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Submitted by Ed R. in New York -
All My Assets for a Slip and Fall
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Tort Reform and the Economy
Submitted by James H. in Florida -
Sued for Saving Two Lives?
Submitted by Larry M. in Florida
85 Comments
Scott H. said on December 9, 2009 at 8:20 pm #
Will he be sued the next time for not giving notice? The lease should have a section for how and where to serve notices and that contracted agreement would be the official document to cite.
I think I should start a company that assembles the names of people who have been plaintiffs in frivolous & abusive cases for sale to property owners when they prescreen possible tenants. The list would assign a risk rating and the property owner would be warned of that liability risk and take necessary and proper action to protect their investments.
TrueLiberal said on December 14, 2009 at 2:57 pm #
These people who file phony lawsuits should be put in jail.
Gayle Miller said on December 17, 2009 at 6:19 pm #
Tort reform is so overdue – particularly in California where the law is totally weighted in favor of the tenants. In addition, there are contentious and litigious people all over the country who pride themselves on suing everyone they can for real or imagined slights. Who can forget the dimbulb female who got coffee at McDonalds and then sued because it was hot! Give me a break! That should have been the tipping point but the trial lawyers’ lobby is too powerful.
Orm said on December 17, 2009 at 9:28 pm #
Smack across the face and an eviction notice is what I would personally recommend.
Johnny said on December 19, 2009 at 4:38 am #
This story sounds a little one sided to me. You loose all credibility when you do not present the facts in a non-biased manner.
le b said on December 20, 2009 at 10:17 am #
It is my opinion that people are looking for a quick dollar. Instead of stealing from the ones that are trying to make a living. these indiviuals need to get a job. Sure there is a shortage in jobs,but if they look hard enough they will get one. Leave honest hard working people that are trying to support their families ALONE. REMEMBER WHAT GORES AROUND COMES AROUND!!!!!!!! You may not like it when you get your turn to be treated as you treat others.
DanaDee said on December 24, 2009 at 10:41 am #
Johnny, I am primarily a defense attorney who has done a lot of probono or extremely discounted work because some of these lawsuits can utterly be this ridiculous. May you never experience a lawsuit against you to realize just how one-sided a story can be–because I’m here to tell you that stories like these are not necessarily one-sided.
Floyd DaBarber said on December 25, 2009 at 9:54 am #
Pfft.. tort reform will never happen. In the $2 trillion dollar bloat pig bill that just passed yesterday for healthcare reform, all lawsuit and tort reform has been stripped out. It is hopeless.
Antonio said on December 25, 2009 at 7:12 pm #
Toughen up a little. Emotional damages are just a part of life. Does anyone have any consideration for other people these days?
Tom O'May said on December 26, 2009 at 1:02 pm #
I earned a law degree in 1976 while working full time in the construction industry in So Cal. By the time I graduated I was so disgusted by the actual workings of the legal profession that I decided I preferred the company of
construction people than lawyers. I was
a GC in Cal and now here in Florida, and
have a small business. It’s absolutely disgusting that tort reform hasn’t been
accomplished, especially now with the
health care issues. States need to use
the 10th amendment rights to accomplish this if the fed won’t.
Rick Berard said on December 27, 2009 at 12:18 pm #
The sitting judge should ban frilous or meaniless lawsuits or be penalizted themselves. The losers or plaintiff’s should be made to pay for the court or legal fee’s of the winner or defendant!
maura k said on December 30, 2009 at 4:37 pm #
Johnny: did you even READ the story?
bill said on January 4, 2010 at 5:11 pm #
Are you a lawyer, John? I had a tenant that had a relative who was always suing people. I live on the first floor of a two storey house and the tenants were great. When they told me about the relative I banned him from the premises. They were very upset but told the relative and he did stay away. About six months later he was backing out of his driveway and was in an automobile accident. He sued the other driver, a doctor and lost. The doctor turned around and sued him and collected. The rest of the world laughs at our legal system. It is a joke, but it ain’t funny.
