Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California
Vomit in Towncar
Last weekend, I was at a party and got really drunk so I decided to go home. I went downstairs and the valet outside tried to get me a cab. Instead, he got me a towncar. The driver told the valet that she wasn't allowed to take drunk people in her car but the valet said I would be fine. I was too drunk to really say much.
So I get in and on the way, I throw up. She drops me off and charges me $60, $30 for the ride and $30 for the clean-up, which I pay.
Then, on monday, this driver calls me. I guess she asked for my phone number when she dropped me off. She claims that my vomit went between the seats and goes on about how it cost them clean it and that they lost money because they couldn't drive it. Finally she tells me that she has to pay $300 to her boss. I told her to have her manager call me.
I am willing to pay them some more money. I can't afford to pay the amount they are asking but do feel bad and want to give them $100 or so.
If I do pay, could they come after me for more since I'm acknowledging that it is my responsibility?
Also, how should I pay it? I don't want to give them a personal check as the driver has been calling me incessantly and I do not wish to be stalked anymore.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Vomit in Towncar
They should bare the risk. You were more than generous with the $ 100.00 offer. Suw them for violating the Fair Debt Collection Act. Contact me directly.
Re: Vomit in Towncar
There is a rule of the law called the "firefighter's rule." If you are a firefighter, you can't sue whoever started the fire. In other words, when you take the job of firefighter you assume the risk of suffering injury due to other people's negligence in causing fires. The risk of fire is part of the job.
In this case, you could argue that the job of chauffeuring, or being a "common carrier," carries with it the risk that one will occasionally wind up with a passenger who is intoxicated, or who merely has indigestion.
What you did might be defendable in court as not being "negligence." When you really have to hurl, your body gives you little choice. As George Carlin said, "Spitting on the sidewalk is a $25 fine, but vomiting is free."
In short, I would tell her to go pound sand and let her to take you to court. As attorney Bravos pointed out, maybe you will get lucky and they will commit some violation of the debt collection laws. You may yet profit from your bout of nausea.
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