Hall says Payne suffers from depression, has lost him to foreclosure and is separated from his wife.

You can lose your lawyer to foreclosure? What a deal!

Given the condition of my health, home and wife, I'd be happy with $2.9 million. Where do I sign up?

He woke up in a cold sweat screaming, "This is not my beautiful house! This is not my beautiful wife! HOW DID I GET HERE?!"

Toshiro Mifune's Letter Opener: He woke up in a cold sweat screaming, "This is not my beautiful house! This is not my beautiful wife! HOW DID I GET HERE?!"

And then, before the commerical break, it cut to the time. 09:32:59...ding...09:33:01....ding...

Eddie Adams from Torrance: Given the condition of my health, home and wife, I'd be happy with $2.9 million. Where do I sign up?

QFT

My house and wife? You mean I could be living inside of her.... that's gross.

/giggity

Eddie Adams from Torrance: Given the condition of my health, home and wife, I'd be happy with $2.9 million. Where do I sign up?

You can do it. We can help.

Before or after I've ruined them?

With that kind of cash in the bank, shouldn't be hard to find himself another wife.

DNRTFA, I'm single and loving it!

shiat! lock stock and barrel for $285,000!

Before taxes, expenses and depreciation?

ScottMpls: Before taxes, expenses and depreciation?

I hear there is mold and mildew damage.

/eww

2.9 million?

The wife will come back to him or atleast sue for half.

If he really can't work, that's a fair amount. Just enough for him to live comfortably off the interest, although I'd still be going stir crazy in that situation.

/assuming that one invests it well, that is
//which is damn near impossible in the current economy
///checks 401(k)
////weeps

The IDIOT got the money while separated??? Now he's still going to lose the wife, and half the money too.

With any luck, in 20 years, when the appeals run out, the guy's surviving relatives will get $3.50 after attorney's fees.

Oh God, not another FRIVOLOUS LAWSUIT. Lawyers are RUINING AMERICA with claptrap like this. How is it Home Depot's fault that some doors fell on the guy? Worse--how is it their fault that he's a pussy who refuses to work, and gets depressed just because he's hurt a little?farking lawyers. Personal Responsibility, RIP.

I guess she had her fingers crossed while the preacher went into the "for better or worse, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, til death does part us" question.

aselene: Oh God, not another FRIVOLOUS LAWSUIT. Lawyers are RUINING AMERICA with claptrap like this. How is it Home Depot's fault that some doors fell on the guy? Worse--how is it their fault that he's a pussy who refuses to work, and gets depressed just because he's hurt a little?farking lawyers. Personal Responsibility, RIP.

2/10

Award seems small, considering.

Ashtrey: mole and mildew damage.

That would look so awesome on divorce papers under "Reason for Divorce".

aselene: Oh God, not another FRIVOLOUS LAWSUIT. Lawyers are RUINING AMERICA with claptrap like this. How is it Home Depot's fault that some doors fell on the guy? Worse--how is it their fault that he's a pussy who refuses to work, and gets depressed just because he's hurt a little?farking lawyers. Personal Responsibility, RIP.

The capitalization was a bit much, I haven't spotted spelling errors yet, and you used punctuation.

3/10

Which got the better life? The Plantiff or his Lawyer?

I think if my wife life left me over this I would tell the Jury; "No thanks, I'm good"

aselene: Oh God, not another FRIVOLOUS LAWSUIT. Lawyers are RUINING AMERICA with claptrap like this. How is it Home Depot's fault that some doors fell on the guy? Worse--how is it their fault that he's a pussy who refuses to work, and gets depressed just because he's hurt a little?farking lawyers. Personal Responsibility, RIP.

0/10. Too much.

18 doors fell onto the guy? Damn. I'd hate to be the person who overstacked that shelf (or whatever the cause was). Not only would you suddenly be unemployed, that's a lot of guilt.

holy shiat 18 wooden doors, Dude is lucky to be alive

ohmyhead: Ashtrey: mold and mildew damage.

That would look so awesome on divorce papers under "Reason for Divorce".

Hrmm, my spelling error makes me wonder how bad of a mole that would be.

Fixed it.

He should have enough left over after medical bills to buy a McDonalds Happy Meal. Maybe.

I wish I was kidding.

Descartes: The IDIOT got the money while separated??? Now he's still going to lose the wife, and half the money too.

The injury apparently happened while he was still married. That's all the divorce court needs to know. It's her injury too.

bunner: aselene: Oh God, not another FRIVOLOUS LAWSUIT. Lawyers are RUINING AMERICA with claptrap like this. How is it Home Depot's fault that some doors fell on the guy? Worse--how is it their fault that he's a pussy who refuses to work, and gets depressed just because he's hurt a little?farking lawyers. Personal Responsibility, RIP.

2/10

I was going for a 1/10, just for showing up. I'm curious as to how the Canadian judge scored this one.

/BTW: Home Depot have refused to discuss how many people have been injured or killed from falling materials in their stores for several years. When they last had a tally it was 37 deaths and 300+ injuries... in 2002. They've expanded quite a bit since then, so I'm sure that the number is higher, unless they've developed more/better safeguards.

Chutzpaw007: 18 doors fell onto the guy? Damn. I'd hate to be the person who overstacked that shelf (or whatever the cause was). Not only would you suddenly be unemployed, that's a lot of guilt.

You want to know what else fell on him? A big fukcing window of opportunity.

**runs**

Wow, the lawyer and the wife are going to make out like bandits.

ZAZ: Hall says Payne suffers from depression, has lost him to foreclosure and is separated from his wife.

You can lose your lawyer to foreclosure? What a deal!

