Disney Cleared in Tower of Terror Lawsuit
Disney has been cleared of charges filed by an 80-year-old man who said the Tower of Terror ride in Orlando led to his debilitating stroke.
Marvin Cohen, now 80, filed the suit in 2002 after he boarded the ride in 1998 with his granddaughter. The sudden drops caused a tear in an artery leading to his brain, and he had a debilitating stroke a few weeks later, he charged.
The three-woman, three-man jury deliberated about three hours before delivering the verdict, Monday, May 3.
Cohen’s lawyer says the suit was about whether the public is adequately warned or misled prior to boarding the ride, but those issues were not allowed to come up in the trial due to the judge’s rulings before and during the trial.
Cohen says he plans to appeal.
What was unusual about this lawsuit is that it was allowed to be heard by a jury since more often than not, Disney settles before trial. When the Orlando Sentinel reviewed hundreds of lawsuits against theme parks, the Cohen case stood out because it did not argue that there was a malfunction with a ride, but rather that the warnings were not adequate and the public is misled when boarding the Tower of Terror.
Injuries sustained on roller roaster rides and other amusement park devices occur far more often than the public would like to admit. Florida injury law firms stay up-to-date on these types of accidents, which may result from a form of negligence on the part of the company running the amusement park. If you and your family plan on visiting a theme park, always be safe and make sure to research and be fully aware of a ride’s warnings before hopping on.