Mary Turzillo said on January 5, 2010 at 5:06 pm #
Somehow, I think there’s an untold story here. I’d like to hear the tenant’s side of the story. I somehow doubt she was suing just for fun.
Knight Owl said on January 6, 2010 at 12:50 am #
Johnny complained: “This story sounds a little one sided to me. You loose all credibility when you do not present the facts in a non-biased manner.”
Wrong, Johnny. You “loose” all credibility when you can’t even correctly spell the word lose. As in, “You’re a pathetic loser.”
Tim said on January 6, 2010 at 7:31 pm #
Vytas Juskys was a former landlord of mine. He had terrorized many of the tenants. He does not have a real address and instead operates from a PO box. Many of the older tenants moved because he is incredibly difficult and abhorrent. The city was very slow to respond probably due to all of contributions given to Garcetti. He also claims he a small business but he owns several buildings. He is very manipulative and plays innocent when he is called upon. Thankfully justice has been served.
gary said on January 12, 2010 at 11:43 am #
I have been sued for nothing also,can’t we sue the attorney for filing a frivolous lawsuit.? Has anyone done that yet? Please let me know if so. I have a tenant that I evicted for not paying five months of rent and his attorney is trying to extort money from me by filing a obvious fraudelent claim . He is milking my tenant with hopes of winning more from me and the result will be my attorney will make money and his attorney will make money and thats it, like always.I would like to file a suit against his lawyer for encouraging him when the truth is obvious. Some lawyers most are simply retainer chasers in my opinion, they tell you what you want to hear and make you feel they can save you. Then they ask for a retainer, and when they have a pretrial meeting they tell you to settle for less or it will cost you more by fighting it .If you settle you never get any of the retainer back. Most attorneys avoid going to trial, so don’t think you will ever win what you initially had in mind. I strongly believe that judges should impose high penalties on lawyers that mastered the system of extortion using the courts.
John Shuey said on January 13, 2010 at 6:32 pm #
I note that it isn’t clear what the plaintiff actually got – so the reader can’t judge what the cost was.
Personally, I have never (in many decades) had a terribly unsatisfactory encounter w/ an attorney. I will keep an open mind – but this story is incomplete and uncompelling.
Rainer said on January 14, 2010 at 2:02 am #
Tempting to “Smack across the face” but that’s a lawsuit. Also tempting to evict but that’s another lawsuit for “retaliatory eviction” as well. Yup, California is mess, remember when Workmans comp soared, or PG&E. What about that recent law where you have to give two months notice if the tenant has lived there over a year. Great fun when your tenant starts using drugs, or moves their druggie gang banger friend in that just got out of jail. Of course you have to wait the two months then they refuse to move, you pay to evict, they counter and then wait another month and a half to finally get then out. Of course the place is trashed so pay some more, a lot more, and no rent during the repairs time. Meanwhile, some another good tenants nearby give notice because you won’t get rid of the bad one. How about that silly, “Virginia Graeme Baker” law that cost apartments with pools about 24 million dollars nationally to install government required pool safety equipment. Installation of which might save an average of 1 children from vacuum entrapment pool fatalities per year. Sometimes I wonder how many children could we actually have saved with that kind of money?
B J said on January 14, 2010 at 10:17 am #
There is obviously a lot more to this than you are showing. A judge must have thought that there was some merit to her claim, or the judge wouldn’t have let it go forward. Perhaps your desire for tort reform should be directed at the judges. There are a lot of self serving people and organizations out there, but it is imperative that we have a balance, which is where the judges should come in.
vandros said on January 14, 2010 at 10:27 am #
I agree with #5. There is no mention of a further basis for the tenant’s suit, and I highly doubt the insurance company would settle a suit and pay out any money if the woman did not have at least some basis for the legitimate claim.
Makes me wonder if there is more to the story, i.e. personal relationship with the landlord, excessive noise and disruption from the work, notices posted for every project regardless of whether they effect the tenant, etc. Also, no mention of what steps the plaintiff took prior to filing the lawsuit, which I imagine would have been extensive given it would cost her time and money to file the suit as well.