Came here to say same thing! You beat me!

meathome:
/BTW: Home Depot have refused to discuss how many people have been injured or killed from falling materials in their stores for several years. When they last had a tally it was 37 deaths and 300+ injuries... in 2002. They've expanded quite a bit since then, so I'm sure that the number is higher, unless they've developed more/better safeguards.

My two cents? Every Home Depot I've been in has been an asylum with the inmates in control. I don't go near a Home Depot if I can help it.

FTA:
The jury award was three times larger than the amount suggested by Payne's attorney.

Damn. That can't happen often.

frostcrow: Wow, the lawyer and the wife's lawyer are going to make out like bandits.

FTFY

Coelacanth: My two cents? Every Home Depot I've been in has been an asylum with the inmates in control. I don't go near a Home Depot if I can help it.

You mean stuffing a 757 hangar full of Chinese and Mexican made tools and heavy objects and staffing it with people who will work for what that business model pays is a bad idea?

I'm curious what the extenuating circumstances were that caused the jury to jack up the damages from what was asked.

IIRC, the jury jacked up the award in the McDonald's case because they felt they needed to be punished for concealing previous coffee injuries. I wonder if something similar was at work here...

I hate to make light of other peoples' injuries, but goddamn if I wouldn't suffer all sorts of pain and anguish for 2.9 million. Hell, even if the award was reduced to 500k or so, you'd better believe I'm ready to go through a shiatload of pain and suffering.

500k is appx. ten years at a good job. Isn't that it's own form of pain and suffering?

Where do I sign up?

/would consider limb loss, too, but we'd be talking about serious money for that. Unlike Lady Marmalade, I'm not cheap.

My dad used to say shiat like, "that skill saw is worth more than you are."

Good times, good times.

ScottMpls: Before taxes, expenses and depreciation?

I didn't know you could take depreciation on a wife.


/guess her blue book value just went up

jmr61: Descartes: The IDIOT got the money while separated??? Now he's still going to lose the wife, and half the money too.

The injury apparently happened while he was still married. That's all the divorce court needs to know. It's her injury too.

Does that mean he gets to hit her with nine doors?

If he never works again that 60k a year until death. but he CAN work. Just not in heavy construction. So he'll get a new job and enjoy a 3 mil bonus for a back injury.

Christ, I hate juries. I can see 500k to 1mil for this guy, but 3? They gave him 3x what he was asking? What? WTF?

Blame lawyers or the system if you like, but your jury of mouth breathers and housewives are the real problem.

He had to pay $2.9 million? Gosh, a good divorce lawyer and a 3 gallon tank of gas would've been cheaper...

jmr61 [TotalFark] Quote 2009-01-25 02:41:58 PM
The injury apparently happened while he was still married. That's all the divorce court needs to know. It's her injury too.

Delaware is not a community property state; the judge would use a multifactor test to reach an "equitable distribution" of the asset. You'd have to ask a Delaware lawyer how this was likely to come out, but it seems to me that he would get the lion's share of this, especially if he can't work anymore and the $ was intended to compensate him for this; he will no longer be able to count on the wife's contributions to family income. Also, even in a community property state it's not a given: my state is community property, and personal injury awards are considered separate property. Other states are different.

Aexia Quote 2009-01-25 03:25:05 PM
I'm curious what the extenuating circumstances were that caused the jury to jack up the damages from what was asked.

Me too. I think they just liked the plaintiff- i.e., they believed him when he testified how this farked up his life, and they thought he was a good hardworking guy, who can never work again. Most of the time the lawyers know what to ask the jury for. In my state this case might be worth around a million to 1.5M, with a good plaintiff. I'd sure like to know more about what factored into this.

nottheman Quote 2009-01-25 04:10:10 PM
If he never works again that 60k a year until death. but he CAN work. Just not in heavy construction. So he'll get a new job and enjoy a 3 mil bonus for a back injury.

Christ, I hate juries. I can see 500k to 1mil for this guy, but 3? They gave him 3x what he was asking? What? WTF?

Blame lawyers or the system if you like, but your jury of mouth breathers and housewives are the real problem.

How do you know he "CAN" work again? You didn't see the evidence any more than the rest of us did. A guy who's done manual labor his whole life, who has 2 back surgeries that don't fix his constant pain and inability to work anymore, is going to go get a job doing- what, exactly? Computer programming? How many employers do you think are interested in hiring someone with his probable education level, with a history of back surgeries?

Like I said, we have no idea why the jury did this. However, they probably found his story compelling.

The award is very high, but consider this: economists typically use a value of $6 to 7 million for a human life is cost-benefit calculations (when figuring the effect of emissions reductions or highway safety, for example). This guy's life was not half over yet, with many years of good earnings and family life ahead of them. All that is gone now; his future is back surgery/therapy, pain pills, living alone, and no job. $3 million doesn't seem that ridiculous if the jury is really persuaded. And you yourself tell us that it works out to $60K a year the rest of his life- this hardly seems extravagant since a construction worker might expect to make close to that in income alone.

Stay Cool Babylon: I hate to make light of other peoples' injuries, but goddamn if I wouldn't suffer all sorts of pain and anguish for 2.9 million. Hell, even if the award was reduced to 500k or so, you'd better believe I'm ready to go through a shiatload of pain and suffering.

500k is appx. ten years at a good job. Isn't that it's own form of pain and suffering?

Where do I sign up?

/would consider limb loss, too, but we'd be talking about serious money for that. Unlike Lady Marmalade, I'm not cheap.

You have no mind.

bunner: I guess she had her fingers crossed while the preacher went into the "for better or worse, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, til death does part us" question.

We don't don't know their private life. For all we know he now drinks heavily and has violent outbursts that put her in fear for her safety.

Walosi: We don't don't know their private life. For all we know he now drinks heavily and has violent outbursts that put her in fear for her safety.

What was that about speculating?