timberjim
timberjim
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January 2nd, 2011 at 4:41:51 PM permalink
My golfing buddy just got back from a 5 day Christmas trip with his family to Vegas. His son (lives there) picked them up at the airport and dropped them off at the entrance to NYNY. While crossing the valet area to the entrance, his wife was run over and dragged under a car!!!! The driver was an employee of NYNY using the valet service, but not one of the valets.

She spent the next day and a half in the hospital and will have to have reconstructive surgery on her hand. Pretty scrapped up and bruised, but all in all, it could have been much worse.

I understand that the hotel does not want to admit any responsibility, but I was shocked when he told me that they did not even offer to comp their stay!!!!

Its in the hands of his lawyer now. It will interesting to see what happens.
FleaStiff
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January 2nd, 2011 at 4:55:06 PM permalink
Quote: timberjim

Its in the hands of his lawyer now. It will interesting to see what happens.

It should have been in the hands of his lawyer the moment the ambulance was called. Was the NYNY employee on duty at the time or just there as a gambler who was pulling up to the valet parking area? Stand by for being served with a lawsuit for having to have her blood washed off his car.
timberjim
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January 2nd, 2011 at 5:38:38 PM permalink
I don't have all the details. The police said the driver had left their car running for the valet and started to walk away. The car was not in park, but reverse, and started to roll away. The driver jumped back in and tried to stomp on the brake, but instead hit the gas. If she had not gone under the car, she would have been pinned between it and the car it hit. It was a violent collision that did extensive damage to the vehicles involved.

His lawyer, by the way, is his lifelong friend and a member of our regular golf group. You can be sure that he will look out for him.
JohnnyQ
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January 2nd, 2011 at 6:23:14 PM permalink
Quote: timberjim

She spent the next day and a half in the hospital and will have to have reconstructive surgery on her hand. Pretty scrapped up and bruised, but all in all, it could have been much worse.



Wow, I'm sorry for her but glad that her injuries weren't any worse than they were.
There's emptiness behind their eyes There's dust in all their hearts They just want to steal us all and take us all apart
AZDuffman
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January 2nd, 2011 at 6:46:56 PM permalink
Quote: timberjim

My golfing buddy just got back from a 5 day Christmas trip with his family to Vegas. His son (lives there) picked them up at the airport and dropped them off at the entrance to NYNY. While crossing the valet area to the entrance, his wife was run over and dragged under a car!!!! The driver was an employee of NYNY using the valet service, but not one of the valets.

She spent the next day and a half in the hospital and will have to have reconstructive surgery on her hand. Pretty scrapped up and bruised, but all in all, it could have been much worse.

I understand that the hotel does not want to admit any responsibility, but I was shocked when he told me that they did not even offer to comp their stay!!!!

Its in the hands of his lawyer now. It will interesting to see what happens.



If you think like a lawyer it is not suprising. Giving a comp shows liability. Hope all is well with her recovery, sorry to hear that.
All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others
EvenBob
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January 2nd, 2011 at 9:15:41 PM permalink
Quote: FleaStiff

It should have been in the hands of his lawyer the moment the ambulance was called.



Exactly. I was struck by a truck as a pedestrian on a companies property by one of their trucks and I called my lawyer from the emergency room. He said don't say ANYTHING to anybody about the accident no matter what they try and ask me. sure enough when I went back to get my car, I was peppered with questions from somebody from corporate. he was really pissed when I said I'd talked to my lawyer and he told me not to say anything. He wasn't pissed, he was furious. Of course they're not going to comp you, they're not idiots. They'll settle out of court, a jury would kill them.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
Croupier
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January 2nd, 2011 at 9:21:00 PM permalink
Sorry to hear what happened. I hope everything turns out ok.

And I find it a shame that a company could not offer a "goodwill gesture" without it being taken as an admission of guilt and responsibility.
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ahiromu
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January 2nd, 2011 at 10:01:16 PM permalink
I'm happy for you guys that it wasn't worse and you should sue them for whatever you can get. On the other hand, I completely agree with the way it was handled by MGM (no comps). It's terrible that our legal system works like that, but it's the system and everyone has to play it to their advantage.
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Wizard
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January 2nd, 2011 at 11:47:56 PM permalink
I'm no lawyer, but I think the lawyer's advice was right to not say anything. Not comping the room was the NYNY's way of not saying anything as well. I predict about a 100K settlement.
"For with much wisdom comes much sorrow." -- Ecclesiastes 1:18 (NIV)
EvenBob
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January 3rd, 2011 at 12:18:40 AM permalink
Quote: Wizard

I'm no lawyer, but I think the lawyer's advice was right to not say anything. .



Absolutely! Anything you say at the accident scene can and will be used against you. If you act unsure about what happened and say 'I don't know' a lot, they will throw it in your face again and again. After my pedestrian accident, the lawyers for the other side called me again and asking for my 'statement' and I always gave them my attorneys number. They would ask why I needed an attorney and I would say 'ask him'. That really set them off. As far as this casino valet accident, they have it all on video, but I'm sure its long gone in an unfortunate erasure mistake.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
marksolberg
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January 3rd, 2011 at 8:07:03 AM permalink
I'm not a lawyer, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but where is the liability from the hotel? I'm assuming that the driver was not a NYNY employee at the time of the accident, I could be wrong about that.

Mark
Croupier
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January 3rd, 2011 at 8:08:53 AM permalink
Quote: marksolberg

I'm not a lawyer, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but where is the liability from the hotel? I'm assuming that the driver was not a NYNY employee at the time of the accident, I could be wrong about that.

