This Woman Is A Piece Of Work

Human trash.

Quote :

A police officer who slipped and injured a knee responding to a toddler's near-drowning has sued the family of the 1-year-old boy, who suffered brain damage and can no longer walk, talk or swallow.

Casselberry Sgt. Andrea Eichhorn alleges Joey Cosmillo's family left a puddle of water on the floor, causing her fall during the rescue efforts. She broke her knee and missed two months of work.

The boy fell into the pool outside the family's home in suburban Orlando in January and now lives in a nursing home and eats and breathes through tubes.

"The loss we've suffered, and she's seeking money?" said Richard...

...Cosmillo, 69, the boy's grandfather, who lived in the home with his wife and the boy's mother. "Of course there's going to be water in the house. He was sopping wet when we brought him in."

Eichhorn's attorney, David Heil, said she has persistent knee pain and will likely develop arthritis. He said city benefits paid by workers' compensation and some disability checks helped with medical bills, but it wasn't enough.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.

"It's a situation where the Cosmillos have caused these problems, brought them on themselves, then tried to play the victim," Heil said.

Eichhorn's personnel file includes numerous commendations. The 12-year veteran has worked as a hostage negotiator and prostitution decoy and wrestled razors away from a suicidal person.

Police Chief John Pavlis said Eichhorn was a good officer, though he urged her not to sue.

Unreal.

Eyesore wrote:

Human trash.

Quote :

A police officer who slipped and injured a knee responding to a toddler's near-drowning has sued the family of the 1-year-old boy, who suffered brain damage and can no longer walk, talk or swallow.

Casselberry Sgt. Andrea Eichhorn alleges Joey Cosmillo's family left a puddle of water on the floor, causing her fall during the rescue efforts. She broke her knee and missed two months of work.

The boy fell into the pool outside the family's home in suburban Orlando in January and now lives in a nursing home and eats and breathes through tubes.

"The loss we've suffered, and she's seeking money?" said Richard...

...Cosmillo, 69, the boy's grandfather, who lived in the home with his wife and the boy's mother. "Of course there's going to be water in the house. He was sopping wet when we brought him in."

Eichhorn's attorney, David Heil, said she has persistent knee pain and will likely develop arthritis. He said city benefits paid by workers' compensation and some disability checks helped with medical bills, but it wasn't enough.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.

"It's a situation where the Cosmillos have caused these problems, brought them on themselves, then tried to play the victim," Heil said.

Eichhorn's personnel file includes numerous commendations. The 12-year veteran has worked as a hostage negotiator and prostitution decoy and wrestled razors away from a suicidal person.

Police Chief John Pavlis said Eichhorn was a good officer, though he urged her not to sue.

Unreal.

Yes. I completely agree. Some people get a sense of power and think that the world should bow to them. Such as SOME cops. I hate SOME cops.

Wow....that's about as low as it gets.

#1 - She's on duty -what happened should fall under "acceptable risk" or something like that

#2 - Any Judge who doesn't swiftly and with a good tongue lashing (at least) of the Counsel and Client throw this out is an unfit judge, in my humble opinion


As a professional Firefighter I know that if we are injured due to or in the process of dealing with a criminal act the person resposible will have to answer. For instance, any injury or death of a Firefighter responding to arson is considered assault/murder. The arsonist can/will be charged with assaulting any and all Firefighters injured while fighting that fire. But, while fighting an accidental fire and getting injured, or responding to a car wreck or any other kind of everyday EMS situation and getting injured, well, that comes with the territory. The City and State will pay a fairly large sum to the family of Firefighters killed in the line of duty and if you are injured on duty you are entitled to injury leave or permanent disability pay - but you have no right that I know of to bring anything against the victim of the accident or their family. We KNOW there are risks.

I don't understand for one second how/why this is being allowed to go on. I hope the community rallies around the family and makes that officer a pariah.....Trash indeed!

Yeah Scott I work in Public Safety as well but in an admin position and can't believe what a blackeye this must give to that local department. You must be able to risk you body for the safety of the public to be a public service officer. This injury should have just been normal operations.

Anecdote:

A few years back these knucklehead punk kids burned a large wing of a Jr. High here in Abilene down and a church van in another location. They were quickly ratted out and caught. Well, I remember the Chief calling all the stations and asking if anyone got hurt - even a sprained toe - because any injury occuring during the fire could have been added to the charges brought against these kids. Amazingly, noone suffered so much as a scrape that night. Anyhow, that was just to highlight a real life occurance of what I mentioned.....

Again, that cop (they are MOSTLY great people, BTW, but the idiots always get front page treatment!) is trash...

Quote :

This injury should have just been normal operations.

Yeah, what was the family supposed to do? Stop while trying to resuscitate the kid and mop up. The PD should fire her butt just for public relations POV. They can't, but in a perfect World they should. She's not fit to serve anymore in my opinion....just looking for early retirement.

Admin leave. WITH pay, I'm sure.

the family doesn't have the sense to watch a child near or in a swimming pool? the child's injuries can be blamed on them. i feel no pity for them, only the poor kid.

the officer was injured while responding to an event that they caused to happen by their neglect. sue their asses off.

I will have to disagree.

We have a phrase - if it weren't for stupid people, we wouldn't have a job. While it's true they may have been careless (do you have children? they are faster than you may realize in getting into trouble) these things just sometimes happen....until/unless we know how or why the kid ended up in the pool, I'll side 100% against the Cop. Show me where they committed a crime and then we have another story.....

