D L X From United States of America, joined May 1999, 10554 posts, RR: 53 Posted (5 years 4 months 2 days 17 hours ago) and read 1615 times:
... for not letting him jump! HAHAHAH!! So, the security guards thought he was going to commit suicide, and stopped him after he climbed over the fence. You know, the one that is supposed to stop people from jumping...
Apparently, Mr. Basejumper thinks that the people trying to save his life actually _endangered_ his life when they handcuffed him to the side of the building.
He's suing for $30 MILLION. I'd say this will get thrown out of court, but the Empire State Building is countersuing him for trespass, so the suit will probably stay.
So, what would have happened if he had jumped? What if his parachute had not opened? He would have fallen to the ground, and likely killed someone. And since it's New York, it probably would have been a lawyer, and we _certainly_ can't have that.
Srbmod From United States of America, joined Mar 2001, 16888 posts, RR: 51 Reply 1, posted (5 years 4 months 2 days 17 hours ago) and read 1598 times:
Considering that many (if not the vast majority) of the jumps BASE jumpers do are illegal jumps that involve trespassing, this guy has two chances of having his lawsuit going in his favor: slim and none. Being stopped from doing an illegal act is not a sound legal reason for filing a lawsuit (Who is this guy's lawyer, that former D.C. judge that sued that dry cleaner?). This would be like a crook suing a store because they prevented him from robbing the store.
Pope From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 2, posted (5 years 4 months 2 days 17 hours ago) and read 1593 times:
I saw the story this morning. I have two thoughts on the issue:
(1) I'm not sure what the damages are here. It has to be some sort of emotion injury because he wasn't physically hurt by not jumping.
(2) it's probably a strategic move by his attorney to gain some sort of leverage against the Empire State Building who has sued him (I believe that his suit is the countersuit to their original suit - not the other way around).
N1120A From United States of America, joined Dec 2003, 25852 posts, RR: 80 Reply 3, posted (5 years 4 months 2 days 17 hours ago) and read 1587 times:
Quoting Srbmod (Reply 1): Being stopped from doing an illegal act is not a sound legal reason for filing a lawsuit
Of course not. The way this guy is framing his suit is that the ESB security people threatened his life by cuffing him to the side of the building. Not quite sure how he is planning on proving that.
Mangeons les French fries, mais surtout pratiquons avec fierte le French kiss
D L X From United States of America, joined May 1999, 10554 posts, RR: 53 Reply 4, posted (5 years 4 months 2 days 17 hours ago) and read 1575 times:
Quoting Pope (Reply 2): (1) I'm not sure what the damages are here. It has to be some sort of emotion injury because he wasn't physically hurt by not jumping.
He's claiming that he feared for his life because it is extremely dangerous to be handled when standing on the four foot ledge. (Obvious counter is that he assumed the risk.)
Quoting Pope (Reply 2):
(2) it's probably a strategic move by his attorney to gain some sort of leverage against the Empire State Building who has sued him (I believe that his suit is the countersuit to their original suit - not the other way around).
That's an interesting thought! It wasn't reported that way at 4:30, but makes sense.
I imagine it is a VERY big deal for the Empire State Building to both not let people jump, and to vigorously prosecute those that try. If someone was hurt by something falling off the top of the building, that someone would surely sue the building for not preventing it, and rightly so!
N1120A From United States of America, joined Dec 2003, 25852 posts, RR: 80 Reply 5, posted (5 years 4 months 2 days 17 hours ago) and read 1574 times:
Quoting Pope (Reply 2):
(1) I'm not sure what the damages are here. It has to be some sort of emotion injury because he wasn't physically hurt by not jumping.
Here is a link to the NY Times article. Looks like a combination of PTSD and an assault claim because of the potential that the chute would deploy, which would kill him instantly if cuffed to the building. He praised the police officer who cut his rigging off.
Quoting Pope (Reply 2):
(2) it's probably a strategic move by his attorney to gain some sort of leverage against the Empire State Building who has sued him (I believe that his suit is the countersuit to their original suit - not the other way around).
That definately seems part of it. ESB sued him for $12 million for trespass, which really is a shocking number given the lack of damage to the building, etc.
Mangeons les French fries, mais surtout pratiquons avec fierte le French kiss
N1120A From United States of America, joined Dec 2003, 25852 posts, RR: 80 Reply 6, posted (5 years 4 months 2 days 17 hours ago) and read 1571 times:
Quoting D L X (Reply 4): (Obvious counter is that he assumed the risk.)
That would be contributory fault, but not defend against the whole claim if accepted by the court. He put them on notice that cuffing him was a major threat to his life.
Mangeons les French fries, mais surtout pratiquons avec fierte le French kiss
Dragon-wings From United States of America, joined Apr 2001, 3920 posts, RR: 0 Reply 7, posted (5 years 4 months 2 days 15 hours ago) and read 1514 times:
Quoting D L X (Thread starter): So, the security guards thought he was going to commit suicide
They didn't see him with his helmet and parachute on? (when they showed the video of him climbing over the bars he had his helmet on and his parachute was clearly visible)
Quoting N1120A (Reply 3): Of course not. The way this guy is framing his suit is that the ESB security people threatened his life by cuffing him to the side of the building. Not quite sure how he is planning on proving that.
Im not sure if this is what you mean but on the local news here on Long Island they show video of the guards reaching through the bars and grabbing the guy preventing him from jumping. Then when he is in handcuffs on the ground the guy says if they grabbed his chute and it opened he could of been blown off of the building.
