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Jay Peak Lawsuit

tnt

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That's terrible - I hope she recovers fully. Lacerated liver? Yikes.
 

KevinF

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Weird that Jay Peak had apparently terminated the employee in question but had yet to revoke his employee lift pass, as they were going to "exchange" it for his final paycheck? Knowing what ski area employees are paid, I'm thinking a lift pass is worth more than the paycheck.
 

tnt

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Brings to mind a thread from a week or so ago about lawsuits and crashes, and where to stop on the trail....
 

Smellytele

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I guess they will be taking fired employees passes when they are fired not a week later. Also I don't think the actual instructor teaching the class is liable but who am I to say what will be found in a court of law.
 

tnt

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I guess they will be taking fired employees passes when they are fired not a week later. Also I don't think the actual instructor teaching the class is liable but who am I to say what will be found in a court of law.

Yeah, my thoughts as well.

What a crappy thing. As a former instructor - and really, as anyone with any sense - he would certainly know lessons and beginners would be found on that trail. Awful to be bombing and unable to stop in time in an area like that.
 

from_the_NEK

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Weird that Jay Peak had apparently terminated the employee in question but had yet to revoke his employee lift pass, as they were going to "exchange" it for his final paycheck? Knowing what ski area employees are paid, I'm thinking a lift pass is worth more than the paycheck.

A pass doesn't have much value left in April, which is when the incident occurred.
EDIT: I read the BFP article which has more detail than the WCAX story. So the guy had been fired and hadn't turned in his pass and Jay was holding his final paycheck as a way to force him to turn it in. Couldn't Jay’s administration have just told the RFID system that the pass was no longer valid?

That being beside the point, I feel this is totally on the guy that rode into the class. Bombing down Interstate is stupid since there are so many beginners on it. I know personally, I try to keep speed up going down that trail but I’m willing to sacrifice some speed by standing upright and not dropping into a tucked position (a low aerodynamic position would be the only way to maintain anything close to 50mph on this trail). Standing upright which allows me to see over the gentle rolls in the terrain. Trying to place blame on the instructor seems asinine but they are probably taking the shotgun approach to the lawsuit and trying to see what sticks.
 
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deadheadskier

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I guess they will be taking fired employees passes when they are fired not a week later. Also I don't think the actual instructor teaching the class is liable but who am I to say what will be found in a court of law.

They shouldn't have to even take the pass. They can deactivate the pass so it doesn't scan.

Sent from my XT907 using AlpineZone mobile app
 

tnt

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I don't really see the relevance of the ski pass UNLESS the guy was fired for reckless skiing.

If some one won a free pass from Jay, and crashed, that doesn't make Jay responsible, does it? If the guy was still employed and skiing on his day off, would that make Jay responsible?

This goes back to that last thread for me - the person who should be sued - ASSUMING he was just bombing, unable to stop in time to avoid other skiers - is the person who slammed into the little girl.
 

Nick

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That sounds terrible. Unfortunately it's a situation of a bad apple employee I guess.

Sounds like they are also suing the ski school instructor and the employee who collided with the girl (Vincent).

I wonder what he had been fired for.
 

from_the_NEK

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This goes back to that last thread for me - the person who should be sued - ASSUMING he was just bombing, unable to stop in time to avoid other skiers - is the person who slammed into the little girl.
The problem with just suing him is that he probably has very little money and probably no insurance. They won't be able to get much out of him. The resort is their primary target here for $ compensation.
 

KevinF

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This goes back to that last thread for me - the person who should be sued - ASSUMING he was just bombing, unable to stop in time to avoid other skiers - is the person who slammed into the little girl.

Suing broke people might get you a moral victory, but it won't get you $$$.
 

thetrailboss

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So here's my take based on the BFP article and the facts that they allege.

If the ONLY basis for suing JPR was because of the fact that their former instructor, who was NOT in the scope of employment that day, was using a company-issue pass, then I'd say sorry, no dice. This was a tragic accident, no doubt, and if this was my daughter, I'd be ripped too.

As to the fact that she was in a ski class: based on what is listed here, I can't see that the class instructor is at fault. Even if she looked uphill there is a good chance that she would not have foreseen this bozo coming down at Mach 2.

As to the laid-off instructor: obvious idiot and definitely liable.

For JPR: I agree that they should have deactivated the pass if indeed he was fired. But unless they got numerous complaints about his riding, made many warnings to him, and all but got a restraining/no trespass order against the guy, how can they be to blame? How was it foreseeable that he would have careened into someone like this? Do we want to force ski areas to run "background checks" on every skier and rider who buys a ticket?

This sounds very much like the Mountain Creek case earlier this year, where the family of an injured/deceased skier sued the other skier/rider AND Mountain Creek arguing that Mountain Creek was liable under NJ law for a similar theory that ski areas are somewhat liable for the conduct of skiers and riders. The courts disagreed. While ski areas do get special treatment under VT law for liability, it is for immunity from suits based on the "inherent risks of skiing". There is nothing that makes the ski areas liable for the independent actions of those skiing/riding there.

So I agree that JPR was only brought in as a lame way to get money. It will only increase lift tickets for the rest of us. Based on the fact that no large reputable firm took this case, I think it's safe to say that folks looking at this case saw the claim against JPR as a Hail Mary at best.
 

tnt

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The problem with just suing him is that he probably has very little money and probably no insurance. They won't be able to get much out of him. The resort is their primary target here for $ compensation.

