Oct 13 2009

Suing Shamu

Category: Uncategorizedharmonicminer @ 8:03 am

A dolphin splashed a little water at an aquarium show, leading to this report that a woman is suing over fall she blames on wet floor.

Wet floors are slippery. Dolphins love to splash. So the folks who run the Brookfield Zoo should have known accidents were bound to happen, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court.

Allecyn Edwards sued the Chicago Zoological Society and the zoo because she claims they “recklessly and willfully trained and encouraged the dolphins to throw water at the spectators in the stands making the floor wet and slippery,” “failed to provide warnings of the slippery floor” and “failed to provide mats … when the staff knew the floor would get wet and slippery,” among other negligent acts, according to the complaint.

On Aug. 20, 2008, Edwards was walking along the floor near bleachers at the dolphin exhibit and fell, the suit says. The injuries from the fall caused her to lose wages, incur medical expenses and experience physical and mental suffering, the suit says.

Edwards’ attorney did not return calls for comment, and a spokeswoman for the Chicago Zoological Society, which manages Brookfield Zoo, declined to comment.

And how much is a fall around dolphins at play worth? In excess of $50,000, according to the lawsuit.

Imagine if she’d gone to Sea World. If the amount of the lawsuit is based on volume of water splashed, the lady could retire.

Now, HERE is someone with grounds for a lawsuit.

Temper, temper, Shamu.  You could be paying off the lady for a long time if she wins in small claims court.   What does Sea World pay you, $1.50 per hour?

In the meantime, maybe a little lawsuit reform is indicated, hmmm?

4 Responses to “Suing Shamu”

  1. Old Cop says:

    I have this feeling we are reading about a “slip and fall” scam. I would like to see Allecyn Edwards’ criminal history. Just thinking out loud. 🙂

  2. Anthony says:

    That was hilarious! My husband and I got a good laugh at that. The lady suing the Chicago Zoological Society and the zoo needs to learn to exercise common sense. She really didn’t know the floor was going to be slick? Honestly? These kinds of lawsuits just make the person suing look not real smart.

    I thought it was pretty funny, the orca in the first video you posted is Ulises in Sea World California. He’s known for being a huge marshmallow which is unusual in captive males. The bigger they get, the meaner they get it seems. Ulises is the exception to that. Tillikum, the large bull in Sea World Florida is known for being mean. The trainers never get in the water with him. He has killed one or two trainers so far.

    The second video is the original Shamu. Who knows what the whale was thinking. I’ve seen that footage many times. It’s like the whale is putting her trainer in the trainer’s place for getting on the whale’s back in the first place. I think Shamu is paid in pounds of fish per hour. 😉

    That was interesting though. Yes.. lawsuit reform is definitely needed. 😀

  3. Kira says:

    The comment above with all the whale info was written by me, Kira. Anthony is my husband and was the last to leave a comment on another blog and my computer remembered his info and I didn’t think to check that. Sorry about that!

  4. harmonicminer says:

    Ah HAH! Posting comments under a false identity, eh? What’s next? Bank fraud?

Leave a Reply