Calvin Flemigs said on January 14, 2010 at 5:15 pm #
Happy to click on this to move money from your fraudulent, un-American organization to the Washington Post. Thanks! Why not list who your backers are? No doubt it includes chemical companies, gun manufacturers and the like. With a GED, you people might be able to get real jobs someday. Do it.
Chayce said on January 15, 2010 at 2:16 pm #
How does a notice cause “emotional disstress”
M. Lee said on January 15, 2010 at 7:11 pm #
If this nutcase was damaged by legal notices that answered her complaints, her sanity should be in question. In civil suits like this, there should be a pretrial hearing to determine the quality of the lawsuit. If it is deemed frivolous and the plaintiff decides to continue, he/she should be liable for 5x the defendant’s legal fees plus damages for time lost.
Paul said on January 24, 2010 at 6:52 pm #
When you need to make repairs and improvements on your properties, you either need to wait until something breaks and you are requested to make the repairs, or you need to declare the apartment/property “no longer rentable”, move the tenant out, and then make all your repairs while it is vacant…not the most efficient or profitable way, but you will avoid the weenie-whiners like Juskys had to deal with.
Cyrus said on May 4, 2010 at 1:21 pm #
If it was so frivolous why did the insurance company pay so much money on the day of trial
Ben said on May 24, 2010 at 12:57 am #
maybe I should just sue my ex-girlfriend for emotional damages because she dumped me. wow, this legal system needs to be fixed.
Karl Williams said on August 2, 2010 at 1:24 pm #
Cyrus, Too many insurers settle rather than go to trial because they have weenies for managers and lawyers. This is a main encouragement for frivolous suits.
rob said on August 2, 2010 at 2:34 pm #
What I want to know is why this guy settled? I would rather risk losing more in court than settle to some scumbag like that tenant. He didn’t do anything wrong, and therefore shouldn’t have settled, so its his fault for losing that money. Fight for your rights people.
JW John said on August 2, 2010 at 3:07 pm #
I am an attorney who has been involved in civil litigation for over 30 years. I smell a one sided rat to this story. With the facts as presented by Mr. Vytas this case would never have made it past summary judgment. That is it would have been thrown out of court. Mr. Vytas says he was insured which means his insurance company hired a lawyer to represent him. Of the insurance companies and defense lawyers I have dealt with over the years, none of them would have paid any money for the claim that is represented. The Court Case number and jurisdiction should be published so this claim can be checked out.
HOYT WILSON said on August 2, 2010 at 3:56 pm #
THE REASON WE DON`T HAVE TORT REFORM IS BECAUSE MOST OF THE PEOPLE WE HAVE IN WASHINGTON ARE LAWYERS THEMSELVES WHO HAVE MADE THOUSANDS OF OF FILLING LAWSUITS THEMSELVES AND EXTORTING MONEY FROM PEOPLE WHO COULD NOT AFFORD TO DEFEND THEMSELVES BY HIRING OTHER THIEF LAWYERS TO DEFEND THEM .. WASHINGTON IS FULL OF THEM SO THE LAW WILL NEVER BE CHANGED TO PUNISH THEM
Gizelle said on August 2, 2010 at 4:13 pm #
Cyrus, if you have ever been involved in a lawsuit which involves an insurance company then you should know that the insurance company regards it to be cheaper to offer the litigant an out-of-court payment rather than run the expensive cost of a trial. So even though the defendant may not be guilty of anything it is just cheaper to pay out the plaintiff rather than defend the innocent party. Of course people know this and so file suits knowing they are likely to get something. Until our court system imposes a strict rule for what can be filed before insurance companies are involved we will continue to have rampant litigation.
Stan said on August 2, 2010 at 7:54 pm #
I’m amazed so many posters believe this is a frivolous complaint and lawsuit abuse. A frivolous lawsuit is one that has no merit. We don’t know whether this one had no merit because we only heard one side of the story and the insurance company settled prior to trial. Insurance companies don’t settle cases that are meritless. They will fight tooth and nail and spare no cost to teach the plaintiff and her attorney a lesson.
