2008 Woodie Awards
The American way: blaming others for our problems
Catherine Conley
Issue date: 10/16/07 Section: Opinions
In addition to football, hotdogs, and apple pie, America has become famous for something else: abuse of the legal system. Anyone who's ever watched daytime or late-night T.V. can attest to this. Many of the commercials, appealing to those looking for a quick buck, inform the viewers that they are victims and that they must seek legal retribution. But this is old news. They've been running those same commercials since "The Bold and the Beautiful" premiered. Recently, however, this phenomena has become truly vile.
Most of the civil suits that the commercials cater to are people with low incomes getting a leg up on the rich. However, I recently read of a case that caught my attention. Sgt. Andrea Eichhorn of the Casselberry, Fla. police department is suing Richard Cosmillo, his wife, Maggie Cosmillo, and their daughter, Angela Cosmillo, for negligence. That by itself doesn't sound like much, until you hear the story behind it.
Richard and Maggie are the legal guardians of their daughter's child, one-year-old Joey. In January, Joey wandered out of the house and fell into the family's swimming pool in the backyard. Angela, the only one home at the time, hauled him out of the pool and dialed 911. The family and Eichhorn arrived a few minutes later. Eichhorn slipped in a puddle of pool water on the floor of the house and fell on her knee. She got up and later that day she went to get it checked out. She discovered that her knee had been broken and the injury put her out of work for two months.
During these two months she received disability checks and the city's insurer paid her medical bills. According to Eichhorn's attorney, however, that money just wasn't enough. How much would Eichhorn need to compensate the medical costs? Well, since she is seeking an unspecified amount I'd say the best answer is "as much as she can get."
And the story just gets better. According, again, to Eichhorn's attorney, "If the Cosmillos had made their pool baby-proof, police would not have been called to the scene, there would have been no water on the floor, and Eichhorn would not have hurt herself." He also shockingly stated, "It's a situation where the Cosmillos have caused these problems, brought them on themselves, then tried to play the victim."
Most of the civil suits that the commercials cater to are people with low incomes getting a leg up on the rich. However, I recently read of a case that caught my attention. Sgt. Andrea Eichhorn of the Casselberry, Fla. police department is suing Richard Cosmillo, his wife, Maggie Cosmillo, and their daughter, Angela Cosmillo, for negligence. That by itself doesn't sound like much, until you hear the story behind it.
Richard and Maggie are the legal guardians of their daughter's child, one-year-old Joey. In January, Joey wandered out of the house and fell into the family's swimming pool in the backyard. Angela, the only one home at the time, hauled him out of the pool and dialed 911. The family and Eichhorn arrived a few minutes later. Eichhorn slipped in a puddle of pool water on the floor of the house and fell on her knee. She got up and later that day she went to get it checked out. She discovered that her knee had been broken and the injury put her out of work for two months.
During these two months she received disability checks and the city's insurer paid her medical bills. According to Eichhorn's attorney, however, that money just wasn't enough. How much would Eichhorn need to compensate the medical costs? Well, since she is seeking an unspecified amount I'd say the best answer is "as much as she can get."
And the story just gets better. According, again, to Eichhorn's attorney, "If the Cosmillos had made their pool baby-proof, police would not have been called to the scene, there would have been no water on the floor, and Eichhorn would not have hurt herself." He also shockingly stated, "It's a situation where the Cosmillos have caused these problems, brought them on themselves, then tried to play the victim."
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