Homeless Man Suing Parents for Bringing him up in Poverty

Yes, there is a homeless man, Bernard Anderson Bey, in Brooklyn, NY that has decided that suing his parents is a good idea.  After all, he is only 32 years old and it must be Momma's fault that he is living in a shelter.  The fact that he has drug arrests in the past have nothing to do with the situation he finds himself in.

Now, I have a great deal of sympathy for the homeless.  There are plenty of homeless that find themselves in that way due to a few bad breaks that happen to us all, but they don't have a safety net to help themselves out of it.  But, generally speaking those people only find themselves homeless for a short period of time.  The average is under three months.  They get themselves back on track pretty quickly in most instances.

I do not know how long this man has been homeless, but I do know that his claim is just another symptom of the nothing is my fault and everyone deserves a pony society that we currently living in.  If things don't go your way, blame someone else for your problems.  The man himself says this:

“Defendant Bernard Manley informed the plaintiff he was entitled to nothing, which is true,” Bey wrote in the suit. “I am not entitled to receive anything from an asset he owns. I only thought he might find pleasure in seeing his children become successful.”

What he is expecting is that his step-father and mother take a mortgage against some property that they have as an asset and buy into to some franchises so that everyone in the family will have a job.  He is thinking maybe Domino's Pizza may be a good idea.  Does he know how to make a pizza?  How long has it been since he held a full-time job?  Owning a business is generally very long hours for the owners, it isn't easy being a small business owner.  Many don't make much money for themselves when they first start out, all the bills have to be paid before you draw a salary.

He also claims that his step father was verbally abusive as well as a drug user who had no qualms in using drugs right in front of the five children in the house.  He has five younger siblings, he claims all of which are on public assistance.  While I also agree that poverty in many cases in this country is generational, it doesn't mean that if and when the parents get themselves a little bit of money they owe that to the children.  Of course it would be nice if they shared to help lift their children out of poverty, it is not necessarily the job of the parents to do so.  At some point you have to responsible for yourself.  As his mother states:

“He’s 32 years old. That speaks for itself. Welcome to America. Everyone in America has the same opportunity. Don’t blame the parents at this point. The choice is yours. You’re an adult.”

One of his sisters has found the claim to be ridiculous as well, especially the part that he claims they are all on public assistance:

“I’m not on public assistance. My parents were not terrible. They did the best they could. He chose the life he’s leading now.”

Sadly, this is yet one more example of the masses in this country that takes no responsiblity for their own lives.  Someone else is always to blame.  No wonder we are $16T in debt.

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.

And Speaking of a Sense of Entitlement - Drunk Driver Sues for Medical Expenses

Chelsea Hess, a 22-year-old from South Carolina, is suing the county and a local sports bar to cover her medical expenses after a car accident left her paralyzed.  Ms. Hess was 20 at the time of the accident.  After spending several hours in bar drinking and playing pool she got into her car to drive home without putting on her seat belt.  

Ms. Hess and her attorney have decided that this is the responsibility of the bar, the bartender, and the county.  Apparently, she bares no responsibility at all.  The court documents show that she feels that she should have been carded and refused service of the alcohol, the bartender should have also known that she may have been drinking before reaching the sports bar, and then of course, they should have also realized that she was unable to drive due to her drinking.  

'The bartender failed to attempt to ascertain whether or not plaintiff was already impaired by alcohol consumption when she purchased the alcoholic beverage and made sale to plaintiff even though she was unable to legally purchase the alcoholic beverage, and notwithstanding the possibility that she was already impaired by alcohol consumption,

She then follows all this up with county being responsible for the road saying it has not been properly maintained.  

'suddenly dropped off into a large unmaintained area on the shoulder of Alljoj Road, which caused plaintiff to lose control of her vehicle and causing her to roll the vehicle off the side of the road.'

So let me get this straight, a woman who is legally an adult bares no responsibility for going into the bar and ordering the drinks even though it was illegal.  It is all the bartender's fault, even when apparently they are admitting that she had been drinking before even reaching that bar.   Then she gets into her car knowing that she had been drinking and ends up driving on the shoulder of the roadway, then loses control of her car.  She crashes and because she wasn't wearing a seat belt she was ejected from the car and her injuries have left her paralyzed for life.  But that is the fault of the county.  It has nothing to do with her own reckless behavior.  It couldn't possibly be that her own bad choices caused this tragic accident.  

Yes, it is sad that she will spend the rest of her life in wheelchair.  That must be a difficult thing for a young person to face.  But, that doesn't change the fact that she made some very poor choices that evening.  The county didn't force her to drive her car, she did that all on her own.  The bartender didn't force her to drink any of those drinks, her own arm lifted the drink to her mouth.  While I agree that bars should be vigilant about making sure that who they are serving is of age, it isn't the sole responsibility of the bartender.  

It seems that young woman didn't learn a great deal from almost dying.  She made choices, very bad choices.  She has to learn to live with consequences of those choices and stop putting the blame on others.  Her life is not over.  She can do many great things with her life while in that wheelchair.  It is high time that she accept her fate, take responsibility for her actions, and get on with her life.  

Boy, do we need tort reform.