I’ve been following a story in my communtiy. Almost a year ago, a 9 year old boy was killed in a freak accident in a city park. The cause of accident has yet to be determined, but it was a piece of city property which killed him. (The little boy was doing nothing wrong. The equipment malfunctioned in some way.)
The city has offered his parents half a million dollars as a settlement. The family rejected it, calling the offer “insulting.”
I understand the boy’s family suffered much pain and grief from their son’s death, and that no ammount of money can make up for that. But why is half a million insulting?
My husband, who is the primary bread-winner in the family, has the same ammount in life insurance. Why is the little boy “worth” more than my husband? I can’t see a reason for asking for more except for punitive reasons.
Again, this was a freak accident, in no way forseeable. The equipment was well-maintained, and was being used in the proper manner. I guess I could see suing for millions out of anger if the city had been negligent, but this doesn’t seem to be the case.
Do you think that half a million is an unreasonable offer in this situation?
I honestly don’t believe that this is a debate which can be answered with a definitive response unfortunately. It’s very much like the old question, how long is a piece of string?
For every point which can be made in one direction, another equally valid point can be made to contradict it.
We live in an age where compensation is par for the course. Instinctively, as a parent, if my child were to die from an accident like the one above, I’d put it down to fate and I doubt I could accept the money. I’d feel as though I was living off her memory and I wouldn’t like that.
But obviously, that’s a private position and it’s one which I can’t expect others to follow.
…has a powerful positive emotional and cultural resonance. “A cool million”. “I feel like a million bucks.” “Millionaire”.
“Half” of anything has a negative resonance. “Half a loaf is better than none.” “The glass isn’t half empty–it’s half full”. “Half-wit”. “Half-hearted”.
Dunno how much a little boy is “worth”, but I’m not surprised the parents were offended. Emotionally, they must have felt like they were being offered half a loaf.
If it truly wasn’t anyone’s fault and a freak accident, I’m not sure I see why any money should be paid out. The value of a human life is, in my opinion, priceless. No amount of money is going to make their loss any less great. No amount of money is going to diminish the pain. If it were my child, I wouldn’t want the money. I would want to ensure that a proper investigation is done to make sure that no other family had to suffer what I did. What, am I supposed to go on vacation, buy a new car? Are any of those things really going to make me feel better.
Having said all of that. the fact that the city is making this offer suggests to me that perhaps they feel that they are liable in some regard.
A human being is priceless, IMO. No amount of money will bring him back or possibly recompense his parents, his family, his community or the world for the loss of his potential, which is incalculable in any case.
However, it might be appropriate to accept the city’s offer and create a memorial fund in the child’s name, perhaps to use for other children in some way. I’m sure that, with reasonable care, something useful could be done with that sum. Something that could honour the memory of the child and give his parents some sort of positive channel for their grief, if and when they might be ready to cope with such an endeavour.
Its a hard thing for a parent to think about. A number of years ago my little girl died of a heart defect that wasn’t caught by the doctors or by the hospital with its sonogram equipment. The pediatrition was clearly at fault (he supposedly examined her repeatedly but never detected a problem…a problem which, when we took her to another doctor because she wasn’t gaining weight, found instantly). The hospital which did the sonogram was also at fault…so said 3 independant doctors that we consulted with after the defect was found…and after she died.
So, here I am with a devistated family. I have a son that is completely devistated, a wife thats a basket case and myself going out of my mind with grief and am torn apart trying to hold my family together…to be strong, because thats what men (especially hispanic men) are SUPPOSED to do. Ya, right.
And I have a lawyer telling me that I can sue for compensation from both the hospital and the doctor. My own decision? I chose not to do anything like that, simply putting the facts we had gathered before the medical board in my then home state…they could do what they will with the information. Why? No amount of money would bring my little girl back to me. Just the thought of it was making me physically sick…how could they bribe me off with mere money when it was my baby that died??
I can understand the pull for a parent. For myself, if I HAD of gone through with it, it would have been purely for revenge. But, there is no revenge. The doctor and the hospital certainly wouldn’t feel the pain…thats why they have insurance after all. So, it would have been, IMO, money for money’s sake…and NO amount of money was equal to my little girl.
xtisme, you have my sympathy and respect. I don’t know if I would do the same. I do know that I was furious with my pediatrician when my son developed diabetes because they were being obstinant about seeing us in the office. By telephone, they had suggested that he was irritable, demanding drinks and peeing incessantly because we were giving into his demands for drinks. He suffered through a night of feeling terrible because of hyperglycemia and was at risk for brain injury until he got treated. If he had suffered long term damage or death as a result, I sure would have smoked the pediatrician with anything at my disposal.
