Another (Rule10) Sues Home Depot After Getting Glued to a Toilet Seat

[BPSCG]

A man is suing Home Depot, claiming he stuck to a toilet seat coated with adhesive last year in the men's room at the store at 13915 New Halls Ferry Road in Florissant...

Haywood Rosales of St. Louis alleges he suffered "cuts, bruises, and tearing on his buttocks and thighs" when he stood up.

...Rosales' lawyers, James W. Eason and Peter VanLeunen, say Home Depot was negligent and should have prevented the incident.

The toilet seat was covered with an adhesive and the store should have known that "persons using the particular toilet above were likely to sit, become adhered thereto and subsequently sustain injuries upon standing," the suit said.

Home Depot had been the target of a similar prank on Oct. 30, 2003, in Boulder, Colo., that received substantial media attention when a suit was filed in November 2005.

So Home Depot should have been on the lookout for copycat behavior, "especially since Home Depot sells a wide variety of adhesive products," the suit says...Okay, a few thoughts on this:

If I were Haywood Rosales, and I were clumsy and stupid enough to get my butt glued to a toilet seat, I would try to keep it as quiet as possible. I certainly wouldn't want the story to appear on Tuesday morning's Fox and Friends First TV program, because from then on, I'd be known to everyone in the country as "that idiot Haywood Rosales, who got his butt glued to a toilet at Home Depot."
Apparently, Mr. Rosales doesn't think it should be necessary to have a look at the seat before he plops his butt on it. It may be very rare that you find glue on a toilet seat, but we've all observed other substances that you wouldn't want to sit in, even if they aren't glue.
This is yet another example of Dave Barry's observation that the Founding Fathers wisely placed language in the U.S. Constitution that says, "If anything bad should happen to anyone, for any reason, it can not possibly be his own fault, and is probably the fault of a large corporation with deep pockets, if you get our drift."
Who here suspects he might have done it himself? :w2:

[Dancing David]

Must depend on state law, I do not see how a store is liable through the act of a prankster. There was not enough basis for knowledge of a threat and negligence to deal with the threat.

I do have to say 'ouch', he is lucky his scrotum did not adhere to the seat, although that would take some effort.

[WildCat]

I always cover the toilet seat in a public bathroom before sitting on it, but glue is the least of my worries. Fecal matter and urine top my list of things I don't want to sit in.

[Suddenly]

Okay, a few thoughts on this:

If I were Haywood Rosales, and I were clumsy and stupid enough to get my butt glued to a toilet seat, I would try to keep it as quiet as possible. I certainly wouldn't want the story to appear on Tuesday morning's Fox and Friends First TV program, because from then on, I'd be known to everyone in the country as "that idiot Haywood Rosales, who got his butt glued to a toilet at Home Depot."



Wasn't it PJ O'Rourke that said that trading public humiliation for money is a longstanding American tradition?

As I recall he said it before the reality show craze hit, so it wasn't as obvious then as now...

I don't buy it either. If you don't look down when you sit on a public toilet, having your rear glued to the seat is a cheap way to learn a lesson in basic hygene.

(I did once get stuck to a toilet seat because it was cracked and somehow I got some skin pinched in there... very painful. So I don't sit on a cracked seat anymore. Learn from my mistake...)

[BPSCG]

Wasn't it PJ O'Rourke that said that trading public humiliation for money is a longstanding American tradition? Sounds like his style. He wrote in Parliament of Whores something along the lines of, "Used to be that when you read that an entertainer has got roaring drunk, trashed his hotel room, and spent the night in jail, and was going to rehab, that was the end of his career. Now it's simply part of his resumé."

[Patsy]

I'm not against corporation being held responsible for their actual negligence, but I can't see what duty they failed in here. Are they supposed to have someone stationed in the restroom to check the seats for glue between each and every user?

:confused:

[jj]

All I can say is that they ought to catch the (*&(*&@#$ who put the glue on the seat, and let Home Depot at him after the victim and the criminal courts are done.

But sue Home Despot? Um, for what? Not checking the toilet seats every 5 minutes?