URBAN MASSET said on August 2, 2010 at 10:51 pm #
THIS IS THE REASON THAT I WOULD NOT OWN ANY MORE RENTAL PROPERTIES. THE COURTS ALWAYS GO WITH THE SO CALLED POOR TENANTS EVEN THOUGHT THEY DO NOT FOLLOW THE LEGAL PAPERS THAT THEY SIGN WHEN THEY RENT SUCH AS NO ANIMALS ETC. I TOLD THE JUDGE RIGHT THERE AND THEN IN THE COURT ROOM THAT BEFORE I WOULD EVER RENT OUT ANOTHER HOUSE I WOULD BURN IT TO THE GROUND AND LET THE FIRE DEPT COME FOR PARACTICE.
Terri said on August 3, 2010 at 12:59 am #
I believe if that woman was asking for the repairs and Jusky posting the proper notice. Heck my lanlord does repairs that way all the time hes even late does that mean i should sue him causes me mental anguise for being 4 hours late for a repair. and speaking of that Mc Donalds i cant believe that woman sued like that and won and i was served a hot tea out the drive thru window and the girl didnt put the lid on it properly and it fell off and the cup was tilted and scolded my leg i didnt run off and sue when i heard about her she really angered me. why does our justice system allow stupid wrongful suits like these to even enter our courts the people and lawyers that file them should be locked up and pay for filing insignificant cases and idiotic cases. Maybe jail would let them know what they got isnt so bad. Im poor i dont look for a quick scam to make money and i probably could have! I totally think Jusky was wronged and our world is in trouble if we keep letting crap like this get into our courts.
dave said on August 3, 2010 at 12:21 pm #
This is what a court of law is:
3 lawyers and 12 people too dumb to get out of jury duty. Which is simple, most juries are pick by who is the dumbest in the jury pool. This is why there is such crazy rulings. It means three lawyers get to milk the people, while giving a screwing to someone usually the defendant except in criminal law. This time the public gets screwed and the crooks go loose to prey on the honest citizens. Judges are dupes of the personal injury attorneys and criminal defense attorneys. If justice is done, it will be overturned by another bunch of lawyers (on the public payroll) in higher courts that has nothing to do with guilty but a bunch of double talk. The system is for lawyers, by lawyers funded by the people (only the people who work and pay taxes which is less than 50%)
Bud Dodson said on August 3, 2010 at 3:28 pm #
There are famillies that move around using a premise to Rent With OPtion and on move in immediately start complainng about conditions, appliances break, water leaks and the list goes on. You see a pattern of damages occuring, lies being told, access prohibited and on and on. There is little that can be done but it is necessary that this be publicized and corrected. I retained an attiorney from a prominent Colorado law firm and ended up in worst position than before I started
Craig said on August 3, 2010 at 3:35 pm #
I would’ve said “Screw them and let some judge decide that this is crap”
Stephen said on August 3, 2010 at 4:29 pm #
I would be interested in knowing how many notices were given to the tenant, and the dates of each notice. There has to be some merit to this suit. Reform is long overdue, but at least present EXACTLY both sides of the story when you email me asking for money for this cause.
Rheutillius said on August 3, 2010 at 5:22 pm #
We had a clause in our rental contract that required the looser to pay attorney fees until attorneys began to “live” outside the courtroom where rental issues were handled and hit up every tenant there promising great things on the basis of the possibility of their getting to be awarded their fees from the landlord. At least it was work and sometimes they won. We changed our contract so that each party pays their own legal costs and these guys left us alone.
Perchance said on August 3, 2010 at 6:12 pm #
Cyrus…. You haven’t learned the point here:
lawsuits, frivilous or not are moneymakers
for lawyers. In this case, to fight the
allegations in court would have been a
no-win for the Ins. Co. They decided to
settle…. not for reasons of avoiding an un- just adjudication by a jury, but… it costs money, lots of money. The Ins. Co weighs the odds. Either win or lose,
comes down to: pay the lawyers.
alice said on August 3, 2010 at 6:53 pm #
please people i was raised in a family where you talk out your problems and come to a common resolution. everything is about money anymore get what you can without lifting a finger. lawyers should be thrown in jail there all criminals. will hurt people just to make a dirty dollar.how do they sleep at night. i’ve always settled my problems without law suits and i’m 63 years old.america is long gone no more freedom or sense.