To answer the thread title: the world and everything in it.
Hardest thing I ever posted to be honest. A friend of mine (who also lost a child) read something in a book once that helped…she said that “A parent never really loses a child. Even when they die, they are always a part of you. A parent never forgets”. True enough…its been 5 years and no…neither my wife nor I ever forget.
Appreciate the support. Was going to ignore this thread, as its very painful…but thought it was important. It was…to me. Hentor the Barbarian has it right…the world and everything in it.
This isn’t a case of putting a value on human life because that is surprisingly easy. Insurance companies do it all the time. In this case, the child does not represent a line of income for his parents and will not in the future (unless the parents were managing a child star).
The monetary settlement would be in the form of pain and suffering for the loss of a child. and for that, there is no number.
xtisme, There is nothing that touches the soul more than to hear of the loss of a child. Your actions were profound and I suspect the people who call you friend will benefit from knowing you.
I dont think sueing the city, is the way to go. The taxpayers of the city will end up paying, probably all of whom had no idea of the danger.
Who should pay, monetarily, and maybe even jail time, is the individual, the particular city employee, who allowed such a thing to happen. If you investigate hard enough, you will find some individual(s) who directly allowed the dangerous situation. That person(s) should be held accountable, personally - not the taxpayers of that city.
Going after the taxpayers is what you do if you want money, but it doesnt serve justice. Punishing the guilty person is the only way to get justice. In the loss of a life, or any permanent physical damage, justice is all that can be hoped for.
If this was a true freak accident, then the parents should not recover anything, because there should be no liability. In general the law only requires you to prevent accidents when the cost of preventing the accident is less than the product of the probability of an accident occuring times the expected damages if the accident occurs. If you impose strict liability for accidents you get all sorts of bad results, including massive over-detterence; in short it isn’t an efficient use of society’s resources.
So, in this case, the parents shouldn’t get anything and they were unwise to turn down the $500K offer as it is more than they deserve.
The problem with this is that after almost a year of intense investigation, no individual has been found to be at fault. The object was found to be in perfectly good working order when the investigators examined it, so it doesn’t appear that any maintenance employee is liable.
The accident certainly wasn’t forseeable because no one had ever even heard of this object doing what it did. They’re still trying to figure it out, but everyone is completely baffled.
What’s baffling about it? Sometimes shit just happens. Yes, it sucks, but it was no-ones fault so just suck it up and move on. If it truely was a blameless accident, then the appropriate response from the parents should be “We appreciate the offer but we just wouldn’t feel right taking money for the death of our child”
Kinda at the opposite end of the spectrum, a buddy of mine’s aged mom died in a nursing home. She was far gone w/ Altzheimers, and needed to be moved via hoist. The attendant used the hoist improperly, dropped her on her head, and she died a day later from her injuries.
As I see it, the nursing home was clearly at fault under various theories. But I find interesting the question of how her life should be valued. The family turned down an offer of $300G as insulting. They maintain they wish to “punish” the nursing home for their negligence, and publicize the neglect that goes on in such settings.
In my mind, I’m not sure that an 80-some year old partially sentient person who can care for none of their personal needs is worth a whole lot more than $300G. An interesting thought exercise.
I think they may be wise to reconsider the city’s offer. Unless they can prove negligence in some way, a jury may be sympathetic but reluctant to award damages.
Lissa does not mention whether the family is suing and asking for more money, or refusing the offered sum because they don’t want any. Can you elaborate, please, Lissa? I’m confused.
They filed a lawsuit after rejecting the offer, and the media hasn’t reported what amount of money they’re seeking. Considering they found the $500,000 “insulting,” I’m betting it’s a couple million.
Also reminds me of a formative incident in law school that I’ve mentioned here before:
clerking for a PI atty who just got a client for a wrongful death case, enters the office, indicates the need to write up the complaint, and loudly asks, “How much is a dead nigger baby worth?” Answering himself, "Put down a million bucks. It will get my name in the paper."
How exactly did the kid die?
As to the OP’s question–worth WAY more than could be compensated for monetarily. That said, I think the city’s offer is more than generous if they were truely not at fault. That money could go to funeral expenses and lost wages for time off work while planning/grieving, with more than enough left over to set up a nice college fund for any remaining children. What I find insulting is the attitude that a blameless tragedy is a good opportunity to “cash in”. Scads and scads of money might make life a bit cushier, but would you really enjoy spending it knowing you pimped out your dead child to get it? I wouldn’t.
