Personal Injury Law

City Musuem Stands up to Personal Injury Lawsuits

By Michael

Management from the St. Louis-area City Museum used Facebook recently as way to voice discontent with a number of personal injury lawsuits filed against the museum.

On April 5th, museum management decided to voice their feelings through their Facebook fan page, acknowledging that the museum is a place where ?kids and adults can run, jump, and play, that there is a risk for injury.?

But it was further written in the note that museum has taken active steps to post appropriate warning signs around attractions that can be dangerous, such as their seven-story slide. The museum staff has also grown tired of ?people that see the museum as an opportunity to perpetuate insurance fraud.?

Within the note are a few examples of injury lawsuits filed against the museum. In one example, a rock fell from one of the interactive, installation pieces. In the note, City Museum says surveillance video showed no one came in contact with the rock. And yet, 12 people called the museum and claimed they were injured in the incident.

The note also pointed out that 75 percent of the lawsuits have stemmed from injuries adults have claimed to sustain at the museum.

City Museum Spokesman Rick Irwin told the Riverfront Times that he was the author of the note.

?Bob just got frustrated,? Irwin said about City Museum founder and owner Bob Cassilly. ?The majority of the lawsuits are frivolous. People look at any opportunity. We actually have an employee here who was sitting in a coffeehouse the other day and this guy came up to him and said, ‘Do you wanna make a lot of money? See that wet floor? I’m gonna fall on it and you can be a witness.’ ”

A second note appeared on Facebook shortly after the first detailing three lawsuits filed by adults, two of whom said they were injured on a slide and another claiming to be hurt in the museum?s ball pit. Irwin told the Riverfront Times that Cassilly himself wrote the second note.

?2. Joli Sutter vs City Museum - You run and jump into the baby ball pit. Sign says ?6 and under? and ?Do not jump,?? Cassilly wrote in the note.

According to the St. Louis area broadcast news station KMOV-TV, 26 injury lawsuits have been filed against the museum since 2004. Cassilly declined to specify how much the museum has paid out in damages and settlements.

As of April 8, 277 people liked the first Facebook note, while 91 comments were posted, many of which read positively about the museum.

Full post as published by The Injury Blog on April 14, 2010 (boomark / email).