Back in our June 2023 newsletter we wrote about swimming and boating liability.  We were barely into June when Tarun heard a story about a jet ski crash.  We thought we would relay the story here to emphasize how careful everyone should be when doing any water related activities.

Of note, the young man (in his low 20s) involved was both an experienced jet ski rider and had his license [in Missouri, anyone born after January 1, 1984 is required to have a separate boating course to get a license to operate a watercraft.  In Illinois, a license is required for anyone born after January 1, 1998].

Back to the story: The young man saw a wave and, as one typically tries to do, he wanted to jump it.  What he did not know is there was a second wave behind it.  He jumped the first wave and then hit the second wave, which stopped the watercraft cold and sent him flying into the water.  Water is much more dense than people realize and, if it is hit with enough force, it can feel like a head-on collision.  In fact, the force of the jet ski hitting the wave was so strong that it triggered a crash alert on his phone’s Life360 app.  When his family received the alert, they understandably panicked since he was on the lake and out of sight.  Luckily, he was wearing a life vest, did not lose consciousness and was able to swim back to the jet ski.  He rode it back to the dock with one usable arm and was taken to the hospital, fearing he broke his collarbone or tore something in his shoulder.  Unfortunately, the hospital confirmed he had a broken bone and suffered a concussion, however, he is expected to make a full recovery.

While this story had a happier ending considering the young man could have drowned, a combination of water safety measures taken from his family/the license, wearing his life vest, having a safety app installed on his phone and luck all contributed to ensuring this was not a fatality.

Some key safety takeaways from this story:

Anyone who uses Facebook knows it can be hard to stop mindlessly scrolling.  Meta, the company that owns Facebook, is now embroiled in hundreds of lawsuits on behalf of minors, school districts and state governments (including Illinois) claiming the product harmed the public.  The lawsuits state the company deliberately designed their product to be harmfully addictive to children.  As an aside, public entities get involved when companies endanger the public at large.  For instance, the sate attorney generals were who sued JUUL for their e-cigarettes and the harm they were causing to minors.

Meta is facing a new problem when it comes to defending the lawsuits and being on the hook for any damages awarded by juries.  Its own insurers initially denied coverage, then said there may be coverage and then went back to denying coverage.  Their denial has to do with the concept of intentional conduct vs. covered conduct.  Simply stated, the insurance policy Meta took out covered certain things and Meta argues these lawsuits are covered under the policy, while the insurance companies disagree.

Most insurance policies have exceptions for intentional conduct.  For instance, (and to keep things super simple without going into all the exceptions but speaking in broad strokes) say someone (Victor the visitor) comes over to a homeowner’s house (Henry the homeowner).  If Victor falls through some stairs that were negligently maintained and Henry has a homeowner’s policy, that is typically going to be covered under insurance.  If, however, Henry assaults Victor, this is likely not covered under most homeowner’s policies because most policies have intentional acts exclusions.  To be clear, this means the insurance companies claim any allegations related to these lawsuits that Meta intentionally caused their product to be addictive to increase their profits is an exclusion that was not covered under the original insurance policies.

Meta argued the insurance companies should have covered this pending litigation and that they are acting in bad faith by trying to deny coverage.  It will be interesting to see what happens, both in terms of the litigation against Meta and with the subplot involving Meta against their insurer.

From time to time, clients call and ask which type of cases we handle.  Our practice is built on referrals from satisfied clients.  We know that if we work hard and do a good job for our clients, they will tell their friends about us.  The best compliment from a former client is that client entrusting us with the potential case of their friend or family.  Our office specializes in the following cases:

1. Personal Injury (auto collisions, trucking, motorcycle, slip and fall, dog bites)
2. Work Injuries
3. Traffic tickets and DUI/DWI

If you know someone that meets these criteria, please have them call our office.  If someone does not quite fit the above criteria, please still have the prospective referral give us a call as we can usually help the person find the right attorney via a referral.