Strange family sues KDND-FM and employees for wrongful death

Yeah, you could see this one coming way back when the original tragedy actually happened, but after getting things all lined up, it seems that the family of Jennifer Lea Strange will be aiming for Sacramento-based KDND-FM, its parent company Entercom, and the employees associated with the whole "Hold your wee for a Wii" ordeal in a wrongful death lawsuit. Although on-air personalities claimed that the contestants signed "a release," that paper was apparently one that simply "granted the station permission to use the contest in its promotional materials," and the family lawyer believes that no waiver of liability was ever signed. Notably, the FCC has jumped into the investigation as well at the request of the family's attorney, as one of their suggestions is to have the station "taken off the air." Per usual, the lawsuit "seeks unspecified medical, legal, burial, and funeral costs," as well as presumably lofty sums of money to compensate for "other punitive damages," which we're fairly sure they'll end up receiving.

[Thanks, Jason D.]

[kerunt @ Jan 26th 2007 7:37PM]

Ridiculous. No one forced the woman to drink that much water. She did it out of her own free will - no one can be blamed except her.

Let me guess, the family wants to get money out of the radio station so they can buy the kids a Wii?

[distantguy @ Jan 26th 2007 7:46PM]

You're wrong. They kept telling her she'd be fine when she said she had a headache. They misinformed her until she died. All they had to do was 3 minutes of research before the contest to know how to spot water intoxication. They acted like they knew everything, and negligently misinformed her until she died.

[Cosmos @ Jan 26th 2007 7:53PM]

Yeah, I'm sure all the kids can think about is playing video games in the midst of their mother's death.

[BrandonLehman @ Jan 26th 2007 8:23PM]

I'm writing this to inform you that I hereby flame you with my flamiest flame possible, I direct upon you Immolate and Conflagration combo of doom.


If you are confused at this point, basically I'm saying I think you're silly in the harshest way possible. By silly I mean idiotic. If you don't get my point (which wouldn't surprise me) then check out this site and all will be clear!

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/youare.php

Thank you.

[John B @ Jan 26th 2007 7:43PM]

Nintendo obviously has zero responsibility, but I remember reading something after the tragedy happened that this probably wouldn't have happened if they kept the preferred-by-the-public name of "Revolution". Makes me wonder if the idiots in marketing who thought "Wii" was a cool name have any guilt now.

I still don't think that I agree with this lawsuit, though. She volunteered and she drank the water, regardless of how careless the DJs were.

[Axe to Grind @ Jan 26th 2007 8:03PM]

@john B

Seriously?

That is probably the dumbest comment I have EVER read... congrats you win the internets!

(or the greatest troll ever... hmm I'll give you the benefit of doubt)

[Johan S @ Jan 26th 2007 8:26PM]

It's flat out wrong to suggest the name change to Wii had anything to do with this.. the radio show may have then called the contest "revolving for revolution" .. and who knows what asinine things that would have entailed??

[Bill @ Jan 26th 2007 7:46PM]

That's a stupid and totally insensitive comment. Believe me, I've got a huge problem with frivolous lawsuits, but this is NOT an example of one. If a company is going to hold an official contest, put people on the air, get them hyped up, egg them on, etc., then they are taking a big chunk of responsibility for the contestant's safety. Besides, this is NOT like skydiving or somthing, where there is a clear and obvious risk and everyone understands this going in. This was a water drinking contest. How many people really knew, before this incident, just how dangerous water was and exactly what quantity was too much? I didn't. Jennifer didn't either.

[ANDREW @ Jan 26th 2007 7:47PM]

Screw that.

I dont care how much Wii's I could get with the money from this lawsuit.... never EVER would I want to play a Wii if I was her son

[Eric Pham @ Jan 26th 2007 7:48PM]

No the problem is they shouldve made sure it would be safe to allow contestants to drink that much water. They obvioiusly did not do that otherwise they wouldve realized that its extremely dangerous to allow people to consume that much water as we see now. This contest should have never happened at all, im sure any paramedic or medical advisor wouldve told them the contest was not a good idea for a plethora of reasons including causing a sodium imbalance in the cells.

[Aaron @ Jan 26th 2007 8:00PM]

Guys, most people don't know that drinking lots of water can kill you. It sort of goes against common sense. I have a hard time blaming the woman for this. Don't act like it's her fault.