N1120A From United States of America, joined Dec 2003, 25852 posts, RR: 80 Reply 8, posted (5 years 4 months 2 days 15 hours ago) and read 1493 times:
Quoting Dragon-wings (Reply 7):
Im not sure if this is what you mean but on the local news here on Long Island they show video of the guards reaching through the bars and grabbing the guy preventing him from jumping. Then when he is in handcuffs on the ground the guy says if they grabbed his chute and it opened he could of been blown off of the building.
Take a look at the NYT article. It says he was actually cuffed to the building at one point.
Mangeons les French fries, mais surtout pratiquons avec fierte le French kiss
Dragon-wings From United States of America, joined Apr 2001, 3920 posts, RR: 0 Reply 9, posted (5 years 4 months 2 days 15 hours ago) and read 1485 times:
Quoting N1120A (Reply 8): Take a look at the NYT article. It says he was actually cuffed to the building at one point.
I know, I guess the jumper ment when the guards were grabbing him to put the cuffs on they could of grabbed his chute and it could of opened?
AA61Hvy From United States of America, joined Nov 1999, 13975 posts, RR: 59 Reply 10, posted (5 years 4 months 2 days 15 hours ago) and read 1479 times:
N1120A From United States of America, joined Dec 2003, 25852 posts, RR: 80 Reply 11, posted (5 years 4 months 2 days 15 hours ago) and read 1471 times:
Quoting Dragon-wings (Reply 10):
I know, I guess the jumper ment when the guards were grabbing him to put the cuffs on they could of grabbed his chute and it could of opened?
At that could have been part of it, but here is an excerpt from the article:
"A baby can be heard crying and tourists can be seen popping into the frame to take pictures as the guards hold on to the front of Mr. Corliss’s shirt and to his legs through the bars while calling for police help."
"He said that if the parachute had opened while he was shackled to the fence, his body would have been yanked from his limbs."
It looks like he was attached to the fence at some point, which could have ended really badly if his chute had deployed.
Mangeons les French fries, mais surtout pratiquons avec fierte le French kiss
D L X From United States of America, joined May 1999, 10554 posts, RR: 53 Reply 12, posted (5 years 4 months 2 days 11 hours ago) and read 1384 times:
Quoting N1120A (Reply 12): "He said that if the parachute had opened while he was shackled to the fence, his body would have been yanked from his limbs."
Assumed the risk. Boofrickinhoo. He had to assume that people would do something to prevent him from jumping.
N1120A From United States of America, joined Dec 2003, 25852 posts, RR: 80 Reply 13, posted (5 years 4 months 2 days 11 hours ago) and read 1377 times:
DesertJets From United States of America, joined Feb 2000, 7673 posts, RR: 19 Reply 14, posted (5 years 4 months 2 days 11 hours ago) and read 1365 times:
Having just been to the ESB last weekend, how in the hell did he make it past security with that stuff. Surely base jumping gear would stand out in whatever he used to get it in.
Stop drop and roll will not save you in hell. --- seen on a church marque in rural Virginia
MaidensGator From United States of America, joined Jan 2007, 945 posts, RR: 0 Reply 16, posted (5 years 4 months 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 1338 times:
N1120A From United States of America, joined Dec 2003, 25852 posts, RR: 80 Reply 17, posted (5 years 4 months 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 1328 times:
Quoting MaidensGator (Reply 16):
So he's 99% at fault using comparative negligence... same result...
Maybe, maybe not, it really all depends on how it is argued and if his claim can survive summary judgment. I think that would weigh on whether what he said to the guards as they restrained him counts as notice that they were putting him in a perilous situation.
Mangeons les French fries, mais surtout pratiquons avec fierte le French kiss
Scottieprecord From United States of America, joined Jul 2004, 1363 posts, RR: 12 Reply 18, posted (5 years 4 months 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 1324 times:
BHMBAGLOCK From United States of America, joined Jul 2005, 2698 posts, RR: 5 Reply 20, posted (5 years 4 months 2 days 9 hours ago) and read 1295 times:
Quoting DesertJets (Reply 14): Having just been to the ESB last weekend, how in the hell did he make it past security with that stuff. Surely base jumping gear would stand out in whatever he used to get it in.
Base rigs tend to be very small as many base jumpers don't bother with a reserve. They can actually be small enough to be concealed under clothing. A friend of mine did a simulated suicide jump for a movie from Angel Falls with the base rig completely concealed - the whole thing deployed through a velcroed slit in the back of his shirt.
Of course, in most cases for a B jump, the gear is brought in using a normal backpack or in some cases mis-direction. Another friend of mine organized a jump from the PPG building by convincing a security guard that they were a film crew and wanted a good vantage point for the Marathon. The whole thing's on video including the guard actually helping them carry their gear on to the roof.
For those who don't know,
B = Buildings
A = Antennae
S = Spans
E = Earth Bound Objects, i.e. cliffs
To earn a BASE number, you have to make at least one jump from each type of BASE object, currently about 1300 have been earned.
I think his lawsuit is BS but he's absolutely right that being handcuffed to a building with a rig on is extremely dangerous, particularly if you're being pawed by people who don't know the gear and could easily deploy it without knowing what they're doing.
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From United States of America, joined May 1999, 10554 posts, 
(when they showed the video of him climbing over the bars he had his helmet on and his parachute was clearly visible)
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