LEGAL FAIL OF 2018

“IT’S NOT MY FAULT, IT’S NEUROBIOLOGICAL.” OK, OK, I get it, some companies make dangerously defective products, and yes, at the same time there are lawyers who look for anyone from which to squeeze a dime. But then again, sometimes plaintiffs are just plain stupid and will go to extraordinarily lengths to say “not my fault.” Followed by “gimme money.” From the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit:

This case asks us to decide whether, under Texas law, a driver’s neurobiological response to a smartphone notification can be a cause in fact of a car crash […] According to Appellants’ amended complaint, Ashley Kubiak was driving her pick-up truck on April 30, 2013 when she received a text message on her iPhone 5. Appellants allege that Kubiak looked down to read the text, after which she turned her attention back to the road. At that point it was too late to avoid colliding with a vehicle carrying two adults and a child. The adults died, while the child survived but was rendered paraplegic. Kubiak was convicted of two counts of criminally negligent homicide.

But I had to look at the text! I’m conditioned that way! Nope, says the Fifth Circuit: “Because we decline to consider “neurobiological compulsion” a substantial factor under Texas law, we conclude that the iPhone 5 could not be a cause in fact of the injuries in this case.”

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All I can say is Apple is lucky they didn’t get sued in California.

 

h/t CG

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