[Z @ Jan 26th 2007 8:09PM]

This is GOOD. I hope that whole stupid radio station goes right out of business.

BYE BYE!

[jason @ Jan 26th 2007 8:18PM]

In my experience, liability waivers aren't worth the paper they're written on. I owned a paintball arena for 15 years. We were sued because we rented some kid a gun, safety equipment, and gave them the safety briefing about not lifting their mask while playing the game, etc etc etc. They took the equipment to their own property to use. Sure enough, the kid lifted his mask on the field and lost an eye. They sued us, the gun mfgr, the mask mfgr, paint mfgr, everybody that had anything to do with the rental equipment and won a huge settlement... This kid was an idiot and got a huge payout.

[Z @ Jan 26th 2007 8:27PM]

@Jason

Yes, but you didn't encourage the kid to take off his eye mask in the field. This radio station DID encourage people to engage in this water drinking activity and told them they'd be fine. That's altogether different.

Not to mention, that kid lost only his eye. This woman lost her life. That's altogether different, too.

Regardless of whether or not someone believes this woman is liable for her actions to whatever extent, no one can deny that the radio station and its employees most DEFINITELY played a major role in that liability.

These stupid, reckless radio stations need to be put in their place.

[Ellianth @ Jan 26th 2007 8:28PM]

And suing the radio station is going to bring her back? I like how money will heal all the pain that her loving family members are feeling. It's unfortunate that she died, but it's her own fault. It might not be a nice thing to say, but it's true.

Ignorance doesn't shift the blame away from the lady. Who's fault is it that she didn't know that too much water would kill her? Until I read about her death a couple weeks ago I didn't know that too much water could kill me. But if I died because I drank too much water, it'd be my own fault, no one else's.

If I pay my hydro bill, I have a virtually unlimited source of fresh water to drink. So if I drink too much of water from my tap and die, can my family sue the government since they put up the pipes leading to my house?

But I feel really sorry for that lady and her family :(.

[Z @ Jan 26th 2007 8:36PM]

@Ellianth

I understand what you're trying to say, but the issue of liability isn't that simple when you have someone near you encouraging you to do so and then telling you that you'll be fine.

You don't sue because you think it'll bring someone back, you sue to put someone in their place and to punish them for being a part of the tragedy, and to try to ensure that they won't engage in and/or encourage that type of activity again.

Some people are treating this as though she was asked to douse herself with gasoline and light herself on fire, which was not the case.

[Ellianth @ Jan 26th 2007 8:48PM]

I listened to a recording of this incident. At the end when the lady said her heard was hurting. She was offering to drink even more water, so she's just as liable. Now I'm starting to hope the family gets nothing and has to pay lawyer fees.

P.S.
ENGADGET STAFF!!! ALLOW ME TO CHANGE MY PASSWORD FOR POSTING. Having to look up the password every time I want to post is just as annoying as going to my inbox to verify a post.

[dow @ Jan 26th 2007 8:45PM]

I don't think her family deserves a dime. She entered the contest willingly and, at some level, knew there was risk. What's next? Someone ruptures their stomach or chokes while participating in any number of ubiquitous "eating" contests and sues for millions?

Come on, any contest where you eat or drink as fast and as much as you can has some element of risk. Your body just wasn't designed to do that.

[Kevin @ Jan 26th 2007 8:46PM]

Any first year chemistry student can tell you that drinking too much water can be lfe threatening. The radio station should have a criminal complaint of wrongful death brought against anybody that signed off on this idiotic contest. I didn't know is no excuse, it is only ignorance.

Frivolous lawsuit?? It seems that this is the only way the radio station will be held to any type of accountability, and they should have their asses pinned to the wall.

[Ellianth @ Jan 26th 2007 8:52PM]

I don't understand what you're saying...

Any first year chem student~ so the radio station is responsible?
If that's what you're saying... if any first year chem student knows that... then the woman should have known it too :P.

[Burt Reynolds @ Jan 26th 2007 8:48PM]

kerunt:

So if I tricked you into drinking poison, that's OK? Or if I tricked you into drinking too much of ANYTHING, it's ok?

