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Slip and Fall Cases Dominate Florida Theme Park Lawsuits | Part 1

But an Orlando Sentinel review of hundreds of personal-injury lawsuits found that Central Florida's theme-park guests are far more likely to sue over injuries that have nothing to do with the parks' signature attractions.

The most common lawsuit: the simple slip and fall.

The Sentinel's review of 477 state and federal lawsuits filed against the region's three big theme-park companies between Jan. 1, 2004, and Dec. 31, 2008, found that 218 cases - 46 percent - involved people who said they had slipped or tripped and fallen during a visit to a Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando or a Busch Entertainment Corp. theme park or resort. Rides or attractions - the heart of the theme-park business - accounted for 101 of the cases.

The other 158 lawsuits involved a variety of accidents in shops, during shows or on streets or sidewalks.

The parks may attract more than their share of frivolous lawsuits, one expert says, because they create a fantasy world where expectations of comfort and safety run high.

The suits offer a variety of complaints:
*A man from Virginia sued Disney World in 2005, saying food poisoning caused him to gag so badly he ruptured his esophagus.
*A Titusville woman sued SeaWorld in 2005, saying she fell and was injured when the Clydesdale parade horses spooked and charged the crowd.
*A woman from Hawaii sued Busch Gardens-Tampa Bay in 2006, saying she contracted a rare blood disease when a wayward vulture from a trained-bird show clawed her legs.
*An Orlando man sued Universal in 2006, saying he was roughed up and injured when security guards threw him out of a bar at CityWalk.

"You have to remember: They're like little cities," said Malcolm A. Purow, a lawyer from Hollywood, Fla., who has sued theme parks on behalf of several clients. "And then they have these things going on at these places that aren't normal things - like trained vultures flying, and rides where people go up in the air."

Officials from Disney, Universal and Busch Entertainment (which operates SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens) all defend their parks' safety in general terms but decline to discuss their personal-injury litigation in any detail with the Sentinel.

"Given the significant size and scope of our operations and the millions of guests that visit our property each year, it is not unexpected that claims will occasionally be filed against our company," Disney World spokeswoman Kim Prunty said.

Lyrissa C. Barnett Lidsky, a University of Florida law professor, said a theme park "operates on so many different levels - it involves all kinds of business models combined. It's hard to imagine another business that has such a wide array of activities that create a potential for tort liability."

Barry University law professor Stanley Talcott said he is surprised that more people don't sue theme parks. He's not sure if that is a result of the parks' safety efforts or their claims departments' efforts to appease injured people before they head for court.

"Considering the numbers of interactions between the public and the providers, that is an astonishingly small number of lawsuits," Talcott said of the 477 cases found in the Sentinel's five-year review. "There are tens of thousands of interactions each day, and each is a potential injury."

Scott Powers
Orlando Sentinel Writer
March 30, 2009

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