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Mercury poisoning from rectifier tubes lawsuit

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I just poured a cup of hot steaming mercury in my lap. That ought to be worth a couple million anyway?
 
I hope he solves his health issues somehow. I don't wish those problems on anyone.


I'll never ever send anything to him every again. NOSValves and Terry DeWick are the only techs I'll deal with now. They are men of their word and do top notch work.
 
wgrr said:
I have read through this thread and I am glad an attorney finally chimed in. This is going nowhere. It is the desperate act of a desperate person. I am sorry he is ill but He will not see a big payday from this lawsuit.

I am planning a better lawsuit based on the killing of Superman with krypton 85 found in old Western Electric tubes.

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So that's what happened to Superman, too bad. Why was not this publicized somewhere?
 
I hope this guy does okay with his medical issues. With all the under-employed and mediocre lawyers out there no lawsuit surprises me anymore. No offense to the good lawyers out there who have real jobs and real lawsuits.
 
How do you get mercury poisoning from a vacuum tube..? ISn't the mercury INSIDE the tube? Unless you break the tube, you should be safe. Also, why is the manufacture or seller responsible for incorrect handling of broken tubes...? Or incorrect handling of anything that can contain toxins?

Screwed up legal system.. :no::thumbsdn:
 
Ahh Kr85. I forgot about that one.

I've got a bunch of nixie tubes that have cathodes doped with Krypton. They freak my friends out, they think they're going to get cancer from holding them.
 
My old CRC reference book says Krypton is used in fluorescent lights - although that was awhile ago and they may have changed the forumulation. Kr-85 is not a naturally occurring isotope, and with a half-life of 11 yrs. that old tube is probably safe enough to eat. :D I am very curious what that tube is good for and why the Kr-85 is there. :scratch2:

Interestingly, the wavelength of one of the emission lines of Kr is the international standard for the meter. :nerd:
 
The issue with manufacturers is known as 'product liability'. That is, if you make something that you know is dangerous, defective, or that you *should* know is dangerous or defective, and you do not take steps to protect the public, either by making the product safer, warning everyone, etc, then you are liable for what happens that could have been foreseen. A classic example of this is asbestos insulation. Another was the flaming Ford Pinto.

This is why my lawnmower has a huge warning label on it which says (among other things) "do not hold over head, do not use to trim hedges"). We laugh but the reason that is there is because someone did it, hurt themselves, and sued.
 
Wigwam Jones said:
Again, if the person or company being sued does not show up because they cannot afford legal representation, they lose. There is no 'burden of proof' to be met. The case can be utterly silly and the judge, jury, and everyone else knows it, but if the defense doesn't show, they lose.

Please, before asserting that a case will be tossed for being frivolous, understand that it doesn't work that way if the defense cannot afford a lawyer. If you don't show up in court, you lose, plain and simple.
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Getting a default judgement does not automatically mean that you will get the damages you request or any damages at all. Obtaining a default judgment simply means that liability has been established. The plaintiff still has to prove his damages in the same way that he would have to prove them in a trial to the judge. The only difference is that you don't have a defense attorney challenging the plaintiff's evidence. But judges tend to be pretty careful in evaluating the evidence for damages in default actions, especially in high dollar cases.

As for court costs and attorneys fees, I don't know anything about PA law, but generally what is applied in America is (surprise) called the "American Rule", which holds that in the absence of a authority (almost always statutory) to the contrary each party is liable for his/her/its own legal fees and costs. And yes, I am an attorney.
 
Ah, finally a post that makes some sense out of the whole "if you don't show up you're screwed for whatever the idiot is claiming" argument. It just never made sense to me that failure to appear puts someone on the hook for whatever a frivolous plaintiff might want to ask for damages. If that truly were the case, everyone would be suing everyone else for millions of dollars on some made up claim all the time in the hopes that the defendant wouldn't show up, and.... SCORE!
 