She may not have been the smartest girl (although how many really know too much water can kill?) to try this, but does that give someone the right to trick her into something that could kill her?

Sure, there's a difference between making someone drink too much water and drinking poison, but you tell me, where does one draw the line? What is OK?
What is not?

The radio channel crew knew it could be lethal to the contestants - a nurse CALLED IN BEFORE the contest was held and told them ON AIR - so they can hardly say they didn't know.

[Patranus @ Jan 27th 2007 3:32AM]

She knew exactly what she was getting into....

If you head starts to hurt, do you think that everything is ok with you? Nope.
Is doing anything in-excess ever been good for you?

It is not the responsibility of everyone to tell everyone else everything. If I walk into McDonald's and order a BigMac day in and day out and end up having a heart-attack with NO OTHER PREDISPOSITIONS can i sue them - HELL NO. Same difference. If it was not dangerous or A CONTEST then why would they give her a Wii. THAT IS THE POINT OF A CONTEST.

If i agree to play Russian rulet for a Wii and die can my family still sue? They could just say that I was restarted and not aware that bullets can kill in EVERY instance.

On a side not I drink well over 8 litters of soda per day in under4 hours of time. She drank 8oz of water every 15 min for 90 min. That is not that much water.

Her ignorance of the contest should not be an excuse to sue them over.

I currently have legit legal action against someone and a organization for an assault. These type of cases cost more money to take to court then they pay out. It is about punishing the people responsible since the action was covered up in my case - and well documented.

She is not entitled to 10 million dollars as one poster pointed out because she would not have earned that much over her life time.

[G @ Jan 26th 2007 8:55PM]

Local news has carried more details to the story. Not only did two nurses hear this going on and try to call in to tell them how dangerous it was, the female hostess can also be heard asking if the contest was dangerous because people could "like, die." To this, the on-air jock says "they signed a waiver, so we're ok" and then he laughs. This is the kind of attitude which needs to be addressed.

Typically, morning show "talent" will be fired and quickly end up at another station far way, where the audience has no idea about their history. So it's a good thing that they have been named here.

And don't let corporate radio stations claim they can't control what happens in promotions, while they tightly control music selection every second of the day.

This lawsuit is precisely what needs to happen.

[(01) @ Jan 26th 2007 9:56PM]

I'm as much against frivolous law suits as the next reasonable person, but these people need punished. I got up to the part in the audio when they laugh at the woman who calls at tells them that someone will die. The DJ's knew what could happen and blatantly disregarded it for their own entertainment and ratings. I hope the criminal investigation continues and they are charged, but do agree than millions of dollars are not in order here.

[Everyone is a safety officer! @ Jan 26th 2007 10:31PM]

If anyone at this station had any US Army experience at all, they would have made it known to everyone that water intoxication was a strong possibility. I remember reading this and dug it up: "eight ounces of water every fifteen minutes for 90 minutes, after which they were given larger portions until a winner emerged." Basically the exact opposite of "run for 90 minutes in Kabul, Iraq without water, first-to-die gets to go back home." I'd like to see that stated in the courts. My point: If you see something stupid happening where you work that could take lives, get in there and stop it even if it costs you your job. It's better than living with guilt.

[JC @ Jan 26th 2007 11:35PM]

No idea that drinking too much of a liquid can cause a problem? With all the news stories a few years back about Terri Schiavo might have been remembered by someone. Also, there were calls into the radio show with the contestants present that warned them all that this was dangerous. Everyone there shares responsibility from Mrs. Strange to the radio station's GM. But should someone pay out large sums of money? NO. At any time Mrs. Strange could have left, especially after hearing the risks she was taking.

[Slurpy @ Jan 27th 2007 12:21AM]

Bottom line:

- the lady was a complete dumbass. But he death is still tragic.
- the Radiostation/hosts are guilty of criminal negligence, and should be punished. Its the same idea as asking people to drink poison to win a wii. Someone will invariably so it, and drinking too much water is poisonous.

[srw @ Jan 27th 2007 1:03AM]

There is also a criminal investigation ongoing.. sounds like a good case for criminal negligence.

[engaget_md @ Jan 27th 2007 1:33AM]

The simple truths.