Now the VICTIM here has my sympathy, alright. It's not funny. :(

[BPSCG]

Now the VICTIM here has my sympathy, alright. It's not funny. :(Well, if he's clueless enough to routinely not look at the toilet seat in a public restroom before he plops his butt down on it, you can be sure that this isn't the first time he's gotten a foreign substance on his butt. Frankly, given a choice between being forced to sit down on a toilet seat with contact cement on it and one with urine and feces on it, I'll take the cement ten times out of ten and twice on Sundays. Haywood Rosales does both, but only sues over the glue.

[Beerina]

Okay, a few thoughts on this:

Who here suspects he might have done it himself? :w2:


:w2: It's such a wonderful solution, too, now that stores have cameras everywhere and are catching people left and right busting mayonaisse jars, then "slipping" on them, because it's illegal to put cameras in bathrooms, especially a stall.

[TragicMonkey]

I guess the lesson is, "go before you leave home".

[casebro]

Or "Go, before the glue sets up" ?

[Ladewig]

Who here suspects he might have done it himself? :w2:
[/LIST]

That is the first thought I had after reading the story.

[Daylight]

BPSCG

Let's put a positive slant on this. Think of the wonderful PSA we could do to ALWAYS use a toilet seat cover. :D

[casebro]

Lessee, it had to have been an instant adhesive, (Super Glue, Crazy Glue, Eastman 910...) that dries in seconds. So, the store would need to check every toilet every 30 seconds? Not doable, but I can see new signage required by insurance companies:

Caution, Wet Floor, Be Careful
(stick figure doing a prat fall)

Caution, Seat sticky if Glue has been applied
(stick figure of man walking with toilet stuck to rear end)

[ponderingturtle]

Lessee, it had to have been an instant adhesive, (Super Glue, Crazy Glue, Eastman 910...) that dries in seconds. So, the store would need to check every toilet every 30 seconds? Not doable, but I can see new signage required by insurance companies:


Wrong. I have waited for a half hour waiting for cyanoacrylate to set up.

It bonds to skin instantly though.

[Patsy]

Caution, Seat sticky if Glue has been applied
(stick figure of man walking with toilet stuck to rear end)

You owe me a new keyboard :roll:

[BPSCG]

:w2: It's such a wonderful solution, too, now that stores have cameras everywhere and are catching people left and right busting mayonaisse jars, then "slipping" on them, because it's illegal to put cameras in bathrooms, especially a stall.Hadn't heard of that.

They still make glass mayonnaise jars? :confused:

[BPSCG]

You can read the complaint here (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/0613081toilet1.html). Hard to believe Haywood Rosales's lawyer could write this up and keep a straight face the whole time.

He claims Rosales "was rendered unable to work and lost earnings in an amount to be determined at trial, but in excess of $25,000." :)

[plumjam]

I always cover the toilet seat in a public bathroom
So do I. With piss.

[The Fool]

You can read the complaint here (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/0613081toilet1.html). Hard to believe Haywood Rosales's lawyer could write this up and keep a straight face the whole time.

He claims Rosales "was rendered unable to work and lost earnings in an amount to be determined at trial, but in excess of $25,000." :)
Come on beeps......$25,000 seems a reasonable estimate, the guy is probably an international underwear model.


On the other side of the coin. Lets for a moment forget you are not stupid enough to get your butt glued to a toilet seat.......but lets imagine that it did happen, to you....would you feel aggrieved. I know I would.

[TX50]

Caution, Seat sticky if Glue has been applied
(stick figure of man walking with toilet stuck to rear end)

I wonder why Bon Jovi didn't choose that one?

[mikedenk]

He claims Rosales "was rendered unable to work and lost earnings in an amount to be determined at trial, but in excess of $25,000." :)


What a shockingly low amount! I figured at LEAST 10 times that for all the emotional distress, suffering, etc.

[leonAzul]

I guess the lesson is, "go before you leave home".

Or when in doubt, just "hover above 'er".

:duck:

[leonAzul]

But sue Home Despot? Um, for what? Not checking the toilet seats every 5 minutes?

Now the VICTIM here has my sympathy, alright. It's not funny. :(

A property owner is responsible for anything that happens on their property, that's what liability insurance is for.

Although in this case, the plaintiff might even claim an "attractive nuisance"

:bgrin:

[BPSCG]

A property owner is responsible for anything that happens on their property, that's what liability insurance is for.I wasn't aware of that.