I've made runs on some unfathomable things that happen so quickly no one could stop it. You'd be amazed what can happen when/where no one is really to blame. Maybe these people were negligent but your comment is rather harsh and damning without further evidence that proves negligence...

MC666 - a scenerio

You are going to work in the morning. You did not check the tire air pressure before heading off to work. One of your tires is low and due to this you have a blow out. You careen off into a light post. While trying to pry you from your wrecked car an emergency responder slips in some anti-freeze that's leaking. During his/her fall the responder reflexively try to catch their balance and slip disc(s) in their back...they are forced into early medical retirement.

Should you be sued for not checking your tires?

What if it was a fan belt? Oil pressure? Brakes?

What if you blew a tire because there was a nail in the road? Does the street dept. or the DOT get sued? How often should they sweep the streets?

I think the slope is too slippery here. We have such a litigious society to begin with.

When citizen Joe walks out his front door he expects a certain level of safety. People who through negligence take this away may be expected to answer for it. When Civil Servant Joe puts his/her uniform on and reports for duty there is a certain amount of danger and an element of the unknown that is expected. That Cop is wrong for suing those people. Until they are found to be criminally negligent (and even then it's a stretch because intent comes into play) I think the Cop is wrong.....

mc666 wrote:

the family doesn't have the sense to watch a child near or in a swimming pool? the child's injuries can be blamed on them. i feel no pity for them, only the poor kid.

the officer was injured while responding to an event that they caused to happen by their neglect. sue their asses off.

I take it you have no kids.

scottmitchell74 wrote:

That Cop is wrong for suing those people. Until they are found to be criminally negligent (and even then it's a stretch because intent comes into play) I think the Cop is wrong.....

well they do not have to prove intent to be found negligent in a civil case. whether the cop is wrong or right morally... she has the legal right to sue. whether you agree with what she's doing or not. that's America for you.

anyway, the filing of a civil suit doesn't mean she was awarded judgment. if the judge agrees with you, the case will be dismissed anyway. don't get worked up about it.

as for your scenario, it doesn't take place on my private property so it's not the same situation. if that rescue worker injured himself while rescuing me in my home, due to slipping in some beer i spilled, then yes i could very well be sued.

Eyesore wrote:

mc666 wrote:

the family doesn't have the sense to watch a child near or in a swimming pool? the child's injuries can be blamed on them. i feel no pity for them, only the poor kid.

the officer was injured while responding to an event that they caused to happen by their neglect. sue their asses off.

I take it you have no kids.

no & i never let one half drown either.

Even if the situation was caused by parental neglect, I really don't think the woman should be sueing. She incurred injury due to slipping in a puddle of water, that was directly related to the fact that a child was drowning. She could've been more careful and avoided the puddle but neglect for her own safety led to her breaking her knee. Also the family are probably loaded with medical fees and guilt for their child, I don't think they needed the added problems of a woman who was meant to help them, suing them.

Still think it's a slippery slope.

This -

Quote :

she has the legal right to sue. whether you agree with what she's doing or not. that's America for you.

- may be true, but that doesn't make it right.

Also, I don't think you're giving enough consideration to this question/comment -

Quote :

"I take it you have no kids?"

Your comment to this is such a black and white statement for something that isn't. Kids on SO MANY levels are just - literally - a blur of grey. You can't even imagine how short of time they can get into big trouble. Crawling out of windows, crawling out of doggie doors, crawling out of and over cribs and barriers, sticking their hands and fiingers into unimaginable places. You see, I don't just have my own 2 kids but every 1/3 day if some kid gets into trouble in my station's running district I get a first hand look at a new and creative way some kid managed to get hurt or lost or otherwise into a sticky situation. SO, the question - Do you have kids? - is incredibly valid.

Anyhow, I had a big 'ol response ready, but about 10% of the way into it I just realized it's not worth arguing about. I have to remind myself in my personal everyday life that if I get bent out of shape or fighting mad about just what occurs in my little World all I was ever do and be was fight/angry. I'm not gonna let this idiot Cop have that power. I remain completely disgusted with her, but won't think much more about it....

See you in the next thread!

their really is now case for her to sue there. any judge would throw it out even if the barristers decided there was a case which i doubt any would do if they are sensible

That cop is insane...

IMO,its part of the risk that comes with the job.

scottmitchell74 wrote:

Anyhow, I had a big 'ol response ready, but about 10% of the way into it I just realized it's not worth arguing about. I have to remind myself in my personal everyday life that if I get bent out of shape or fighting mad about just what occurs in my little World all I was ever do and be was fight/angry. I'm not gonna let this idiot Cop have that power. I remain completely disgusted with her, but won't think much more about it....

See you in the next thread!

yeah i wasn't arguing with you. since this is basically a moral argument rather than a legal one, it would be ridiculous to participate in a moral argument, as everyone has different moral values.

as for me having kids... i have nieces & nephews, all toddlers. all of whom i've taken care of, all of whom need constant supervision & get it. so i gave the question every consideration.

anyway, as you, i too am done with this thread. cheers! :bounce:

What do you expect with the countless frivolous lawsuits out there. Anyone can sue anybody for any reason these days. People suing tobacco companies because they were stupid enough to think they could inhale smoke wihtout consequences, people suing bike manufactures because their child got hurt riding in the middle of the street, people suing McDonalds because they didn't realize that fresh coffee is hot, a burglar suing a homeowner becasue he stubbed his toe on a tabble while robbing the place, etc. As long as lawyers can receive large amounts of money from idiots suing businesses this kind of thing is going to happen. To quote Metallica, "Sad but true".