The average US population is not expected to function at the first-year chemistry student level, as one poster mentioned and is demonstrated by some of the posts here, so it is *not* obvious that drinking excessive amounts of water is dangerous. Also, 'common' sense knowledge is that water is harmless. So, hearing from some random caller, who claims to be an RN, is dangerous might sound ludicrous to the contestant, especially when goaded on by radio commentators. (Anyone remember, "world is flat" or "get AIDS from a toilet seat").

Also, most people think that people sue to get some big jackpot so they never have to work again. This is wrong. Do you believe the family would rather have $10 million dollars over their mother? Would you? I find that most people end up suing so that someone is 'accountable' for this obviously wrongful death. Meaningless deaths are the most sorrowful.

I for one commend the lawsuit, not for some 'jackpot' that people here believe the family will get. Rather, for the public awareness that this suit will have.

[engaget_md @ Jan 27th 2007 8:03AM]

The simple truths.

The average US population is not expected to function at the first-year chemistry student level, as one poster mentioned and is demonstrated by some of the posts here, so it is *not* obvious that drinking excessive amounts of water is dangerous. Also, 'common' sense knowledge is that water is harmless. So, hearing from some random caller, who claims to be an RN, is dangerous might sound ludicrous to the contestant, especially when goaded on by radio commentators. (Anyone remember, "world is flat" or "get AIDS from a toilet seat").

Also, most people think that people sue to get some big jackpot so they never have to work again. This is wrong. Do you believe the family would rather have $10 million dollars over their mother? Would you? I find that most people end up suing so that someone is 'accountable' for this obviously wrongful death. Meaningless deaths are the most sorrowful.

I for one commend the lawsuit, not for some 'jackpot' that people here believe the family will get. Rather, for the public awareness that this suit will have.

[Bill S. @ Jan 27th 2007 8:38AM]

As for her not knowing the risks, didn't she work in the medical field of sorts? The radio station workers are partly responsible for what happened, but I'm not sure they're responsible enough that they should be held accountible in a civil or criminal court. I think allowing a suit against the employer is a bit far. I understand it's party of respondeat superior, but I just don't agree with it in this case. While the employees were under the radio station's control, and you can argue there should have been procedures / controls in place, how are they directly responsible? The employees have been fired, and this has seriously hurt the radio station's reputation - plus FCC investigation. Just my 2 cents.

[Duodenum @ Jan 27th 2007 9:09AM]

This is definitely not a frivilous lawsuit.

[asd @ Jan 27th 2007 9:34AM]

oh my god.
what do they teach people in schools in usa?
i knew that in like 8th grade.

and i don't see any reason for paying obscene amounts of money.

i see a reason to punish the radiostation but the woman was still a flat-out idiot.

[Majormauser @ Jan 27th 2007 10:27AM]

Her family deserves every cent they can get from these goons

[Jason @ Jan 27th 2007 11:08AM]

I hope the family uses the money they will get to give her a proper burial and perhaps donate most of it to a worthy cause, like public education. Keeping the rest to give those children a good future, too.

I also hope the children are aware of what happened to their mother and why.

I don't agree with large sums of money hurting wrong-doers. Criminal negligence should be treated as such - criminally. These people should be fired and have a very hard time finding cake jobs like this ever again. They should be forced to work for minimum wage because of their "criminal" records. How people are allowed to get into these positions is beyond me.

[Ben @ Jan 27th 2007 11:26AM]

I have said it in other threads and I'll say it again here. If the contest was so boviously dangerous that the contestant should have known the risks, then by that same logic the radio station should have also known the risks and never held a contest in which someone could get hurt or die.

The radio station is to blame because they hosted the contest, ignored warnings of the danger from callers that called in including a nurse and ultimately kept telling the contestants to keep drinking, you'll throw up if you drink too much.

The radio DJs are idiots because they chose to make jokes about the potential for death instead of warning the contestants.

Those of you against the family getting money, the idea is not that money brings a lost loved one back. It helps the family since the mother is gone and can no longer work to provide for her children. Even if they get 10 million dollars, it's not a fair replacement for a lost loved one but it's a start.

[Gordy @ Jan 29th 2007 9:42AM]

Unless she brought her own water, this station will pay dearly.

[Gordy @ Jan 29th 2007 9:43AM]

Unless she brought her own water, this station will pay dearly.