Current Events > Family suing University when daughter dies after pancake eating contest

(+) Yeah! (+)

fenderbender321 posted...

VipaGTS posted...

TiamatLover posted...

A_Good_Boy posted...

fenderbender321 posted...

eston posted...

Because the University did not take proper safety precautions when holding an eating contest

Why hold the university accountable rather than the people who voluntarily choose to put themselves at risk?

That's not how anything works.

But it should be. If the university had slack food standards and accidentally chucked rat poison or whatever in the pancakes, I'd say THAT would be 100% fair to hold them responsible. But when the students - adult students at that - choose of their own accord to enter something like this, that's their fault if it goes wrong. They're fucking universities, not babysitters.

Its still the universitys responsibility to take proper safety precautions. Adult or not. If youre holding this type of event on campus as a school advertised event its their responsibility. Did the school have them sign waivers letting them know this could happen that would absolve them from blame? Nope. But theyre adults! Shouldnt be how laws in this situation work.

I get that's how things work in this day and age, but is it really the best system? In many ways I would prefer a system where we make adults more accountable for their actions.

For example, let's say I told somebody that I think they should ride their bike off a cliff into the ocean. And they do it. And they die. Do I get in trouble? Hell no. That was their choice. But let's say I post on Facebook "hey I'm organizing an event where we ride our bikes off a cliff. Let me know if you want to sign up." and then people sign up, we go through with the plan, but one of the guys dies. Then do I get in trouble? Maybe not, but why wouldn't I? How is that different than if the University organized the event? And if I would get into trouble...again why? At the end of the day, the person's action of getting on his bike and riding it off the cliff are 100% responsible for their death.

Really gets you to think...when you get right down to it, the only reason we hold things like universities and businesses accountable for things that go bad is because they have money.

Yes. Inciting people to commit crimes is still a crime by itself. Game shows can't get its participants to kill each other or do things like "film the best suicide" no matter if it's the "players themselves who choose to harm each other". People who organize things badly without the proper care need to take personal responsibility for their own consequences

I think they should only be liable if one of the hosts said "you got to eat these, you gotta inhale them"
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Did she sign a do not sue waiver?
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Conflict posted...

Middle hope posted...

This is in no way the unis fault

They held the contest so yes, it is

Why not the pancake mix? That's what did it, probably more money in it too
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lets mandate waivers for everything

that's the america i want to live in
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Listen, I am sorry that this family lost their daughter.....its unfortunate but they are really going to sue her university and try to ban eating contests? Is that a joke? I mean what if the girl had choked and died on food prepared at her parents' house? Would a lawsuit still be filed?

fenderbender321 posted...

All I know is that if I ever died because of some contest I entered, I would never want my family to sue anyone and try to ruin everyone else's fun over me.

I'd feel the same way.

My friend's mom recently by choking. They were eating dinner and he tried for a good 5 minutes to help her and couldn't. I cant fuxking imagine how horrible that is.

I've always had a bit of a fear about choking. Even as a little kid, certain candy like that hard gumballs, I passed on.

Remember that rapper who died IN THE HOSPITAL because he choked on an egg? What a fucking awful way to go.
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I don't understand the point of eating contests. Strength contest? Sure. Drinking contests. Yeah.

I'm sorry for their loss, but there's no point in suing a place for something a fully grown woman chose to participate in.
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JlM posted...

My friend's mom recently by choking. They were eating dinner and he tried for a good 5 minutes to help her and couldn't.

Damn that's sad.
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It's called a waiver. Even yoga studios have them. If the University had them sign, then good luck successfully suing.
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Pancake eating contest. Fucking hell that sounds like something I'd try because I love pancakes.

Choking SUCKS, those few times I've choked IRL freaks you the fuck out. Like breathing heavily after either spitting or swallowing it you really feel like you could of died.
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C_Pain posted...

Isn't it embarrassing to die from this kind of stuff? I wonder if other people make fun of you in the afterlife.

I think Pixar answers this in Coco. They made fun of a character that supposedly choked to death on some chorizo

Make sure to put your daughter's death toward financial and political gain!
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I wonder if some or most of her pancakes were undercooked and she inadvertently ingested sticky pancake dough. That stuff does literally become concrete when it dries.
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Conflict posted...

Lil_Bit83 posted...

I don't understand the point of eating contests. Strength contest? Sure. Drinking contests. Yeah.

I'm sorry for their loss, but there's no point in suing a place for something a fully grown woman chose to participate in.

They shouldn't have had the contests then if it was bound to be unsafe

Accountability goes both ways

Sports games are unsafe. You can get hurt pretty bad playing soccer, football, hockey, rugby, and yet people do those. There are even college teams, that play against other college teams.
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JlM posted...

My friend's mom recently by choking. They were eating dinner and he tried for a good 5 minutes to help her and couldn't. I cant fuxking imagine how horrible that is.

I've always had a bit of a fear about choking. Even as a little kid, certain candy like that hard gumballs, I passed on.

Remember that rapper who died IN THE HOSPITAL because he choked on an egg? What a fucking awful way to go.

Choking is horrid. I once choked on asparagus spears.
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Conflict posted...

Silver Bearings posted...

Make sure to put your daughter's death toward financial and political gain!

