety.

Stupid? You bet, but that seems to be the way the law works.

Perhaps a someone experienced in personal injury or liability law can give us a better explanation.

[rustydog]

5. Sounds awfully "Urban Legend-ish"

Conditions have nothing to do about the shark that allegedly ate the wife.
Like what was mentioned before, most rentals have waivers that customers sign.
Any boater knows to check weather and sea conditions before setting out.

this smacks of an Insurance industry generated anti-lawsuit type of story to get people angry.

[fishnfla]

6. You can sue anyone for anything

anymore. I believe it. Lady here in Volusia county sued the county because she got struck by lightening whilst on the beach. She lost her case though.

[necso]

7. With a jury trial,

and a case that can skate by legal challenges for dismissal (a very low standard), real liability is moot.

These days if you rent or sell a product that some moron can harm himself with, even by the grossest misuse, you have to be very, very careful. Even with the tightest release forms, signed and initialed in blood, you can still get nailed. (Okay, maybe I exaggerate a little.)

Renting kayaks for use in the ocean, is not like renting rowboats for use on "Lake Evercalm". Kayaks can be dangerous and venturing into the ocean more so. If the store owners did not take "due care" to educate and warn kayak renters (and get a definitive written signoff) then I would say that they were liable.

You have to admire the guy's brass though --- kills his wife and then sues the people who made it possible for him to get away with it. I bet she had insurance too. He should apply for some high position with the * administration --- he definitively has the right stuff.

[KamaAina]

8. I remember that case! A lot of us thought he was faking it

here around the water cooler, since his wife's body was never found, AND there was no blood on the kayak...

http://starbulletin.com/1999/03/26/news/story6.html

No trace of blood was found on the kayak by a chemical examination, an investigator said. Finding no blood was "kind of unusual" considering the woman's arm was bitten off, said Capt. Victor Tengan of the Maui Police Department's Criminal Investigation Division. Experts are being called to determine whether blood can seep into a kayak's surface or can be entirely washed away by sea water.


Plus, this article says the company won:

http://starbulletin.com/2003/05/09/news/story12.html

A federal jury has found that Extreme Sports Hawaii of Maui was not negligent in the death of a California woman whose husband claimed she was attacked by a shark while kayaking during a March 1999 belated honeymoon.

Manouchehr Monazzami-Taghadomi, of Sunnyvale, Calif., had filed suit against the company claiming it should not have rented the kayak to them because there was a small-craft advisory in effect at the time and it failed to warn the couple of strong winds....

He said his wife, Nahid Davoodabai, 29, lost an arm in a shark attack and that she allegedly died on the kayak before being washed away by a wave.

He told rescuers he drifted to Kahoolawe, where he found a telephone in a bunker and called for help. His wife's body was never found, despite an extensive air and land search.

Did the guy sue again?!

[La_Serpiente]

9. He appealed and won I think

that is what my father told me though.

Tommorrow, they are having a going out of business sale.

Maybe they did win, but the legal fees were too high. :shrug:

I'll try to verify it though.

On Edit: They are not going out of business yet. They are just trying to sell everything tommorrow.

[Rabrrrrrr]

11. I say Bull the heck Feces - they, the couple, were liable

for being such idiots that they wouldn't even check conditions before heading out.

I can't believe any judge would allow the case to go through, let alone actually award them money.

That business should still be in business, and that husband shoudl be forever thinking for the rest of his life, "Crikes - maybe I really *DO* need to think once in a while and not expect people to watch out for me!"

Never turn your back on the ocean. Even this midwesterner (and kama'aina) knows that!

Ooooooh, I'm so angry at this decision.