Personal Injury Law

Coconut Injury Lawsuit Thrown Out After Appeal

By Michael

A personal injury lawsuit filed by a woman who claimed she was hit in the head with a coconut during a New Orleans parade was recently thrown out in court.

Daisy Johnson Palmer, 74, was looking for damage payments after she claimed that on Feb. 26, 2006, a hollowed-out coconut was lobbed at her, causing a bloody cut and further trauma, according to the New Orleans Times Picayune.

Palmer, a retired school teacher from the Jefferson Parrish area, sued the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club, who host the parade.

But four years later, an appeals court in Louisiana recently decided that her case was without merit and stopped the lawsuit from going to trial in the Orleans Parish Civil District Court. The injury lawsuit has been appealed and Palmer?s attorney Edwin Fleischmann said they are awaiting a decision from the state supreme court.

About 23 years ago, coconuts were added to a list of official items that are commonly thrown during Mardi Gras festivities in New Orleans where people are not able sue throwers for any injuries sustained from them, according to the Times Picayune.

Despite the state protection from injury lawsuits, people still can sue under the grounds of ?gross negligence,? alleging that a float rider is acting in an inappropriate way that causes harm.

?They are not supposed to throw coconuts from the floats, and people get hurt,? Fleischmann said. ?Zulu has written rules against this, and they did it anyway. If my wife or grandmother gets hit with a coconut, what do I care if it’s thrown overhand or underhand??

Two videos were reportedly shown in court, but neither showed the actual coconut striking Palmer.

The Zulu group argued that they have a century-old participation in Mardi Gras, and that the parade during which Palmer claimed she was struck was the first celebration after Hurricane Katrina, where the group still was learning of members who were lost to the flood water.

?It’s hard to imagine anything more traditional than a Zulu coconut,? Attorney Tommy Hightower wrote in defense of the Zulu group. ?They are trying to do people a favor; this is a very sought-after item.?

Namaan Stewart, vice president of the Zulu group, testified in court that he was using newer coconuts in 2006 that were lighter weight than ones in the past, and handing them to people calling for them, including Palmer.

Coconuts were added to the list of items that can be lightly tossed into crowds during Mardis Gras, including beads, cups and doubloons.

Full post as published by The Injury Blog on April 25, 2010 (boomark / email).