Man Sues Disneyland After Being Stuck on Ride

Submitted by Bob Jacobson on Fri, 02/11/2011 - 13:30

 

Man Claims Injury After Being Stuck on Disneyland Ride
 
A few days ago I ran across this story from the Associated Press on MSNBC which I print in its entirety:
 
Man sues Disneyland after getting stuck on 'Small World'
Quadriplegic says he was left on ride for 40 minutes after others evacuated
 
ANAHEIM, Calif. — A quadriplegic man is suing Disneyland in federal court, alleging the theme park left him on the "It's A Small World" ride for 40 minutes after it had stalled while staff evacuated other passengers.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court, alleges Disneyland violated the Americans With Disabilities Act because it didn't have proper procedures in place for evacuating disabled passengers from the ride.
Jose Martinez is also suing for negligence, emotional distress and liability.
He alleges Disney employees did not summon paramedics when his blood-pressure spiked while he was trapped on the ride.
Disneyland Resorts says in a statement it is accessible to all guests and has procedures in place for evacuating disabled customers.
 
Readers Question Validity of Claim
 
Following the article, there were over 400 comments made by readers. Space does not permit me to include them all here, but the vast majority of the comments were incredulous as to the possibility that the man could possibly have a valid claim.  I have included just a few of them here:
1950: Something catastrophic happened to me: Who do I sue?
1970: Something bad happened to me: Who do I sue?
1990: Something I didn't appreciate happened to me: Who do I sue?
2010: Something I didn't plan happened to me: Who do I sue?
2030: I'm up, reminder to sue alarm clock company for audio assault, check to do list, great only one thing on it: Sue somebody!
If this guy had been left on the ride for a couple of hours I could see this but.....that ride is on a system of rails and you can only take people off as the boats come up to the exit area. They aren't just floating along free. If he were on the end of the ride it probably would have taken even longer. The boats have to be pulled to the exit and people sometimes take their time getting off. This is a long ride. We take the grandkids on that ride so we can rest for a while. Floating in the water is very calming to hyper kids and grands. He should be ashamed of his self for trying to take advantage of the situation. I hope he doesn't get a dime!
My question is - How long did he wait to get ON the ride? Suing for that too??
 
Purpose of Article and Question of Valid Claim
 
This article contains so little in terms of facts that it is difficult to judge whether or not there is any merit to the claim for injury.
I really question why this article was written at all. It seems to me that the purpose of reporting is story is to stir up public indignation without supplying any specific facts.  
 Without more information, we just don’t know if the man has a valid claim or not.  While I agree that the story sounds pretty strange, without more facts, it is difficult to determine if this is someone seeking fame and fortune or a legitimate claim.  Time will tell.