Mark



Even if he was an employee [EDIT - Not on shift] at the time, sure no liability lies with NYNY and all with the guy who left the handbrakes off.
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Nareed
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January 3rd, 2011 at 8:38:14 AM permalink
Quote: marksolberg

I'm not a lawyer, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but where is the liability from the hotel? I'm assuming that the driver was not a NYNY employee at the time of the accident, I could be wrong about that.



I suppose simply for where it happened. but also any lawyer could, i suppose, point out there was no sign warning patrons to set the hand brake and/or not to leave the car in gear.
Donald Trump is a fucking criminal
travisl
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January 3rd, 2011 at 9:33:30 AM permalink
Quote: EvenBob

As far as this casino valet accident, they have it all on video, but I'm sure its long gone in an unfortunate erasure mistake.

The victim should hope so! That would have been a tragic "loss" several years ago, but failure to preserve electronic evidence when litigation is anticipated is very, very frowned upon today. Losing critical electronic evidence today would frequently result in an instruction to the jury to assume the video showed NYNY's worst possible scenario. (This is what I do for a living.)
Wizard
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January 3rd, 2011 at 2:32:21 PM permalink
Quote: travisl

Losing critical electronic evidence today would frequently result in an instruction to the jury to assume the video showed NYNY's worst possible scenario. (This is what I do for a living.)



That is what is alleged with the Jim Gibbons/Chrissy Mazzeo parking garage tapes. link.
"For with much wisdom comes much sorrow." -- Ecclesiastes 1:18 (NIV)
mkl654321
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January 3rd, 2011 at 3:19:44 PM permalink
Quote: Wizard

That is what is alleged with the Jim Gibbons/Chrissy Mazzeo parking garage tapes. link.



That's why I miss the good old days of Vegas. If this sort of thing had happened in, say, Vegas in 1980, let's say at the Horseshoe, the driver would have backed up to run over the victim again until he/she was dead, then the head of security would have given all witnesses $100 to keep them quiet, and last of all, the surveillance tapes would have been destroyed and the guard who actually saw it all would have been fired and given a one-way plane ticket to Kansas City and a strong encouragement to use it within the next twenty-four hours.
The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one. The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality.---George Bernard Shaw
AZDuffman
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January 3rd, 2011 at 3:57:35 PM permalink
Quote: EvenBob

Absolutely! Anything you say at the accident scene can and will be used against you. If you act unsure about what happened and say 'I don't know' a lot, they will throw it in your face again and again. After my pedestrian accident, the lawyers for the other side called me again and asking for my 'statement' and I always gave them my attorneys number. They would ask why I needed an attorney and I would say 'ask him'. That really set them off. As far as this casino valet accident, they have it all on video, but I'm sure its long gone in an unfortunate erasure mistake.



This isn't limited to the defendant but also the plaintiff! I worked for a company and took over after questionabe work led to a lawsuit. I had noithing to do with the work but was involved enough to potentially be deposed. The case went on for longer than I kept the job. (Partly due to two lawyer changes, one of which was on the 72nd floor to the World Trade Center.) I get a call on a SUNDAY NIGHT by the plaintiff wanting to ask me questions. I told him I had to talk to the company lawyer. He was upset but polite as he needed me more than I needed him. He asked why. I told him I was under a gag order, which I was. He called one more time and it eventually died. My old company knew I could sink them as they had major problems and I did not leave on the happiest terms.

The case still makes the news from time to time, saw it again last year.
All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others
bbvk05
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January 18th, 2011 at 2:05:37 PM permalink
Quote: Wizard

I'm no lawyer, but I think the lawyer's advice was right to not say anything. Not comping the room was the NYNY's way of not saying anything as well. I predict about a 100K settlement.




Right on, provided that the valet was on duty and was not an independent contractor.
avslyke
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April 4th, 2011 at 8:20:10 PM permalink
any result to this yet timber? keep us posted and hope she has recovered well.
timberjim
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April 5th, 2011 at 2:09:57 AM permalink
Quote: avslyke

any result to this yet timber? keep us posted and hope she has recovered well.



No result yet. Surgery went well but found more damage to the hand and wrist than expected. I understand that nothing is being discussed until she is totally released from post surgery care and to see if she is going to suffer permanent damage. I will post something when it is settled. Thanks for your concern.
EvenBob
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April 5th, 2011 at 2:19:22 AM permalink
Quote: timberjim

ge. I will post something when it is settled.



Did the woman have car insurance? She's covered under her policy if she is. Just be aware the insurance co will get their money back directly from the settlement, thats how it usually works. We'll hear from you in about a year and a half. Thats about how long it takes.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
MrV
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April 5th, 2011 at 8:05:37 AM permalink
Based on the facts reported, it would seem difficult to hold NYNY responsible.

As reported, it seems the NYNY employee was apparently arriving to work, and inadvertently left the car in reverse with the motor running while dropping it off to be valet parked.

It seems to me that she was not yet on the job, her actions were not done while performing duties on behalf of her employer.

Oh sure, the lawyer might make claim against the casino, and ultimately they might pay something for nuisance value, but the casino just doesn't seem to be a viable target defendant.

Your claim lies against the car owner (and her insurance), and if the policy limits are insufficient, then against your own underinsured policy.

Be interesting to see if your lawyer can construct a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
"What, me worry?"
timberjim
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May 30th, 2011 at 6:12:32 AM permalink
An update. She will never have complete use of the hand, but it is nothing serious. No constant pain, just some limited mobility. Not settled yet because she is still undergoing rehabilitation.
Turns out the driver that caused the accident had no insurance and no assets. My buddies insurance company is paying for everything under the uninsured motorist coverage of his policy.
He never looked at this as a cash cow. He just wanted to be sure his wife was well taken care of. They are discussing something in the very low 5 figures for pain and suffering when all is said and done.
gofaster87
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May 30th, 2011 at 7:06:55 AM permalink
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