Response to ESPN Comments on College Athlete's Weightlifting Lawsuit

In response to the many comments on ESPN’s website (“This is another case of someone suing like the ‘hot coffee lady’,”) I felt compelled to write about the USC running back who was injured while bench pressing and the weights and bar fell on his neck (see the previous post). My comment as to the lawsuit filed by the former football standout and the comments it engendered went as follows:

If he was lifting without a spotter, then Stafon should lose under the doctrine of “Assumption of the Risk.” If a USC staff person dropped the weights on his neck on purpose, then he may win. The university likely paid all his medical bills, which would not have been the case had he been injured working out at home, over break, etc. And, if there was an offer for the additional year to get his degree & he did not take it, then a strong argument could be made for “failure to mitigate damages” (a lawyer’s fancy way of saying “get off your arse & get to work”). Lastly, it’s clear 4/3rds of the comments mentioning the McDonalds case do not know the facts. MickeyDs’ scalding hundreds of people when their own doctors and “bean counters” KNEW that by boiling the #### out of their brew they could get several more cups out of the same number of coffee beans, increasing their profits by millions even they KNEW it was so hot it would burn the flesh off the legs off this grandmother, an NFL draftee or you ! If you do not know the facts of the case, then check out https://hotcoffeethemovie.com/

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