ORDA found liable for 2007 luge crash
CHRIS KNIGHT, For the News
LAKE PLACID — The state Olympic Regional Development Authority has been found liable for the injuries a 15-year-old luge athlete suffered in November 2007 when she crashed into a worker while sliding on the bobsled-luge-skeleton track at Mount Van Hoevenberg.
In an Aug. 31 decision, the state Court of Claims said ORDA’s negligence caused the crash that injured Jillian Minuto of Pittsburgh, who was training in Lake Placid as a member of the U.S. junior luge team at the time.
According to court documents, Minuto was making her third run of the day when she and her sled, traveling 50 to 60 miles per hour, struck ORDA maintenance worker Bob Ford, who was standing in the track smoothing the ice with a metal tool. Ford testified that he didn’t hear warnings to clear the track over the public-address system and his hand-held radio before he saw Minuto on her sled about six feet away from him. He unsuccessfully tried to jump out of the way, and his metal tool hit Minuto’s left foot, which was seriously injured.
“This ice shaving device went through the shoe Jillian was wearing and severed three tendons in her foot,” said Mark Eck, Minuto’s lawyer. “She had pins placed in the foot and still faces additional surgeries. She was treated very well by ORDA and doctors (at Fletcher Allen Health Care) in Vermont, but unfortunately, she suffered permanent injuries.”
The state Attorney General’s Office, which defended ORDA in the case, had argued that there were “questions of fact” about how Ford failed to hear the announcement to clear the track and whether the sound equipment was working properly at the time of the accident.
But Court of Claims Judge Frank Milano rejected those arguments. He said Minuto wasn’t obligated to prove why ORDA employees failed to hear the announcements and found the claim that the sound system may not have been working was not supported by evidence or testimony.
“A maintenance worker standing in the middle of the track is not an inherent risk of the sport of luge and constitutes a unique and dangerous condition beyond the usual dangers inherent in the sport,” Milano wrote in his decision.
Eck said the ruling wasn’t surprising.
“The court has determined that the employee standing in the curve was clearly the fault of ORDA,” he said. “We have a resolution in our favor on the liability aspect of the case.”
The next step is to determine damages. A hearing has been scheduled before Judge Milano in early November.
Eck wouldn’t say how much money his client is seeking in damages.
“We’ve made a demand to the state and are awaiting a response from them,” he said. “If we can’t settle it, we’ll go before the judge and he will enter an award.”
ORDA President and CEO Ted Blazer was disappointed but said he understood the judge’s decision. He called the accident “unfortunate” and said he hopes Minuto is able to make a full recovery from her injuries.
Contact Chris Knight at 891-2600 ext. 24 or cknight@adirondackdailyenterprise.com.
POSTED: September 24, 2009
LAKE PLACID — The state Olympic Regional Development Authority has been found liable for the injuries a 15-year-old luge athlete suffered in November 2007 when she crashed into a worker while sliding on the bobsled-luge-skeleton track at Mount Van Hoevenberg.
In an Aug. 31 decision, the state Court of Claims said ORDA’s negligence caused the crash that injured Jillian Minuto of Pittsburgh, who was training in Lake Placid as a member of the U.S. junior luge team at the time.
According to court documents, Minuto was making her third run of the day when she and her sled, traveling 50 to 60 miles per hour, struck ORDA maintenance worker Bob Ford, who was standing in the track smoothing the ice with a metal tool. Ford testified that he didn’t hear warnings to clear the track over the public-address system and his hand-held radio before he saw Minuto on her sled about six feet away from him. He unsuccessfully tried to jump out of the way, and his metal tool hit Minuto’s left foot, which was seriously injured.
“This ice shaving device went through the shoe Jillian was wearing and severed three tendons in her foot,” said Mark Eck, Minuto’s lawyer. “She had pins placed in the foot and still faces additional surgeries. She was treated very well by ORDA and doctors (at Fletcher Allen Health Care) in Vermont, but unfortunately, she suffered permanent injuries.”
The state Attorney General’s Office, which defended ORDA in the case, had argued that there were “questions of fact” about how Ford failed to hear the announcement to clear the track and whether the sound equipment was working properly at the time of the accident.
But Court of Claims Judge Frank Milano rejected those arguments. He said Minuto wasn’t obligated to prove why ORDA employees failed to hear the announcements and found the claim that the sound system may not have been working was not supported by evidence or testimony.
“A maintenance worker standing in the middle of the track is not an inherent risk of the sport of luge and constitutes a unique and dangerous condition beyond the usual dangers inherent in the sport,” Milano wrote in his decision.
Eck said the ruling wasn’t surprising.
“The court has determined that the employee standing in the curve was clearly the fault of ORDA,” he said. “We have a resolution in our favor on the liability aspect of the case.”
The next step is to determine damages. A hearing has been scheduled before Judge Milano in early November.
Eck wouldn’t say how much money his client is seeking in damages.
“We’ve made a demand to the state and are awaiting a response from them,” he said. “If we can’t settle it, we’ll go before the judge and he will enter an award.”
ORDA President and CEO Ted Blazer was disappointed but said he understood the judge’s decision. He called the accident “unfortunate” and said he hopes Minuto is able to make a full recovery from her injuries.
Contact Chris Knight at 891-2600 ext. 24 or cknight@adirondackdailyenterprise.com.
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