Thursday, July 26, 2007

Memories Lawsuit

The events of 9/11 stand out in almost every individuals mind.  Individuals recall where they were, or what they were doing, when the news exploded on almost all the airwaves.  And the news kept getting worse and worse until the towers’ collapse broke over the nation, the world, smothering for a moment or two all thought at the sheer improbability of it all.

For individuals who lost family members, loved ones, or friends, the memory of that day can still play vividly in their minds, as it can in mine, though the loss these individuals suffered sharpens that recollection I’m certain.

With that said, I find this news item, regarding a lawsuit filed because of the recent Con Ed steam pipe explosion in New York a bit much.

A woman whose sister died in the Sept. 11 attacks filed a lawsuit over last week’s steam pipe eruption in Manhattan, saying Tuesday that the explosion brought back horrible memories.

Francine Dorf’s lawsuit accuses Consolidated Edison of negligence, saying the utility didn’t properly maintain the pipe that ruptured outside her office and sent a geyser of steam, mud and asbestos-tainted debris over the neighborhood near Grand Central Terminal.

“I thought a building was going to collapse,” said Dorf, 52, a legal secretary. She is seeking unspecified damages.

Now, I’m certain that Ms. Dorf was thoroughly frightened by this recent failure of Con Ed’s infrastructure, and that she may have lost some sleep over this, and I am sympathetic to that, but filing a lawsuit over this event is a bit much.

Ms. Dorf’s attorney, Kenneth Mollins, is on record stating the following.

Dorf’s attorney, Kenneth Mollins, said Dorf suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and “a legacy of fear” from the 2001 attacks. He said the lawsuit is intended to force Con Ed to improve maintenance of its infrastructure.

I wonder if Mr. Mollins is aware that there is no financial benefit to Con Ed, or any utility provider, if they suffer a catastrophic failure of their operating equipment, and that most utility providers have a planned maintenance schedule for their operating equipment, which may or may not be able to ascertain when a certain piece of equipment may or may not fail, or that even the most thorough inspection of a piece of operating equipment may not bring to light a piece of equipment’s abnormality which could, or could not, produce a failure such as the steam pipe explosion discussed here?

Basically I find Mr. Mollins’ reason for the intended lawsuit spurious, and though I sympathize with Ms. Dorf’s sensitivity to this event, I do not think her supplication to the court for “unspecified damages” is warranted.

Woman sues over NYC pipe explosion

Via A Stitch in Haste.

As for for this clown and his attorney, and their Con Ed steam pipe explosion lawsuit, which I stumbled across looking for the above story, they’re just a couple of goldplated golddiggers.

Posted by John Venlet on 07/26 at 03:19 PM
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