From the LA Times:
Surfboard manufacturers have a number of concerns -- heavy competition, expensive shipping and employees who occasionally like to slip out early when there’s a good break.
Product-liability lawsuits typically aren’t one of their worries.
That’s what makes a lawsuit that recreational surfer Tom Gregg filed against Channel Islands Surfboards a little unusual.
Gregg contends that a fin on his Channel Islands board cut a “deep gash” on his right leg when he wiped out off the coast of France in 2009. He said the fin severed muscles in his leg and caused injuries so severe that he will never regain full muscle strength in the injured leg.
“The surfboard, fins and their component parts were unsafe for their intended use,” Gregg said in the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
Scott Anderson, general manager of Carpinteria-based Channel Islands, said it’s the first product-liability lawsuit filed against the company that he’s heard about. “I’ve been here 20 years and I haven’t seen one,” he said.
Anderson declined further comment.
Gregg’s attorney, Jeffrey Karpel, said the fins are so sharp some surfers cover them with protective sleeves. Gregg was not aware of that before the injury, Karpel said.
Channel Islands, acquired by snowboard company Burton Corp. in 2006, is one of the world’s largest surfboard manufacturers. Its boards are sold in more than 400 stores around the world, Anderson said.
7 comments:
Hopefully he'll have to pay CI's defense costs when he loses the case.
I want to see pictures of that injury. Yeouch!
That's really lame...I know of a similar incident a couple of years back that involved a famous NORCAL District Attorney, and if he didn't bother with filing a lawsuit, then I would think this idiot will fail in his attempt.
Tom Gregg is a cunt, apparently.
Guys you got it all wrong. I saw the cut and it was down to the bone! Wiping out and getting hit with your board is something that happens and those fins were just way too sharp.
Why shouldn't surf companies be made responsible for their products just like every other company is? If it was your kid or friend would you be singing the same tune?
surfing is known as an "extreme" sport because it's dangerous. maybe the guy should take up golf
Faster performance fins with less friction are more sharp by design. The US always talks of freedom and yet with being able to even go ahead with a trial over something this stupid, gets further and further away from freedom. Swap fins, tune them, get another board - all were his choices as was getting a wave.. fkin utter twat headed cck sucker. My friend got a board nose through his cheek bone cms from his brain and survived, he was just like shit happens not "The noses on surfboards are a dangerous shape sue sue sue" TWAT
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