karate dojo in NY hit with a law suit

[DKM76]

January 17, 2006 -- A Bronx teen has sued a Midtown karate school, claiming that as a novice student, he was wrongly paired with a highly skilled student-instructor, who kicked him in the face, breaking his jaw.
Jonah Stevens, 19, says he was at Anderson's Martial Arts school at 35 W. 31st St. in January 2003 when he was paired with the student-instructor for practice

 

[Newcastle]

January 17, 2006 -- A Bronx teen has sued a Midtown karate school, claiming that as a novice student, he was wrongly paired with a highly skilled student-instructor, who kicked him in the face, breaking his jaw.
Jonah Stevens, 19, says he was at Anderson's Martial Arts school at 35 W. 31st St. in January 2003 when he was paired with the student-instructor for practice

 

[Dominic Kihlstrand]

Or his jaw could have been loose because he was mean muggin.

And it's NY, I would think he signed a waiver.

 

[Evil Eye Gouger]

And I thought Karate kicks were useless, cause I read it on Sherdog?

Apparently not.

 

[aaron_mag]

I've got a tooth capped from a bike accident. It got knocked out from an unintential elbow while doing Sambo. I should have been wearing a mouth piece. Sounds like these guys should be wearing them as well.

Now I wear mine while rolling.

 

[D3thr0n3d K1ng]

And I thought Karate kicks were useless, cause I read it on Sherdog?

.

Whatever, that kid probably has a MT background.

 

[PariahCarey]

Waivers don't mean shit today.

Win,lose, or draw that dojo loses cause anytime you have to hire a lawyer you've lost.

 

[Michael Wanaka]

From what i've experienced, karate guys hardly ever wear mouthpieces (because they're stupid). Never at any tournaments or in my school did I see more than one or two people wear mouth pieces. I started wearing one after i almost had one of my teeth knocked out.

 

[Mark Allen]

Mouthpieces are required at our school, no ifs ands or butts about it.
Waivers dont mean anything, as it turns out you do not have the right as a citizen to sign away your rights.

 

[krait]

The lawsuit will probally go afte a negligence angle. Thats the way around a waiver. If they can prove that the instructor was negligent or wreckless then thats the basis of their claim. But like the Pariah said. As soon as a lawyer entered the picture. The Dojo lost no matter what.

 

[Gregster]

My entire formal education in the arena of law has been dealing with lawsuits just like this one when I was working towards my Bachelors' in Exercise Science. Assuming the legal tests have not changed: the competing factors are:

1) The plaintiffs' assumption of risk
2) The defendants' "duty to care"

That is: you engage in a sporting activity, even as a spectator, you assume certain risks. You assume the risk of drowning while rafting. You assume the risk of getting a broken bone playing football. You assume the risk of getting beaned by an errantly tipped ball while watching baseball.

Conversely, if you run such a business, you have a "duty to care," or take steps to attenuate the risks: life jackets for the rafters, helmets and pads for the football players, a chain link cage around the batter's box that will catch most pop-flies.

The defense will likely have to demonstrate that the kid assumed the risk of getting kicked in the face sparring in karate, which I think shouldn't be too hard for a good lawyer. The plaintiff will have the harder job of demonstrating a) that he was either under the impression that the risk of a broken bone was very, very low or b) the dojo recklessly failed to provide proper safety equipment or just as recklessly allowed someone not competant to train a newbie spar with him.

 

[mmagic]

Gregster, you are correct that these are still the legal standards in such a case.

However, I am sure you will agree that the precedent over the last few years has leaned towards siding with plaintiffs. US law seems to be in an age of malfeasance.

For better or worse, most judges take these cases of precedent very seriously. The two standards you mentioned lend themselves heavily to interpretation as to where exactly to draw the line, and for many in the judicial system, predecent is the means to draw that line.

 

[Gregster]

Gregster, you are correct that these are still the legal standards in such a case.

However, I am sure you will agree that the precedent over the last few years has leaned towards siding with plaintiffs. US law seems to be in an age of malfeasance.

Well, it's been some years since I've critically examined such cases...but I can't think of a reason to contradict your assessment. I think the prevailing attitude among many people is that bad things only happen through someone elses' negligence, not because they assumed a reasonable risk, or because sometimes (like the bumper sticker says) shit happens.

 

[Brendon Katz]

did u no most lawyers go insane?

 

[Dominic Kihlstrand]

did u no most lawyers go insane?

It pleasures me that all the above posts use big words, speaking about law and such. Then this cat comes along and says something that has no revilence, and makes sherdog users look dumb.

 

[teamvovchanchyn]

Its actually kinda funny i live in Ny as well and when i had started kickboxing as a little kid i was kicked in the face by a student instructor and got my nose broken. Wonder how much i could have gotten.

 

[Sinister]

The Dojo lost no matter what.

Incorrect. All is lost unless the Dojo forks over the cash for a BETTER Lawyer.

 

[krait]

Incorrect. All is lost unless the Dojo forks over the cash for a BETTER Lawyer.

Well yes. But my point is that they have to fork over the cash to prove their innocence. Not to mention the hit the dojo's rep will take even if they win the case. The dojo still loses out cash(for the lawyer or settlement), time and grief dealing with the case, and reputation even if they win the case.

 

[threnody]

It pleasures me that all the above posts use big words, speaking about law and such. Then this cat comes along and says something that has no revilence, and makes sherdog users look dumb.

er. not to nitpick, but it's relevance. :wink:

 

[Eduardo R.]

Pretty lame for a guy to break a newbies jaw but the kid probably did sign a waver. Also for all the people talking about mouth guards in this thread: mouthguards do nothing or very very little to protect your teeth from being knocked out, their purpose is to create a cushion to prevent concusion.