Yeah, well, that's true...
 

skiberg

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This is a tough case. The child's parents knew skiing was inherently dangerous and proving liability against Ski areas can be very tough. However, a five year I ld will be a sympathetic witness. So for that reason alone the case has value. The case really hinges on whether the snowboarder was out of control. If he was HE probably has some liability. The attorney who filed it framed it as negligence by the instructor and the mountain for taking the kids down a certain trail. They need this to rope in Jay Peak. That's a much tougher case. The case against the snowboarder is probably useless as he probably has no money.
 

thetrailboss

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This is a tough case. The child's parents knew skiing was inherently dangerous and proving liability against Ski areas can be very tough. However, a five year I ld will be a sympathetic witness. So for that reason alone the case has value. The case really hinges on whether the snowboarder was out of control. If he was HE probably has some liability. The attorney who filed it framed it as negligence by the instructor and the mountain for taking the kids down a certain trail. They need this to rope in Jay Peak. That's a much tougher case. The case against the snowboarder is probably useless as he probably has no money.

I don't agree with this. If the boarder was reckless, then he is to blame 100%, pure and simple. As to choice of trail, the Interstate is one of the main beginner runs at JPR and I don't think there is anything inherently dangerous about it. Even if there was some problem with the trail the primary cause of the accident was the boarder's conduct.

I again think that the family got a bit goose egg from the boarder and are looking elsewhere for compensation. True that this is a sad story, but it's nobody's fault that the defendant who ran her over was not Bill Gates. Based on what little we know I just don't see how JPR is liable.
 
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dlague

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This is a clear case of suing everyone and their brother to try and make it stick to the the corporation! It happens with traffic accidents, personal injury suits etc. Name as many poeple or companies as defendents to possibly collect as much money as possible.

This is a very good example of an an ignorant snowboarder and there are skiers alike! They want to show everyone one on the trail how good they really are and haul ass with no idea of their lack of control. Likewise, there are newbies that are totally out of control that learn new skills, think they got it and will then proceed to difficult trails and become road blocks! When there are young children on the slopes -they are defenseless and are not predictable irregardless of the difficulty of the trail.

Speaking of the trail, I find it pretty hard believing some one hit 50 unless they were at the very top of Interstate where River Quai connects. Even then there is great visibility there and that is also a trail intersection and a lift unloading zone where most sane people would use caution in any case. The only other intersection is with Queens Highway which has no possibility to see speeds of 50.

In any case this lies totally on the reckless individual - all other parties could not have predicted the havoc this guy would result in. Whether he was snowboarding on a company pass or not. At that time he was not representing Jay Peak whether fired or not!

This being said, I love those people who sue in situations like this - both skiing and snowboarding are inherently dangerous sports since every element is not in your control. There are risks like catching an edge at the wrong time, other out of control or even in control ticket holders that could lead to collisions, visibility (snowing, low light situations), one's own ability versus terrain difficulty, equipment, etc. that can all lead to injury or death. This is not a predictable sport - most are not. Parents who bring their children need to realize this! Adults sking together need to realize this, teenagers need to realize this. Shit will happen - we have had our share! Suing the resort or the instructor is ridiculous in this case!

Should the resorts start requiring customers to sign the Code of Responsibilities and a Release Waiver?
 
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thetrailboss

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The "50 mph" allegation from the Complaint is ridiculous. It kind of reminds me of a comment a while back where someone claimed that they hit 80 mph while skiing. Pure hyperbole. :lol:
 

kingdom-tele

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This is a clear case of suing everyone and their brother to try and make it stick to the the corporation! It happens with traffic accidents, personal injury suits etc. Name as many poeple or companies as defendents to possibly collect as much money as possible.

This is a very good example of an an ignorant snowboarder and there are skiers alike! They want to show everyone one on the trail how good they really are and haul ass with no idea of their lack of control. Likewise, there are newbies that are totally out of control that learn new skills, think they got it and will then proceed to difficult trails and become road blocks! When there are young children on the slopes -they are defenseless and are not predictable irregardless of the difficulty of the trail.

Speaking of the trail, I find it pretty hard believing some one hit 50 unless they were at the very top of Interstate where River Quai connects. Even then there is great visibility there and that is also a trail intersection and a lift unloading zone where most sane people would use caution in any case. The only other intersection is with Queens Highway which has no possibility to see speeds of 50.

In any case this lies totally on the reckless individual - all other parties could not have predicted the havoc this guy would result in. Whether he was snowboarding on a company pass or not. At that time he was not representing Jay Peak whether fired or not!

This being said, I love those people who sue in situations like this - both skiing and snowboarding are inherently dangerous sports since every element is not in your control. There are risks like catching an edge at the wrong time, other out of control or even in control ticket holders that could lead to collisions, visibility (snowing, low light situations), one's own ability versus terrain difficulty, equipment, etc. that can all lead to injury or death. This is not a predictable sport - most are not. Parents who bring their children need to realize this! Adults sking together need to realize this, teenagers need to realize this. Shit will happen - we have had our share! Suing the resort or the instructor is ridiculous in this case!

Should the resorts start requiring customers to sign the Code of Responsibilities and a Release Waiver?

so you put your 5 year old in a program, under the supervision of a resort employee and your kid and his/her life is completely altered you would have no second thoughts about the resort's part in this?
 
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