Skateboarder Branded by Manhole Cover Sues

[karyn]

from yahoo

NEW YORK - A woman who was branded with letters from the Consolidated Edison logo when she fell off a skateboard onto a searing hot manhole cover in Manhattan last year filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking unspecified damages from the utility.

Elizabeth C. Wallenberg, 27, was burned just above her buttocks and on her left arm when she fell off her skateboard onto a cover over a steam pipe at Second Avenue and 13th Street in the East Village shortly after midnight on Aug. 11, 2004, said her lawyer Ronald Berman.

"It literally looked like a brand that had been applied by someone," Berman said about the burn marks left on Wallenberg's body.

He said she was treated for the injury in the Beth Israel Hospital emergency room and was released.

Wallenberg, then a Brooklyn resident who worked for Paper magazine, reportedly said she heard her skin sizzle and saw an "o" and an "n" from the hot cover impressed upon her body. Wallenberg has been told the scarring is permanent, Berman said.

The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan's state Supreme Court, accused Con Ed of "negligence, carelessness, recklessness and culpable conduct" related to Wallenberg's injuries.

Court papers said Wallenberg, now a factory worker who lives in Portland, Ore., is entitled to compensatory and punitive damages because of Con Ed's "reprehensible and egregious failure and refusal ... to protect the public from this manifestly clear and present danger."

Con Ed spokesman Chris Olert said he had no comment on the lawsuit.

[killerkat]

what kind of Pansy ass skater suis for taking a fall...

what a dumb bitch....

[devil13]

what kind of Pansy ass skater suis for taking a fall...

what a dumb bitch....

[Umbilical Lotus]

Suing for a fall = stupid.

However, I'm wondering why the manhole cover was hot enough to sear...

[devil13]

in some cities they use water / steam for heating large apts

[Cafe_Post_Mortem]

I'm no scientician or nothing, hell I'm not even a skater, but a manhole cover isn't supposed to be hot enough to brand someone is it? Any NYers know the deal on this? I mean, it doesn't come up much out in my end of town.

[Umbilical Lotus]

Eh, when I think 'manhole cover', I think the circular bits on the street that lead to sewers, and there is no reason other than total fuckery why they should be that hot. Even if it was used for heating, the placement of those things are often so esoteric as to make a fall onto one of them pretty odd... or only hot enough to make one go 'ow!' and roll away instead of get seared.

Eh.

[Morning Glory]

well usually they are right in the middle of the road so the odds of a person coming into contact with one is really not that unlikely.

[Camby Savelle]

Umbilical Lotus,

I love Harle, however that is the worst picture of her I've ever seen. That saddens me to look at.

[Umbilical Lotus]

I admit my Google search was less than thorough. Also I didn't want the typical one, but eh.

[Evilbink]

what kind of Pansy ass skater suis for taking a fall...

what a dumb bitch....

No shit....Some people would pay good money for a cool branding. She got her's for free

[killerkat]

No shit....Some people would pay good money for a cool branding. She got her's for free

exactly,.....i didn't even think about that...YEA!!,dammit....



(actually mine was real cheap 'cus my Bud did it )

[Tequila Zaire]

Suing for a fall = stupid.

However, I'm wondering why the manhole cover was hot enough to sear...

In NYC and other cities they get insanely hot...I remember a lil news stunt where they friend an egg on an NYC manhole cover...

I feel for the skater...must have burned like a bitch...but that's part of the risk you take skating.

[Pull~My~Hair]

well...my guess was she was drunk anyway...little after midnight and falling..good combo..but there really should be sometime of flagger letting people know that they are that hot...i mean a little kid could get on that shit...but i dont think its grounds for a lawsuit...but fuck, ny has enough money..she probably needs a new board

[KilLAtomiK]

dude that sounds like the coolest skating injury, when i had the time to skate my buddies and i would compare scars all the time, I woud have kicked their ass if i was seared by a manhole cover

[Pull~My~Hair]

dude that sounds like the coolest skating injury, when i had the time to skate my buddies and i would compare scars all the time, I woud have kicked their ass if i was seared by a manhole cover

plus shes a chick...chicks with scars are hot

[KilLAtomiK]

plus shes a chick...chicks with scars are hot

hell yeah they are

[suicidal_tendencies]

plus shes a chick...chicks with scars are hot

hehe, you should look at me.

[Morning Glory]

is that a bam margera logo as your avatar? eh. I wish that he would fall and get scolded by hot iron

[Amelia G]

I know whenever I trip and fall, the first thing I do is look around and try to figure out whose fault it is.
/end sarcasm

[Morning Glory]

haha. yesterday while skating I fell down and got a rock imbeded into my hand. you think I got a law suit against the street sweepers?

[Amelia G]

haha. yesterday while skating I fell down and got a rock imbeded into my hand. you think I got a law suit against the street sweepers?

Hell yeah! You should totally sue both the city and the families of the individuals who should have been responsible for tidying up that rock!

