10-million-dollar nap? Lawsuit after nationally televised nap and online bullying.

[marylander1940]

http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/Bp3hDeHe5KnIprCFqWhMeA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTQyMTtweG9mZj01MDtweW9mZj0wO3E9NzU7dz03NDk-/http://media.zenfs.com/en-us/video/video.wpvi.abc.news.com/a2fc1ab52c76c1a318db891ef262e83f

 

Andrew Rector, a Yankees' fan, hasfiled a $10 million defamation suit against the team, the sports network, and others who he claims unleashed defamation and embarrassment over his nationally televised nap.

As a result, the used-car dealer claims to have “suffered substantial injury” to his “character and reputation,” as well as “mental anguish, loss of future income and loss of earning capacity.”

 

http://nypost.com/2014/07/07/yankees-fan-caught-sleeping-suing-espn-for-10-million/

[dane michaels]

Not the most ideal place to nap... but DAMN!!!!.. 10 Million dollars, I think that is just a bit overboard. Investment in public sleep patterns.. maybe???!?!?!

[gallahadesquire]

The NY post article quotes that some very malicious things were said. I think if MLB had just shown his picture,

and left it at those thousand words, there would have been no case.

 

But the NYPost reports he was called fat, stupid, and other delightful adjectives.

 

Ok, $10,000,000 is a tad over the top, but if the NY Post, that bastion of all which is right and correct,

(and it's pages are no longer yellow) has quoted correctly, he certainly has a case for slander.

 

Slander = Spoken

Libel = Literary = Written.

That's how I keep the two separate.

[MrMiniver]

The NY post article quotes that some very malicious things were said. I think if MLB had just shown his picture,

and left it at those thousand words, there would have been no case.

 

But the NYPost reports he was called fat, stupid, and other delightful adjectives.

 

Ok, $10,000,000 is a tad over the top, but if the NY Post, that bastion of all which is right and correct,

(and it's pages are no longer yellow) has quoted correctly, he certainly has a case for slander.

 

Slander = Spoken

Libel = Literary = Written.

That's how I keep the two separate.

 

First, I saw the video and none of those things were said by the commentators. Second, read the back of the ticket when you go to a major sporting event. You sign away your rights. They can pretty much say anything about you as long as it's not untrue (he was fat and it's stupid to sleep through a baseball game like that so those would be covered). You agree to be on camera by using the ticket.

 

So, regardless, he has absolutely no case. It won't go to court, a judge will throw it out. His ambulance chaser lawyer is just looking for some cash ... he ain't gonna get it.

[+ beethoven]

I think that Mr Miniver is absolutely right. As long as he is not ridiculed or unfairly criticized, he has no right to privacy when he buys a ticket to a baseball game. His lawyer's complaint was ungrammatical, and amateurish beyond belief. All he has done is to call unwanted attention to himself. Now the whole world knows what he looks like and who he is. I suspect this guy is not too bright, and agree that he was conned by an unscrupulous ambulance chaser.

[MrMiniver]

I think that Mr Miniver is absolutely right. As long as he is not ridiculed or unfairly criticized, he has no right to privacy when he buys a ticket to a baseball game. His lawyer's complaint was ungrammatical, and amateurish beyond belief. All he has done is to call unwanted attention to himself. Now the whole world knows what he looks like and who he is. I suspect this guy is not too bright, and agree that he was conned by an unscrupulous ambulance chaser.

 

It'll probably end up being his brother-in-law

[actor61]

You guys ever see "The Fortune Cookie"? Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau were brilliant. Although it was a frivolous lawsuit over a fake injury, it was the brother-in-law trying to get money for the shmuck who got hurt. This lawsuit over a nap seems to be based on the same premise. It reminds me of years ago when the woman sued MacDonald's because their coffee was too hot. And she won (I think)!!!

[Steven_Draker]

I'm surprised the announcers would spend 1,5 minute commenting and ridiculing someone in the stands during the game.

 

[video=youtube;1FDrcWTSczs]

[BSR]

It used to be the American Dream that you worked your ass off and made yourself a success. Now the American Dream, or at least the dream of far too many Americans, is that somebody or some company does something bad to them so they can sue for boatloads of money. Working is hard; playing the victim is way too easy, not to mention way too lucrative. There really should be some basic tort reform that allows judges, in the case of total bullsh*t lawsuits (and that's clearly the case here), the discretion to rule that bullsh*t litigants pay the defendant's legal expenses. Such a measure wouldn't prevent people with a genuine grievance from suing, yet it would put a stop to bullsh*t like this plus put an end to "nuisance money" (when a wealthy individual or company pays the litigant a settlement, even if the suit is groundless nonsense, just to avoid the hassle and bad publicity).

[Nvr2Thick]

It reminds me of years ago when the woman sued MacDonald's because their coffee was too hot. And she won (I think)!!!

 

http://www.lectlaw.com/files/cur78.htm

 

I'm trying to find a great article on this subject. It discussed the effect of pop culture and lazy journalism on the case. It's one thing for public opinion to be swayed based on jokes in Leno's monologue, but news organizations across the country were reporting based on anecdotes and re-reporting misinformation from other sources. The public believes that the McDonald's hot coffee case is an extreme example of a frivolous lawsuit, but it's quite the opposite.