Man in Portable Toilet Ends Up Quadriplegic; Settles For $5 Million Dollars
No one likes portable toilets; they always seem to be dirty, too hot or too cold, and one strong gust of wind away from falling. Moreover, they leave you completely defenseless to the terrifying threat of being tipped over. I believe this author’s opinion of portable toilets is identical to the following quote about escalators: “Listen, not a year goes by, not a year, that I don’t hear about some escalator accident involving some [person] which could have easily been avoided had some parent – I don’t care which one – but some parent conditioned him to fear and respect that escalator.” That’s from Mallrats. Well, if you needed another reason to fear and/or respect portable toilets, we have you covered. As reported by The Daily Mail, while on a fishing trip with two cousins, Douglas Adams III had to answer nature’s call. After he entered the portable toilet, the cousins decided to play a little prank on Mr. Adams by parking a truck in front of the facility’s door. During the ensuing banging and shaking, the portable toilet inadvertently tipped over. As if being covered in what can only be described as the grossest blue cocktail wasn’t bad enough, Mr. Adams landed on his neck, which resulted in several cervical fractures. He was airlifted to Thomas Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia for surgery and spent two weeks in the hospital. Unfortunately, due to his injures, Mr. Adams ended up a quadriplegic.
Mr. Adams and his wife sued the cousins, the installer, and Poly-San, the manufacturer, for his injures. The cousins obviously were sued for tipping over toilet. The installer was sued for installing the toilet on a hill and propping the unit up with wood. The manufacturer allegedly did not provide spikes to secure the unit, even though the base of the unit had holes for spikes. According to the report, Mr. Adams settled the lawsuit for $5 million dollars. While we recognize the need for such facilities, this case should serve as yet another warning for people everywhere to begin to taking portable toilets as serious as escalators.