So if you and I are at Home Depot, and we're both standing in front of the display of 14" left-handed flanged monkey wrenches, and I decide I don't like your face and grab one of the 14" left-handed flanged monkey wrenches and bash your head in with it*, your widow can collect from Home Depot's liability insurance?

* Not that I would do something like that unless I had a pretty good reason or there was money involved...

[Beerina]

Wrong. I have waited for a half hour waiting for cyanoacrylate to set up.

It bonds to skin instantly though.

Yeah it's some weird stuff that sets when squeezed or something. Just a drop will sit there for quite awhile. I'm not even sure it "sets" in that case, or just dries out.

[WildCat]

:w2: It's such a wonderful solution, too, now that stores have cameras everywhere and are catching people left and right busting mayonaisse jars, then "slipping" on them, because it's illegal to put cameras in bathrooms, especially a stall.

Hadn't heard of that.

They still make glass mayonnaise jars? :confused:
bA9SlmstLa8

[leonAzul]

I wasn't aware of that.

So if you and I are at Home Depot, and we're both standing in front of the display of 14" left-handed flanged monkey wrenches, and I decide I don't like your face and grab one of the 14" left-handed flanged monkey wrenches and bash your head in with it*, your widow can collect from Home Depot's liability insurance?

* Not that I would do something like that unless I had a pretty good reason or there was money involved...

I understand the hypothetical nature of the question and would never take it personally :bgrin:

It would be reasonable to assume, under the circumstances, that you were arrested, tried and convicted for my murder. That would pretty much defuse any claim of sole liability on the part of Home Depot [and the lack of a suspect is what makes this :rule10 suit viable.] Yet surviving family members can and often do seek civil compensation beyond criminal punishment, so in the case you propose it wouldn't be illogical to attempt to sue you and Home Depot--though I suspect that the court would share my [not my hypothetical dead body's] view that it were highly unreasonable. Of course if you happened to be an employee of Home Depot, that might give the claim a little more traction.

Either way, you can be sure that should my widow be successful, the insurance company will try to weasel out of footing the bill.

As an example of just how strange this can get, I offer a link to a brief synopsis of the "Grandmother of all civil claims": Stella Liebeck versus McDonald's. Link (http://www.stellaawards.com/stella.html).

[Magyar]

I find these stories INCREDIBLY HARD to believe.

I work with super glue all the time (and on a side note the RULE 8 stuff doesn't really glue anything else other then skin and corals) for glueing coral cuttings (aquarium reef keepers propogate captive corals by taking cuttings and then super glueing them to rocks)

the stuff dries in a flash unless you use HUGE globs of the stuff. And if you are willing to sit on a public toilet without looking - you deserve what you get.


On another side note - what kind of kick do the people who do this get out of it?
Is it for the pain being caused?

[TX50]

the RULE 8 stuff doesn't really glue anything else other then skin and ...

Wasn't it originally developed for surgical applications?

[BPSCG]

On another side note - what kind of kick do the people who do this get out of it? I just They must like watching people getting their naked butts pried off toilet seats by the local fire department.

Or so I'm told...:rolleyes:

[four elevener]

I guess the lesson is, "go before you leave home".


Easier said than done, especially if one's need to go suddenly becomes, shall we say, explosive.

[webfusion]

[off-topic]
Did anyone see the episode of Gene Simmons FAMILY JEWELS reality TV show, where Carrot-Top was assembling props for his comedy act and Gene picked-up a vibrator (euphamistically called a back-massager) that had been coated with some superglue for a weird sight-gag Carrot-Top was building, and the vibrator bonded to his hand !

[/off-topic]

[ponderingturtle]

I find these stories INCREDIBLY HARD to believe.

I work with super glue all the time (and on a side note the RULE 8 stuff doesn't really glue anything else other then skin and corals) for glueing coral cuttings (aquarium reef keepers propogate captive corals by taking cuttings and then super glueing them to rocks)

the stuff dries in a flash unless you use HUGE globs of the stuff. And if you are willing to sit on a public toilet without looking - you deserve what you get.


On another side note - what kind of kick do the people who do this get out of it?
Is it for the pain being caused?

It is water that causes it to set, so if you are in a dry enviroment gluing dry objects it will not set up fast.