Ashfan said:
Getting a default judgement does not automatically mean that you will get the damages you request or any damages at all. Obtaining a default judgment simply means that liability has been established. The plaintiff still has to prove his damages in the same way that he would have to prove them in a trial to the judge.
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Yes.

The only difference is that you don't have a defense attorney challenging the plaintiff's evidence. But judges tend to be pretty careful in evaluating the evidence for damages in default actions, especially in high dollar cases.
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Depends very much on the judge, the venue, local precedent, etc. Also depends on whether the plaintiff is seeking actual damages, punitive damages, pain and suffering, etc.

As for court costs and attorneys fees, I don't know anything about PA law, but generally what is applied in America is (surprise) called the "American Rule", which holds that in the absence of a authority (almost always statutory) to the contrary each party is liable for his/her/its own legal fees and costs. And yes, I am an attorney.
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That is correct (I am not a lawyer, just an AAS in Criminal Justice with some experience as a former LEO). In fact, a lot of people think that because they won in court, someone is going to hand them a check. They're usually in for a surprise. The defendant can appeal in many cases, or they can just refuse to pay, which happens a lot in small-claims courts or when the defendant is an individual or small business without major assets or legal representation.

However, in the case of default judgments and collections, once the plaintiff has a judgment, they can sell that paper to a collection agency for whatever they can get for it, they can seek liens on their property, etc.

Some people are essentially judgment proof in that they have little in the way of assets to go after. Most attorneys who take cases on spec do their homework first to find out if there are any deep pockets worth going after, since they don't get paid if there is nothing to be collected. This guy is represented; one can assume he's not paying them upfront, but will pay them a portion of any settlement or damages awarded. If that is true, then the lawyers involved at least see some reasonable prospect of a payday; they don't invest their time for fun, and I don't know of many product liability suits taken pro bono.

However, as I'm sure you know, being a big company like some of the defendants here also sometimes means that your liability insurance company takes care of it for you, either by paying to make it go away or by fighting it, even if the claim is borderline frivolous.
 
Since this was filed last July, is there any chance anything substantive has actually happened since then? And how would we know?
 
JonL said:
Ah, finally a post that makes some sense out of the whole "if you don't show up you're screwed for whatever the idiot is claiming" argument. It just never made sense to me that failure to appear puts someone on the hook for whatever a frivolous plaintiff might want to ask for damages. If that truly were the case, everyone would be suing everyone else for millions of dollars on some made up claim all the time in the hopes that the defendant wouldn't show up, and.... SCORE!
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If you do not show up, default judgment is granted to the plaintiff. I agree that doesn't mean he is going to get whatever he asked for, but he did get a judgment and it is enforceable. If the judge agrees with him, or decides to award him actual damages and not punitive, etc, then that's what it is. If the defendant doesn't show up, loses, and refuses to pay afterwards, the plaintiff can go back to court and get liens placed on real property, or sell the paper to a collection agency, get an order from the court garnishing your wages, etc.

In any case, if you don't show up, you can't control what happens to you. The judge might decide the guy's case doesn't hold water and throw it out, he might find a default judgment and award the guy a dollar, or he might even increase the damage award; it's all happened for real at one time or another. And if you're not represented there, you have no say in it.

As to people filing suit willy-nilly, sure. Happens all the time. Most people are not interested in suing random strangers for made-up damages, though, which is why we're not utterly inundated; but our legal system is strained.

A lawyer should be able to tell you; no one looks after your defense in court but you. The judge makes sure your legal rights are respected, the jury (or the judge) determines guilt or innocence, but if you are not represented and don't show up, no one is going to stand up on court on your behalf and say "Wait a minute judge, this is pure BS!" Just doesn't happen. If you do not show up, you lose.
 
Wigwam Jones said:
If you do not show up, default judgment is granted to the plaintiff. I agree that doesn't mean he is going to get whatever he asked for, but he did get a judgment and it is enforceable.
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If a default judgment is granted but damages are not determined, what is the enforceable result?
 
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