Fall is in the air.
Pumpkin spice is everywhere.
Tombstones and skeletons are sprawled across the front lawns in your neighborhood.
Huge spiderwebs are covering front porches.
It must be time for Halloween. Otherwise, time to strongly consider moving.
Halloween Lawsuits
As we have mentioned on Christmas, Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day; when there’s a holiday, there are lawsuits. Halloween is certainly no exception.
As a premier New Jersey personal injury law firm, we at Mintz & Geftic have been representing the injured victims of work accidents, car and truck accidents and construction accidents for over 30 years.
Our clients are suffering from serious, and at times, catastrophic injuries. They are in a lot of pain, dealing with numerous hardships and have put their trust in us to fight on their behalf.
Are each of the lawsuits below as worthy as those we file for our seriously injured clients? Well, you be the judge:
1. halloween Haunted House Too Haunted? – Deborah Mays v. Gretna Athletic Boosters Inc.
Can a Halloween haunted house be too scary?
On the night of October 29, 1999, Deborah Mays entered a dark Louisiana haunted house. The haunted house was operated by the defendant to raise money for local athletic programs.
Mays, the plaintiff, testified that someone jumped out at her inside the haunted house and yelled. She was frightened and began to run, unfortunately running directly into a visqueen-covered cinder block wall. Mays suffered a broken nose from running into the wall and required two surgeries to repair the injury.
In the lawsuit, she argued that covering a cinder block wall with black visqueen in a dark haunted house is an unreasonable dangerous condition.
The court ruled as followed:
“The very nature of a Halloween haunted house is to frighten its patrons. In order to get the proper effect, haunted houses are dark and contain scary and/or shocking exhibits. Patrons in a Halloween haunted house are expected to be surprised, startled, and scared by the exhibits but the operator does not have a duty to guard against patrons reacting in bizarre, frightened, and unpredictable ways. Operators are duty bound to protect patrons only from unreasonably dangerous conditions, not from every conceivable danger.” (Coverage Opinions, Vol. 4, Iss. 10)
2. Tombstones Messages Too Personal? – Salama v. Deaton
Ellen Salama, a woman in Riverview, FL filed a lawsuit against her neighbor, Kristy Elizabeth Deaton. In the lawsuit, Salama alleged that she was the victim of constant harassment, saying that she had feared for her life.
As evidence, Salama referred to the Halloween display that her neighbor had put up that year. Specifically, messages written on the tombstones.
One read, ““At 48 she had no mate no date. It’s no debate she looked 88. She met her fate in a crate. Now we celebrate. 1961-2009.”
Another stated, “Paranoia will destroy ya. Ima crazy zee. 1961-2009.”
Salama was 48-years old and single at the time and claimed the tombstones were directed at her.
3. Goin’ Bananas – Rasta Imposta v. Kangaroo Manufacturing
Rasta Imposta, a maker of Halloween costumes, sued a former distributor, Kangaroo Manufacturing. The copyright infringement lawsuit from 2017 alleged that the former distributor was peddling bogus banana costumes.
The lawsuit took place in a federal court in Camden, New Jersey. When unpeeling some of the case records, there was more than a few humorous points that came up.
During a hearing, the federal judge Noel L. Hillman was heard uttering phrases like “bananafest” and “bananapalooza.” Later he pondered “whether the founding fathers had banana costumes in mind” when they drafted the Constitution.
What was the judge’s ruling? You guessed it…a split decision.
4. Mary, Her Little Lamb, and a Cigarette – Ferlito v. Johnson & Johnson Products Inc.
Plaintiffs Susan and Frank Ferlito, husband, and wife, attended a Halloween party in 1984 dressed as Mary and her little lamb.
Mrs. Ferlito had constructed a lamb costume for her husband by gluing cotton balls manufactured by defendant Johnson & Johnson Products to a suit of long underwear. She had also used the cotton balls to fashion a headpiece, complete with ears.
During the party Mr. Ferlito attempted to light his cigarette by using a butane lighter. The flame passed close to his left arm, and the cotton on his left sleeve ignited. Burns covered approximately one-third of Mr. Ferlito’s body.
The Ferlito’s sued Johnson & Johnson for the severe burns and related injuries in a product liability lawsuit. They argued that a warning on the package would have prevented the accident.
A jury decided that the couple was 50 percent at fault and initially awarded them $625,000. On appeal, the verdict was set aside. The court noted that cotton is “a simple product with all its essential characteristics apparent, including flammability.”
5. Cosmetic contacts – more than meets the eye
How cool is it to add some crazy colored eyes to your Halloween costume? Well, it turns out, not very cool at all for a lot of people.
Cosmetic contact lenses have led to a number of lawsuits for retailers over the years due to people suffering from eye injuries.
The FDA has warned consumers about the risks. According to their site, these risks include:
- A cut or scratch on the top layer of your eyeball (Corneal Abrasion)
- Allergic reactions like itchy, watery red eyes
- Decreased vision
- Infection
- Blindness
BONUS #6 – A FOG MACHINE, AN EVIL CLOWN, and AN AIR CANNON – WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO Wrong?
A Pennsylvania woman sued the parent company of Dorney Park over an incident that occurred at the amusement park’s Halloween attraction. The lawsuit is alleging the woman suffered hearing loss in right her right ear during the park’s “Halloween Haunt”.
“Perugino was walking through an area known as “CarnEvil,” when a park employee dressed as a clown fired off an air cannon to her right, according to court records. She reportedly did not see the air cannon as it was at ground level in a dimly lit area surrounded by manmade fog, according to the complaint. But the cannon was apparently close enough that Perugino felt the air from the cannon in her ear. She filed an incident report with the park and visited a doctor once home.” (wfmz.com)
The plaintiff said that doctors suspect her hearing loss could be permanent.
The lawsuit alleges that Dorney Park should have known about the “proposed dangerous conditions” the attraction posed to visitors but “neglected to take appropriate action to protect its clientele from the dangerous and hazardous conditions.”
The lawsuit alleges a single count of negligence. In a sprawling list of grievances, attorneys for Perugino accuse Dorney Park of failing to properly train and supervise employees and properly inspect the area where she was allegedly injured. Dorney should have warned visitors about the air cannons and made them more conspicuous, according to the lawsuit.
Have a safe and fun Halloween!
MINTZ & GEFTIC – New Jersey Injury Lawyers
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sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/07/nyregion/banana-costume-lawsuit.html
https://www.leagle.com/decision/1991967771fsupp1961920
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/la-court-of-appeal/1001875.html
https://www.coverageopinions.info/Vol2Issue20/FromBoo.html
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