Lawsuit of the Day: Let Me See You Sue Like You Come from Colombia
If we were counsel to MTV, we'd advise them to include a warning each time they play the mesmerizing music video for "Hips Don't Lie." As Shakira's hips undulate hypnotically to the beat, a warning should scroll across the bottom of the screen: "Don't try this at home."
Why? A failure to warn could subject MTV to a wave of lawsuits. If the 15-year-old daughter of a plaintiff's lawyer pulls her groin while trying to "get her Shakira on," expect MTV and Shakira to get served the next day.
If you find this far-fetched, consider this wacky lawsuit:
A New Jersey woman who fell off a wet bar and injured herself while dancing in a "Shake-It-Like-Shakira" contest is suing the Manhattan bar that sponsored the shake-off.Megan Zacher, 22, of Delanco, N.J fell inside Calico Jack's Cantina on 42nd Street at Second Avenue on July 8, 2006. Her lawyer, Lawrence Simon, said the fall caused a torn ligament in her left knee and required surgery.
And what's the plaintiff's theory of liability?
[Zacher] has filed suit against Calico Jack's Cantina, saying the bar "knew or should have known that the 'Shake It Like Shakira' promotion was dangerous and likely to lead to injury."
We're of two minds here. On the one hand, the plaintiff bears some of the responsibility: she may have been negligent (or drunk) herself, or at least assumed much of the risk. On the other hand, any reasonable barkeep "knew or should have known" it could be dangerous to let a bunch of drunken bridge-and-tunnel girls dance, on top of a wet and crowded bar, in a contest to imitate a talented terpsichorean.
Remember, dramshop owners: Coyote Ugly was only a movie.
Earlier: Previous Lawsuits of the Day (scroll down)
Those Hips May Not Be Judgment-Proof [TortsProf Blog]
Hips Don't Lie For Injured Lady In Wet Bar Contest [WCBS - NY]
GAL $HAKES HER FIST AT HIP BAR [New York Post via WSJ Law Blog]
Shakira: Hips Don't Like [YouTube (click through and enjoy now, before it gets yanked)]
Comments
Actually, Coyote Ugly is based on a real bar, where they actually do dance on the bar. The characters are fictional, the place is very real.
Posted by: Scott | November 8, 2006 06:04 PM
Sounds like another waste of court time and money. Yet another person trying to get as much money as they can from their own fault. Does any one take responsibility these days?
Posted by: Colin | November 8, 2006 06:16 PM
That girl is a loser@! Get a life and stop sueing. It ruins all the fun!
Posted by: Anonymous | November 8, 2006 06:44 PM
I thought the Coyote Ugly bar (in Las Vegas) was based on the movie. Or is there another bar that the movie was based on, not named Coyote Ugly?
Posted by: Anonymous | November 8, 2006 06:50 PM
Eh... it's not all that frivolous. It's not like she's suing Shakira
Posted by: Anonymous | November 8, 2006 08:48 PM
Agreed with 8:48 PM. It's basically a slip-and-fall-in-a-bar case. The Shakira thing is just a funny bit of color.
Posted by: Anonymous | November 8, 2006 09:09 PM
Shakira should be impleaded as a 3rd party defendant.
The fact that this was a "Shake-It-Like-Shakira" contest was a "but for" cause of the injury. If it were a "Shake-It-Like-Barbra-Streisand" contest, nobody would have gotten hurt.
Posted by: Anonymous | November 8, 2006 09:32 PM
Actually, Coyote Ugly is a string of saloons, with singing and dancing barmaids: http://www.coyoteuglysaloon.com/home.html
But bartenders should know better than to let drunks put themselves in hazardous situations, at least while on the premises...
Posted by: John Burgess | November 8, 2006 11:44 PM
This is ridiculous. "My father made his fortune on suing people, now I can."
Posted by: Dind O'hemend | November 9, 2006 02:42 AM
You gotta go...bye!
Posted by: Anonymous | November 9, 2006 02:49 AM
Oh-my-god! Well if some fat chick can spill a McCoffee on herself and win this could turn out very badly. Stupid woman, no one made you, suck it up!
Posted by: CK | November 9, 2006 06:19 AM
this one time, i was at a heavy metal concert and head bangin'. i got a sore neck and sued the band, the venue, the record label, the company that did security that night and NASA. because of course it's everyone else's fault that i had a sore neck the next day.
Posted by: Mark | November 9, 2006 03:26 PM
HOW STUPID!!!!!
Posted by: Kimberly Bell | November 9, 2006 10:57 PM
Coyote Ugly is an actual bar.. where real girls do dance on the bar. They just aren't stupid enough to dance on a wet bar.
Her accident had nothing to do with "shaking it like shakira". It had to do with, once again, the wet sloppy bar. Honestly it's not that hard to understand. Yeah the bar is at fault because they didn't think enough to wipe down the bar before starting the contest. But tying the MTV aspect into this.. is ridiculous.
Posted by: Lacy | November 9, 2006 11:55 PM
Hrm. Sorry to reiterate what people had already said. Somehow missed the comments before.
Posted by: Lacy | November 9, 2006 11:59 PM