Bob said on August 4, 2010 at 9:50 am #
Judges will not do anything, because they are lawyers as well, and the largest majority of them live off of the forty percent and expenses, there are some good lawyers out there, but they are very few and very far between. Most of them are not worth the powder.
Mikel said on August 4, 2010 at 12:15 pm #
Often times insurance companies pay off in these cases ( right or wrong) because it is cheaper for them to do so compared to fighting it. Win or loose there is always an appeal that they can then be faces with, it can go on for ever !
Tom Cook said on August 5, 2010 at 4:29 pm #
A professionally produced video presenting one side…hmmm. How about “Fair and Balanced?” What does the other side have to say? I was once a renter. A landlord worried about tenant happiness? Not in my world.
DM said on August 14, 2010 at 9:11 pm #
I was a tenant of this monster. I called for months to have a repair done, with no answer. When I left town for my grandmother’s funeral, Juskys immediately started papering my door. Then he claimed that I had changed the locks, and put up another piece of paper on my door that gave me three days to “remedy” the fictitious lock change. Thankfully, a neighbor kept me informed of the notices, as we already had banded together to shield ourselves from the freak. I had to spend the morning of my grandmother’s funeral FedExing keys to this pig. He buys rent controlled properties then starts littering the doors of his tenants with demands for entry. He only does this to those whose units are renting for less than market value. Once he destroys the lives of these tenants, and hounds them out of their homes, he re-rents the units at a higher price, then tries to resell the properties for a hefty profit.
Jessica said on August 18, 2010 at 5:33 pm #
This is truly disgusting. I wish the man had fought it then filed suit against the idiot tennant for harrassment. He would likely have won at least a small judgement. I do not want our ability to sue for legitimate complaints to be taken away, but idiots make it a miserable place to live.
T. Clark said on September 1, 2010 at 2:05 pm #
I can’t believe his insurance company even SUGGESTED that he settle out of court! This man seems like he was trying to do the right thing and make his “picky tenant” happy by correcting the ridiculous complaints she had made. SHAME ON HER! I strongly believe in karma, and one day she will be on the other side of a ripoff such as this. How can she even sleep at night?! I hope she has since moved to a different residence. This man was DEFINITELY taken advantage of by a lazy, greedy, coniving jerk! In fact, she’s probably plotting her next lawsuit as I write this. I n my opinion, the legal system, his attorney, and the insurance company failed to do THEIR job! Justice was definitely not served in this case! If I were him, I’d write up–or change–all future rental contracts to include eviction for such ridiculous complaints. I’d also require the name, manager, and addresses of her last landlord. as well as the reason for her leaving said residence. You have my support, Sir, and I will keep you in my prayers. I’m so sorry that you had to endure such an awful experience. Is there any way you could let others know what she’s doing (*like her name & personal info or photo/physical description, as well as the name of YOUR insurance company) to warn future honest, apartment managers and/or landlords about the scam this person is pulling? And if I can help in any way, please let me know! Good luck in the futurre!
steph said on September 12, 2010 at 2:43 am #
I come from a family of lawyers. I am disgusted with frivolous lawsuits, lawyers who don’t fully represent those who are in the “right” and judges who don’t serve justice. I’m tired of the rights of the innocent/victims being trampled to protect the rights of the abusers as well as weak penalties. At what point does “rehab” end as an escape from a jail sentence?
I have been writing US government officials for years to amend the laws. We need tort reform. Common sense is definately lacking in the USA Courts and those around the world.
cate said on October 5, 2010 at 4:02 pm #
For those of you who believe that this story is one-sided you are so wrong! Been there and gone through it with tenants, but because I have a law background was able to protect myself for the most part. Lawyers today will do anything to bring in money. Why? There are so many and they need the income. You need to know the law in order to do business today. My protection was to have a month-to-month lease. The first time I got a whiff of a problem – out the door they went. I do not put up with CRAP.