Wrongful Death or Proof We Need Tort Reform?

Megan Duskey, 23, went to a Halloween party in a trendy hotel in Chicago in 2010.  She never made it home after falling four flights into a basement.  Her parents have filed suit for wrongful death against the hotel and the part event planners.

Megan decided to try to slide down the banister of the staircase and instead lost her balance.  The fall caused massive head trauma and she died instantly.  A tragedy for her friends and family.  She was young woman who recently graduated college with a degree in special education, and was a teacher at a local elementary school.

Here is a picture of the staircase she attempted to slide down, according to The Daily Mail.

Are you kidding me?  If this is truly the staircase that she fell from I don't see how her parents can possibly win a lawsuit stating that anyone else was responsible for her death other than her own choices.

I feel for her parents.  There is no greater pain then to bury a child.  It is not the natural order of the way life is supposed to happen.  You have children and fully expect them to outlive you.  Her parents lost a precious gift.

The reports at the time of the accident say they do not believe that alcohol was a factor, but that was before an autopsy was released.  She was only at the party for about 30 minutes when this accident occurred.  Her parents are suing the hotel and both party planners.  The problem is that she wasn't even in the party when her accident happened.  She is outside of the ballroom it was being held in.  Her parents say they didn't do enough to provide for proper security for the attendees of the party and by having an open bar with the price of the ticket they were irresponsible.

So the people who bought these tickets don't need to show any restraint whatsoever?  Since the ability to drink to excess is there, it is someone else's fault if someone decides to do that.  I have been to many a wedding where there was an open bar and didn't get drunk.  It is called self-control.

According to this lawsuit not only should they have been policing how much people drink they also should be putting guards around the staircase in case anyone gets the idea to slide down it.

Luckily for these parents I won't be sitting on this jury since I don't live in Chicago, but they would get not one dime from me.  They have my deepest sympathies for the beautiful daughter they lost, but that doesn't mean they deserve to paid for it.  There is such a thing as personal responsibility, and sadly, this young woman didn't show any.  She made a stupid choice and it cost her life.  Tragic, but not worthy of a settlement.  When this case is lost, they should be forced to pay for the legal bills of the other parties.  That will reduce the amount of frivolous lawsuits in a hurry.