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A lawyer representing the family of Charla Nash, the Connecticut woman severely mauled by her friend's 200-pound chimpanzee, said an lawsuit is "imminent." Attorney Charles J. Willinger, Jr. filed preliminary papers seeking $50 million in damages from chimp owner Sondra Herold and will speak with reporters today. The AP reports the "papers seek an accounting of Herold's assets and a court order that would prevent her from selling or mortgaging them, including six pieces of property she owns and her stake in a Stamford used car dealership." Nash, who is at the Cleveland Clinic, "lost her nose, lips, eyelids, hands and bone structure in her mid-face and suffered significant brain, eye and tissue injuries in the attack," and her recovery potential is unclear. Her twin brother and legal guardian, Michael, has stated, "No amount of money can compensate my sister for the injuries she has suffered."
Chimp Mauling Victim's Family Seeks $50 Million in Damages
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Greedy fuckers.
"No amount of money can compensate my sister for the injuries she has suffered." , but my cut of the $50M will do me fine!
Why does money make people feel good?
"No amount of money can compensate my sister for the injuries she has suffered."
Are you sure about that? Everything has a price. Your's is $50 million.
What, like you guys wouldn't sue the chimp-owner if your loved one her lost hands, most of her face, etc.????
Umm...when this happened, everyone wanted the crazy chimp-lady's blood (and for good reason). In fact, someone noted with sadness that the chimp-lady probably didn't have any money, so all they could do was jail her.
Well, guess what? Turns out the crazy chimp-lady's got money -- and the family of the attacked woman kinda think that the chimp-lady...shouldn't have it anymore. They kinda think "living in a cardboard box" would suit her just fine.
Sometimes it's not about getting rich. Sometimes it's about making the other person poor.
(Cf. OJ)
So it's punitive and not merely for compensation?
I doubt the lady would have made $50 million if she had her face, so they're not really out $50 million without her face.
The system is what it is. You can not ask just for what you need in a lawsuit, because you never will get what you ask for. She didn't create that situation.
That old woman doesn't have 50 million dollars!
""No amount of money can compensate my sister for the injuries she has suffered."
But 50 Mill is a GOOD START!
Does homeowner's insurance cover these kinds of claims? And hadn't this woman been friendly with and visited this woman many times? I understand wanting medical expenses, disability, and care paid for, but these kinds of excessive claims are what make me wonder if anyone takes responsibility for their own actions. Is this woman able to communicate, or is it her family/brother?
Homeowners insurance rarely exceeds $1 million in coverage. That might cover a portion of the medicals.
If this was a random person, I might have more sympathy. But this was the lady's friend, knew the chimp, etc., and went over there to help with the chimp who would not return to the house. So either this woman knew the chimp was potentially dangerous, in which case she went at her own risk and deserves nothing. Or, she had no reason to believe the chimp was dangerous, in which case based on her friendship I think we can assume that the owner also had no reason to believe the chimp was dangerous, and I don't think the owner should be liable for an unfroeseen event (I think there may be some laws which make animal owners liable in all cases). IANAL, IMO.
She may have gone over there to help her friend but I am pretty sure she didn't volunteer to have her face and hands eaten off! I imagine the homeowner's insurer will find some way to NOT cover this claim. And I am just surprised that you guys don't think this woman's pain and suffering and future medical bills are worth anything. This is not a little slip and fall, it's a horrendous injury. How did the chimp escape? Was that not negligence on the part of the chimp-owner?
I don't think anyone argued that she wanted to be injured, nor that her life is worth nothing, so you can put away your strawmen. And as dispassionate as it is, the severity of the injury is kind of irrelevant.
But the argument about how the chimp escaped in the first place does have weight... but the friend knew the chimp had escaped when she came over to the house. It seems like this action broke the chain of causation. IANAL, IMO.
I strongly disagree with you and I am not putting up strawmen. But I am really surprised that no one here seems to think there are grounds for a lawsuit. That's astonishing. The woman harbored a dangerous 200-pound animal and let it escape. Remember the woman with the viscious dogs in California who let a neighbor be mauled? She went to jail.
If it was a neighbor-bystander who was injured, I'd probably agree. But it wasn't, so the situation simply isn't the same, and in my mind, you get the dichotomy I discussed in my comment 9.
I believe that there are freak accidents/incidents where no one can reasonably be held liable.
Hit post too early.
I believe that there are freak accidents/incidents where no one can reasonably be held liable. However I understand that not everyone holds this belief, especially when it relates to the actions of animals.
I think it would be fair to assume that a lot of this may be going toward medical bills.
word.
"Does homeowner's insurance cover these kinds of claims?"
Probably. And... how do you get someone else's insurance company to pay for your injuries? Why, you do that by filing a lawsuit.
This woman will have unbelievable medical bills, won't leave the hospital for months, and after she does will return several times for reconstructive surgeries. Most likely she'll need some kind of treatment for the rest of her life. Most likely she'll never again have income from employment -- which means, with no lawsuit it'd be the taxpayers taking care of her treatment and living expenses instead of the one person who logically should be held liable.
Assuming the poor woman lives: $50 Million needs to cover her bills for the rest of her life.
Exactly. It's not like she's going sailing in the Bahamas in a yacht filled with cash. She will have an incredibly long road ahead with many surgeries and a lot of therapy. If she's lucky, that money will help restore some kind of existence for her. As for Herold, her life is over too. She took her sick obsession with that chimpanzee to the point of absolute disaster. The sad irony is if they remain friends, Charla might end up caring for Herold.
"This monkey right here tore some lady's face off, and over there is the bobcat that set fire to my shed out back. Son of a bitch bobcat."
I'm sure the chimp owner also has plenty of monkey toys she could sell on eBay. Everybody loves monkey toys.
Personal responsibility and chimps are not pets, therefore both families should share the financial burden. I think her family is trying to get rich on their kin's personal tragedy.
If my face was chewed off by a crazed monkey, I would want 50 million dollars.
I hate people like that. Greedy Bastards