Is it just me, or does it seem like this family might have more problems than just an icy driveway?


MADISON, Wis. -- An Illinois woman is suing her Wisconsin parents for maintaining an icy driveway that she blamed for a fall that broke her ankle two winters ago.

This week, a federal judge refused to toss out the lawsuit, setting up a trial for November.

Carriel Louah, 25, visited Darlington, Wis., to surprise her mother on her birthday in January 2005. But the next morning, she was injured when she slipped and fell on her parents' driveway. She filed suit against her parents earlier this year.

The daughter said that a letter from her mom apologizing months after the fall proves that her parents knew they had a defective gutter for years and did nothing about it.

She's seeking more than $75,000 in damages for medical bills and lost wages.

Her parents said that she can't prove the driveway was icy at the time or that their drainage system was faulty.

U.S. District Judge John Shabaz said that a jury should decide the matter.

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Suing the parents? Well, that's just bad form.

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"The Gods are just, and of our pleasant vices
Make instruments to plague us." - King Lear

If the parents were negligent and caused a bunch of hospital bills, then they should pay the bills without being sued. If they're refusing to pay the bills, then a lawsuit is very good form indeed. (It's the only appropriate response in fact, besides planning revenge when her parents are elderly and can't defend themselves. But that could be some serious delayed gratification if her parents are young.)

That assumes the only two responses are either to sue the parents or take revenge on them in their dotage. Taking responsibility for walking across an icy pavement is a third option.

If she knew this problem existed for years, then she probably should have known not to be walking on the driveway when it was icy. Either she knew a danger was present and knowingly took a risk, or the faulty gutter became an issue after the fact, when someone (like a lawyer) pointed out the "neglect".

Driveways get icy sometimes. I would hate to think people are financially responsible for making certain no one walks across them when they do, or keeping them ice-free around the clock.

__________________
"The Gods are just, and of our pleasant vices
Make instruments to plague us." - King Lear

I'm thinking of sueing the state of Hawaii for not keeping their volcanoes lava-free.

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