Never Grip a Tent in a Windstorm

LTB logo

I don't know how many times this has happened to me:

Isle J_____ v. Rotary Club of Simi Sunrise, No. 56-2012-00416828 (Ventura County Superior Ct. May 4, 2012)

Personal injury. While plaintiff was attending the Cajun Creole Music Festival, the tent next to plaintiff was uprooted by a strong gust of wind and lifted into the air. Plaintiff was carried into the air with the tent in excess of 10 feet when she lost her grip on the tent and fell. Plaintiff is asking for lost wages, medical expenses, and general damages.

Paid download [Courthouse News Network]

Wait, yes I do: no times.

It seems unlikely a case like this could succeed even if the tent was negligently designed or installed, because of problems proving duty or causation. I guess it's foreseeable that the wind might knock something over onto a person and injure them, and depending on how strong this wind was, a tent maker or installer might need to plan for that. But if we all had to plan for things like a mighty gust of wind that carries away a tent like a kite despite the weight of an attached human being who has, for some reason, seized said tent and continues to clutch it desperately while being carried up into the air to a height capable of causing injury due to a fall — well, I guess I'd be okay with that, personally, because it's so ridiculous, but I don't think a court would find this foreseeable.

If they provided a warranty expressly stating that "this tent will not fly away in a windstorm with you attached," that might be different.