This is an extremely stupid post and you know precisely why

Oh? Why is someone's stupidity (eating contests are stupid) always have to be someone else's fault?
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fenderbender321 posted...

TiamatLover posted...

fenderbender321 posted...

VipaGTS posted...

TiamatLover posted...

A_Good_Boy posted...

fenderbender321 posted...

eston posted...

Why hold the university accountable rather than the people who voluntarily choose to put themselves at risk?

That's not how anything works.

But it should be. If the university had slack food standards and accidentally chucked rat poison or whatever in the pancakes, I'd say THAT would be 100% fair to hold them responsible. But when the students - adult students at that - choose of their own accord to enter something like this, that's their fault if it goes wrong. They're fucking universities, not babysitters.

Its still the universitys responsibility to take proper safety precautions. Adult or not. If youre holding this type of event on campus as a school advertised event its their responsibility. Did the school have them sign waivers letting them know this could happen that would absolve them from blame? Nope. But theyre adults! Shouldnt be how laws in this situation work.

I get that's how things work in this day and age, but is it really the best system? In many ways I would prefer a system where we make adults more accountable for their actions.

For example, let's say I told somebody that I think they should ride their bike off a cliff into the ocean. And they do it. And they die. Do I get in trouble? Hell no. That was their choice. But let's say I post on Facebook "hey I'm organizing an event where we ride our bikes off a cliff. Let me know if you want to sign up." and then people sign up, we go through with the plan, but one of the guys dies. Then do I get in trouble? Maybe not, but why wouldn't I? How is that different than if the University organized the event? And if I would get into trouble...again why? At the end of the day, the person's action of getting on his bike and riding it off the cliff are 100% responsible for their death.

Really gets you to think...

People have built up far too much of an expectation that everyone else is responsible for looking after them, and that they shouldn't have any personal responsibility.

Agree 100%. It's the very thing that leads people to just assume everyone else is always going to look after them, when in reality that isn't always going to happen (case in point: this story).

because when companies in the real world do public events like this they're actually supposed to have everything legally set up beforehand. you're not hiring a lawyer and writing documentation in your hypothetical cliff diving analogy
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That's one girl who didn't know how to swallow.
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fenderbender321 posted...

Conflict posted...

fenderbender321 posted...

Conflict posted...

One is athletic and another has zero benefits.

So whether or not a contest has "benefits" for the participants is the deciding factor in whether or not the organizer of said contest should be responsible for any injuries to it's participants? If so, why?

Why are you trying to argue as obliviously as possible

Eating contests are dangerous by nature. Sports have an element of potential danger but they have athletic benefits. You can't just mindlessly twist these facts to make them comparable, it doesn't work like that.

Like 5 people have died from eating contests throughout the world over the past few years. That's not very many at all.

that's more than how many die playing most professional sports
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Gotta chew your food.
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Conflict posted...

One is athletic and another has zero benefits.

Next.

You said they shouldn't have people compete in dangerous things at college. I pointed out the flaw in that logic.

There is nothing wrong with people taking personal accountability for their own actions. People ditch it far too often and try to sue, far too often. One potentially dangerous thing does not mean its equal or less, to another potentially dangerous thing, just because it's different in nature. A competetion is a competition.
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fenderbender321 posted...

PBusted posted...

fenderbender321 posted...

VipaGTS posted...

TiamatLover posted...

A_Good_Boy posted...

fenderbender321 posted...

Why hold the university accountable rather than the people who voluntarily choose to put themselves at risk?

That's not how anything works.

But it should be. If the university had slack food standards and accidentally chucked rat poison or whatever in the pancakes, I'd say THAT would be 100% fair to hold them responsible. But when the students - adult students at that - choose of their own accord to enter something like this, that's their fault if it goes wrong. They're fucking universities, not babysitters.

Its still the universitys responsibility to take proper safety precautions. Adult or not. If youre holding this type of event on campus as a school advertised event its their responsibility. Did the school have them sign waivers letting them know this could happen that would absolve them from blame? Nope. But theyre adults! Shouldnt be how laws in this situation work.

I get that's how things work in this day and age, but is it really the best system? In many ways I would prefer a system where we make adults more accountable for their actions.

For example, let's say I told somebody that I think they should ride their bike off a cliff into the ocean. And they do it. And they die. Do I get in trouble? Hell no. That was their choice. But let's say I post on Facebook "hey I'm organizing an event where we ride our bikes off a cliff. Let me know if you want to sign up." and then people sign up, we go through with the plan, but one of the guys dies. Then do I get in trouble? Maybe not, but why wouldn't I? How is that different than if the University organized the event? And if I would get into trouble...again why? At the end of the day, the person's action of getting on his bike and riding it off the cliff are 100% responsible for their death.

Really gets you to think...when you get right down to it, the only reason we hold things like universities and businesses accountable for things that go bad is because they have money.

Yes. Inciting people to commit crimes is still a crime by itself. Game shows can't get its participants to kill each other or do things like "film the best suicide" no matter if it's the "players themselves who choose to harm each other". People who organize things badly without the proper care need to take personal responsibility for their own consequences

"I was incited" isn't a good enough excuse for me.

And "they did it to themselves" isn't a good excuse to organize a suicide club or have game shows like Fear Factor risk people's lives even if they sign up for it.