Octogenarian Sues Apple For Collision Related Injury

March 25, 2012 3:19 PM

The Apple Store in Greenwich, Conn. (Photo: CBS 2)

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NEW YORK(CBSNewYork) – A Queens woman is suing Apple for $1,000,000 after smashing her face on a glass door at a Long Island Apple Store.

Evelyn Paswall, 83, claims that the glass doors at the front of Apple Stores pose a risk to the elderly.

Paswall’s attorney Derek T. Smith told the Post that,“Apple wants to be cool and modern and have the type of architecture that would appeal to the tech crowd, but on the other hand, they have to appreciate the danger that this high-tech modern architecture poses to some people.”

Paswall claims that she didn’t realize that she was walking into a wall of glass as she approached the store, and says that she broke her nose as a result of the collision.

Her suit claims that “The defendant was negligent . . . in allowing a clear, see-through glass wall and/or door to exist without proper warning.”

As of Saturday warning strips had been posted on the glass at Apples Manhasset store.

Does Paswall deserve the settlement? Was Apple negligent? Let us know in our comments section below…

Octogenarian Sues Apple For Collision Related Injury

Rumples

Haha. Old people.

David from San Diego

Hey, Rumples, I always tell people:
“You should be nice to old people, because the very best you can hope for in life is to become one of us.”

Joemama

She should sue herself for being an IDIOT.
dave

isnt all glass transparent? what a moron. If she is healthy enough to be out alone she is smart enough to be able to see freaking glass.
Jon

All she did was crash into the Idoor!

Joe E in the IE

iDoor. Get the capitalization right.

Jon

Sorry But I own a Droid…..duh!

JD

It’s dRoid, obviously.

Rory Clark

She’s an iDiot

Realist

We need a “like” button for these comments.

Scott

She was about to enter a store; did she believe that they had removed the door for the day? If her eyesight is that bad, I hope she did not drive her car to the store.
Nik

Or you could just act like an adult and not shop there instead of trying to get a million dollars for no good reason.
Don’t blame me

She doesn’t deserve a dime. “stupid is as stupid does!” she needs to take responsibility for her actions!
Galinda

This is simply a reflection of the idiot liberal society we have become where no one is responsible for anything anymore. It’s always someone else’s fault. Thanks Obama, you sack of crap! WAAHHHH! This women should be sued by Apple for smudging their very expensive glass door!

B

How exactly is this Obama’s fault? People have been suing for idiotic reasons for years. Remember when fat people were suing McDonald’s for “getting them fat”? Wasn’t that under Bush’s years?

Rory Clark

Yes, but now the obama administration not only agrees, but is pursing federal regulations to make it a crime thus relieving idiots their personal responsibility.

Marbran

It’s hard to tell…no photos of the door for us to scrutinize. Still, not a $million-worthy injury. Tort reform!

Know why almost no jurist will support tort reform? Because it limits their potential high income on high dollar cases. Lawyer gets a hefty chunk of change if she wins.
Betty Barclay

Was she texting while walking in the Apple store….just asking.
Kitty Pryde

I guess her stupid elderly blood was a warning to th other hapless fools walking our malls. I hope someone YouTubes this old idiot’s facesmash.
Garr Obo

Give her a couple thou and forget it. She probably won’t live long enough to spend a mill anyway.

Nilsine

I’d say that was her idea all along — get a few thousand and cover my expenses the rest of my life.

I’m 78 and have been shopping at Apple for over 10 years — and I’ve never come close to walking into a glass door.

For heaven’s sake — Lay off the “elderly” — they’re as different from one another as young people.

Tracy Schillaci

OK lets hypothetically assume that Apple could be held liable for damages. Are you telling me a broken nose is worth $1,000,000? Is this an 80+ year old super model?

Get real! The attorney who files this should have his license removed!
Jim

If I had a daughter, it would be that lady.

MacDaddy

outstanding!….thanks for the laugh tonight!

Craig

I want some money too. Can I sue someone for the time it took me to read this article? How about for my crumby life? I want 10 thousand-billion-zillion dollars!

Rory Clark

Would you like that in twenties or rolls of quarters?

Al From Maine

This is the kind of person who would sue if she bought a coffee and burned her tongue because the coffee was too hot. One needs to be responsible in this world and stop these frivolous lawsuits. This is the same idiocy that caused “This is not a toy” to be printed on plastic bags!

Realist

I think dumb product warnings should be removed from all products immediately. Anyone who dies because they use a hair dryer in the shower needs to have their DNA removed from the gene pool anyway. No warnings=fewer idiots.

The Realist

How did she not see people walking through the doors?
val

I once walked into a glass wall in a Filene’s Basement. I felt like an idiot and hoped no one would notice. I wish people would stop blaming and suing everyone else for their stupidity and lack of caution or what have you. This is totally ridiculous and the lawyer should be ashamed of himself for taking the case!

SerfCityHereWeCome

.Ok people, we’re gonna really clean up this week. Short AAPL at the opening bell tomorrow, hop into your car, drive over to your nearest Apple store and smash yourself into a glass door & sue.

SerfCityHereWeCome

WTH?? That post above was supposed to be an original post, not a reply. Don’t know what happened there…

Bob

That will never happen again. Sadly, Filene’s went BK.