[malcolm]

what im trying to figure out is how she got it on her ass? was she naked? it woul have to be pretty fucking hot t brand her through her clothes and look professional. something's not right here.I think the chick got someone to brand her for some quick cash.

[Kevin]

I know whenever I trip and fall, the first thing I do is look around and try to figure out whose fault it is.

Same here. That's why I'm pleased to announce

Kevin and the People of California
v.
GRAVITY

[malcolm]

will whats his name who got imohtep off the chillmolaster wrap be prosecuting for ya? If so, youd probly win. lol

[KilLAtomiK]

haha. yesterday while skating I fell down and got a rock imbeded into my hand. you think I got a law suit against the street sweepers?

ouch ive had that hapen to me my mom got it out with a kitchen knife

[Amelia G]

That girl was just unfortunate in not knowing KilLAtomiK's mom

[KilLAtomiK]

my mom is way into the home remedy type thingt she would have made her go out back and cut an aloe vera plant from the backyard

[Morning Glory]

actually it was just a pebble, and it's pretty much healed now.. but the emotional scarring of the public system letting me down will last a lifetime!

[Evilbink]

actually it was just a pebble, and it's pretty much healed now.. but the emotional scarring of the public system letting me down will last a lifetime!

Just add it to the list of indignaties that the "man" will make you suffer in your lifetime.

"Power to the People"

[KilLAtomiK]

just a peble ey the one i had was prety big about half the size of a dime maybe? and it lodged itself prety good in there i tried taking it out myself but i think i lodged it in more lol.

[malcolm]

I once was playing tag with my niece in the house and stepped dead onto a nail. went half an inche into my foot. pulle dit out-cleane dit up-apologized for screamin loooooud un uncle like words when it happened and watched cartoons. next?

[scabre]

sue em all!

[CPRB]

I am so laughing when iwas younger I was in Erie Pennsylvania and I was skating donwtonw and bumped into someother skaters and we we cruising aroudna dn they were do tricks over the manhole covers which is fine and dandy but I had never seen a manhole cover with steam comming out of it in the middle of the summer..and at night...a whole new level of gnarlieness awaited me....but I feared the steam and decide to try just a simple ollie over the cover...I landed and rode away...but I didn't trick over anymore I really thought I would get messed up even though the steam was not that hot...I know those Ameircan dudes were busting their guts 'cause I wouldn't go over those grates, now I see I was right....bt then again, Maybe this occured during the day during the noon hour time and that concrete and hit sun...I am sure those grates could get pretty damn hot. But the whole thing is just lame and she's 27??? like dude that's my school and no one would ever bitch about something like that ever..it's part of the program..oh dude she must have been just folliong around on somones board....I could see some lil 17 year old suing cause mommy and daddy are all amd and can't accept thier lil babey is old enough to makes ome diecisions on her own.....but 27.....seriously dude I am 28 and there is no way I would blame anyhting or anyone wehn i fall on my skate...my age group in the skateboarding world just doens't do that.....the newer generation sure....casue the parents are invlved caus ethey see tony hawk and want thier kid to be a star and getting hurt isn't part of the equation..which reminds me..did anyone catch the man D-way..Danny Way jump The Great Wall of China? that was so cool..anyhow...now you know why I haven't been on here...summer time is for sk8ing...

[Morning Glory]

hell yeah. I actually haven't been lately, it's usually around 110 so it doesn't cool down to the point where you can stand going outside.. well, ever. my local secret spot has become not so secret and now it's always crawling with people. it used to just be neighborhood kids that all did thier part to maintain it, so there was respect there. but these new guys are all parking thier trucks all over the place, getting high and drunk before skating... I kind of want to lay down the lay and enforce the locals only policy, but I feel kind of bad because I want skating to be a thing where people support each other positively and new people can feel welcome.. but on the other hand you know that people are just gonna abuse it and trash the place and cause shit with nearby residents and get them to call the cops and make it so no one can skate anymore.

[KilLAtomiK]

hell yeah. I actually haven't been lately, it's usually around 110 so it doesn't cool down to the point where you can stand going outside.. well, ever. my local secret spot has become not so secret and now it's always crawling with people. it used to just be neighborhood kids that all did thier part to maintain it, so there was respect there. but these new guys are all parking thier trucks all over the place, getting high and drunk before skating... I kind of want to lay down the lay and enforce the locals only policy, but I feel kind of bad because I want skating to be a thing where people support each other positively and new people can feel welcome.. but on the other hand you know that people are just gonna abuse it and trash the place and cause shit with nearby residents and get them to call the cops and make it so no one can skate anymore.

I was always more of a BMX dude but i know what you mean, a few years ago my buddies and i built some sweet jumps in this park near my house, theres a thick wooded area right in the middle where noone goes and one day while exploring we found the sweetest natural hills they just needed a bit smoothing out to make them rideable. Welll long story short it was a secret spot only like 5 of us knew about it but then i made the mistake of inviting a few people i was cool with. Then eventualy they began inviting people and so on. After a while there were more people than the place could handle, and fights broke out there was a stabbing wich got the attention of the park ranger, and the next day the whole thing was bulldozed