| 10 February 2012
Americans are (rightfully) considered the most litigious of societies but the good news is that we're exporting our ridiculousness to our neighbors up north. Mimi Lepage (left) has filed a suit against two fellow joggers, Jon and Jason Dunkerley, after they reportedly ran into her on a run around the Rideau Canal in Ottawa. The brothers, both of whom were born blind, are members of the Canadian paralympic team and, according to Lepage's lawsuit, the men (and their guide runners) crashed into her causing injuries that supposedly will require treatment for the rest of her life.
Ms. Lepage (an attorney herself so she should know better) alleges that she sustained a tear in her hip, injuries to her elbow and shoulder and that when the men crashed into her from behind she has since had trouble walking and housekeeping. So far her injury claims have not been proven in court. The suit, for $350,000, also includes Ms. Lepage's son as a plaintiff, because she claims that since the accident he has had a "loss of care, guidance and companionship."
Among the other claims in the suit are that the brothers were "running at an unsafe speed given the circumstances, including their abilities, their method of communicating with their guides, the terrain of the path, the size of their running group, and the number of other users of the path at the time." That they were attempting "to pass other users of the recreational path when it was unsafe to do so" and that the blind runners "owed a duty of care to other users of the recreational path not to create a hazard or situation of danger that the other users cannot avoid."
Since the accident happened in January of 2010, Lepage claimed that she has been unable to run, something that is likely to be highly scrutinized during the trial considering Jon Dunkerly, in a simple case of Googling her found that she participated in a 10k race that following April.
“We Googled her name to see who she was and it showed that she ran a race in April 2010, so if she was hurt so bad that she said she’s been unable to run, why is her name listed for running a 10-k months later?” Dunkerley asked.
Yeah, good luck with that frivolous lawsuit lady...
[Ottawa Citizen]
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