November 6, 2015

Great moments in law

Lowering the Bar - Just a week short of Halloween, the California Court of Appeal held that, in the absence of unusually reckless conduct, the proprietors of a “haunted house” attraction are not liable for injuries that patrons may suffer due to having the crap scared out of them. This particular case, Griffin v. The Haunted Hotel, arose out of Griffin’s visit to one of the defendant’s attractions in 2011, when this happened:
After passing what he believed was the exit and “giggling and laughing” with his friends about how much fun they had, Griffin unexpectedly was confronted by a final scare known as the “Carrie” effect—so named because, like the horror film Carrie, patrons are led to believe the attraction is over, only to be met by one more extreme fright. This was delivered by an actor wielding a gas powered chainsaw (the chain had been removed), who approached Griffin, frightened him, and gave chase when Griffin ran away. Griffin was injured when he fell while fleeing. [He hurt his wrist.] Griffin sued … alleging negligence and assault.

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