Richard

Your a COMPLETE–ASS_HOLE for your comment!
Jim

Whatever happened to “Watch where the f@#k you’re going”? And what makes her think her nose is worth a million $?
Larry Schwarz

While I don’t think her lawsuit has a chance I certainly don’t wish death on her.That is not very nice.On the other hand making a fool of herself by filing this suit,that’s another story and I agree with you.I am surprised that an attorney took this case.Most reputable law firms in NYC that I know would not touch this.

Bob

I’m totally amazed. You are truly a unique individual. You know of a reputable law firm in NY. Perhaps you could tell me where in the city I could find a unicorn.

Larry Schwarz

I think we can do without the derogatory sentence here.Shysters,and ambulance chasers come in all religions,races etc etc.On the cases merits,she has to prove negligence on apples part and that will be difficult.

Ronald

You representing her? You seem to know a lot about the in$ and out$ of lawsuit$.

Larry Schwarz

Blaming apple because she was clumsy,.It’s not like hundreds of people are walking into these doors daily and hurting themselves.This suit will not survives Apples motion to dismiss.Apple,out of the bottom of their heart may offer to pay her medical bills.
barbara

any thing to make a buck , so if i sit down on a toliet a fall i can sue the manufacture.

Nick

I’ll second that; it caused me pain and emotional distress. Time for a class action lawsuit!

GaryD

Only if you forgot to put the seat down because there was no sign on it telling you to.

frostiewinter

Is this the first glass door she has ever seen ?
What a scam.

Richard

If she had seen it she would not have crashed into it.

JCaus

If she had paid attention she would have seen it.

JD

If she had thought about it she would have paid attention.
Richard

If she had seen it she would have paid attention. All kidding aside, I wish people would realize there is a difference between walking into a wall and walking into glass. Sure, that’s not going to happen too often but it CAN happen and the question a jury will consider (though I’m sure this will be settled out of court for a few grand) is, “Is it REASONABLE that an average person MIGHT walk into a glass door/wall and is a store thereby liable.” I think a lawyer can argue and a jury will agree it is “reasonable.” It’s not going to happen frequently due to the following factors: there is a sufficiently visible FRAME around the door/wall to indicate thee is a wall/door there. There is (and this I recommended in another post) a simple decal or sticker that will indicate to any common sense person that the sticker is not floating in the air but must be peeled on a solid object. Or there is at least something like a mobile hanging in front of it that would AT LEAST slow down the pace of the person walking towards it so as to minimize impact or even discourage walking towards it. But, contrary to most posts here, I do not think it unreasonable that a person walk through glass because I did it at least twice and I’m not senile or senescent or elderly. Walking into a glass wall is not the same as walking into a cement wall. In the latter case it’s hard to imagine how anyone can be liable apart from t he person, unless the cement wall was where one would hardly expect one to be, say at the end of a winding road! All of this is moot anyway. One would have to see the glass wall or door, which a jury will surely be allowed to do; one would have to see what surrounds it, etc. Nor is this issue limited to glass walls. You’d be surprised how fashion has replaced ergonomics or risk in today’s fashion and design conscious society. Consider Quaker function and today’s mdoernity. I once bought a bed that had spikes for corners! I must have punctured my legs repeatedly on one of those corners until I took a file and literally in several seconds with little effort got rid of the corners by scraping just once across thus rounding the corners instead of pointing them. Why didn’t designers THINK that people could injure a leg with a sharp-cornered wooden bed? I say, thank God for ambulance chasers: it keep people on their toes, saying THINK. Sure, in the case of a concrete wall, it’s the pedestrian who should THINK; but in the case of a glass wall it’s the store owner who should THINK. A customer might just walk into one of those walls; and it’s better to think before the lawyer arrives than after she arrives.

Jackie

I once bought a bed that had spikes for corners!

And you’re admitting it?

Richard

Cheap bed frame; basic carpentry, sharp-edged corners; literally a mere flick of a wood file rounded each corner & I never again had problems, even purposely bumping my leg against each corner to test it. Before that even the slightest brush against the sharp corner (not spike!) would really be felt, esp. against a vein. Now I have a chair (not mine, came with the apartment) that has a sharp metal bolt; if I absentmindlely put my hand under the chair seat on which I’m sitting I can really tear the skin of my hand; so I put scotch taped a tissue paper to it and that really softened the impact. Then there are those infernal jars that never open. How an 80 year woman can open one of those jars when I can’t is beyond me. (Not all jars of course; some are amenable to hot water, a pry with a can opener, etc.). Don’t believe me, look on youtube under Opening Jars or something like that. People are making fun of this woman because of a glass wall but Mike Tyson slipped on a floor in a restaurant (presumably expensive). He hit his head and I think was unconscious for a few seconds; Team Tyson walked out without paying their bill. And how do you stop Iron Mike from walking out of your restaurant? Kidding aside, it wasn’t a physical issue; the manager must have known he was at fault and Team Tyson could have sued for a lot more money than the bill, which must have been substantial in itself, considering it was, as I recall, an entourage, not just a solitary meal.People make fun of ambulance chasers or contingency lawyers; but thanks to them the world is a better place: people shovel snow from their stores or homes; there are lights on campus; security on apartment and hotel doors (remember Connie Francis?), landlords change locks with each new tenant (now they just have to recode the magnetic key lock), etc. etc. One could go on: but without contingency lawyers no one would be frightened of liability. “F**t it, you fell! Be careful next time and you won’t fall.” Try saying that and they’ll sue the store for ten times the amount.