Woman Threatening To Sue Mall Because Mall Video Captured Her Text-And-Walking Into A Fountain
from the rethink-your-targets dept
Mr. LemurBoy was the first of a whole bunch of you to send in this story of a woman who was trying to walk and text in the mall where she works... and paid so little attention to what was going on around her that she fell face first into a big fountain. As with all such things like that, it's difficult not to at least chuckle a bit when you see that kind of thing, and, indeed the mall security folks found it funny enough to put the clip online, where it went viral. And even though the woman was fine and even though it's impossible to identify her in the video, she's now come forward and is threatening to sue the security guards for both releasing the video and not coming to help her fast enough.
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Actually, she claims that she didn't know about the video until friends of her (including the person she was texting), informed her that she had been filmed falling into the fountain and that it was available online. So... yeah.
But I agree with the rest of it. She was in a public place, so she doesn't have a leg to stand on with this suit. (Hope there's not a fountain in the courthouse.)
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"Jury trial"
If you can convince the jury of people who aren't even bright enough to get out of jury duty of something, then it's "legal". Which means with a good lawyer you can get almost anything.
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Hey! I want to be called for jury duty. :P
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Re: easiest way to stop her from suing
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There's no way she could be identified from the video. She must have told friends what happened, then one of those friends found the video and made the connection. Her identity still wouldn't have been made public if she hadn't freaked out and run to a lawyer. Textbook Streisand Effect.
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One would expect security video to be confidential, not some sort of voyeuristic tool.
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Then one may not have read the rules generally listed on or around the doors of most malls.
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Even without those, since she works at the mall, its highly likely that she signed something that said she could be recorded and those recordings could be used for just about anything. Its standard boilerplate in most employment agreements.
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Na, I think you're going for the 2011 Most Comments Posted... :P
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It's interesting that such places seem to be categorized as whatever is most expedient for any given proposal.
"If its a public place, then people there shouldn't have an expectation of privacy, right?"
"Well, no. You see, it may be open to the public, but it's privately owned, so people there still have an expectation of privacy."
"Oh, okay. Well if it's private property, they can allow smoking in it, right?"
"Well, no. You see, it may be private property, but it's open to the public. Therefore the public has free reign to ban things it doesn't like."
I wish our country would make up its goddamn mind once in a while.
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If they lose the smoking case use that to appeal the lawsuit. They will probably lose the smoking case but I'm sure the fine is lower that what the woman could win.
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Most importantly, while there are security camera, one's expectation is that they are used for security, not for broadcast. Without consent, that video should not be used for anything other than it's intended purpose.
She has a strong case.
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She complains that no one came to her aid fast enough, but at the end of the clip a maintenance worker does interact with her, presumably asking if she's okay (someone in the monitor room even says such). There were also other people about that could've helped her but didn't.
She did something dumb, and has now compounded it with something dumber: instead of keeping silent and being merely thought a fool, she opened her mouth and proved it.
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I doubt that's true. They would certainly have to leave if told to, but what law are you saying they would violate by entering the mall?
Without consent, that video should not be used for anything other than it's intended purpose.
That's a moral judgment. Was anything the security guards did illegal? The closest I think you could come is some kind of violation of an employment contract, but that wouldn't involve the woman.
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The mere fact that we have such a concept as a private-public area is proof of that.
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Which is it?
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Really? I guess you missed this article at ARS...
Peep show: inside the world of unsecured IP security cameras
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/guides/2011/01/one-mans-journey-through-the-world-of-unsecur ed-ip-surveillance-cams.ars
"Though they are relative newcomers to the surveillance market, IP cameras caught on quickly and are rapidly stealing market share and consumer preference from traditional (analog) cameras. In an analog system, all cameras need to be wired directly back to a central recording system using analog cable (typically RG-59 or RG-6 coaxial). Installation can be a financial and practical nightmare, especially on larger properties where there may be hundreds or even thousands of feet between cameras and their base station.
...
Once an IP camera is installed and online, users can access it using its own individual internal or external IP address, or by connecting to its NVR (or both). In either case, users need only load a simple browser-based applet (typically Flash, Java, or ActiveX) to view live or recorded video, control cameras, or check their settings. As with anything else on the Internet, an immediate side effect is that online security becomes an issue the moment the connection goes active.
Though most NVRs require usernames and passwords for access, many individual cameras do not. An NVR can have the most advanced password imaginable, but if its remote cameras are online and unprotected, anyone with a web browser can completely bypass the system's security, no hacking required."
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Who to blame
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Who to blame
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I can't decide which part is funniest...
2. The big "Channel 69" microphone being shoved just below her mouth
3. The fact that I can already see Daniel Tosh's face grinning from ear to ear as he makes jokes about this in his next web redemption....
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Apparently she's been in legal trouble for fraudulent credit card purchases in the past?
Karma's a bitch old lady... karma's a bitch.
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She's doing it wrong
"This new Windows 7 phone is so great you forget everything else!"
"I'd rather fall in to a fountain than let go of my new Blackberry Torch. Now at AT&T!"
"With Verizon's superior network coverage, you won't be left 'all wet' like other providers!"
BONUS ROUND:
"Yes. Angry Birds(TM) is REALLY THAT GOOD."
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Next up, sue the news
This is the kind of clip that deserves to be on the web because it is funny! And now shes upset. Go figure.
Since she wants to sue the guards for putting it online her next target will probably be the news for airing the story and showing any given angle of her falling into the fountain 10 times. You can tell the guy on the right is trying not to laugh throughout the whole segment.
In a halfway reply to DH: Tosh won't do a web redemption on it, just a video breakdown. But you know it is coming. Tosh.0 is the win.
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haha, but really
While everyone points and laughs at her, I'm left wondering...shouldn't the security guards who posted it be in some sort of trouble?
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Evening News and Failblog.com come to mind.
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They weren't watching it happen live!
Therefore we don't know if mall security was aware of the event until well after it happened. (One could deduce that mall security might only learned about the fall from the mall janitor in the video who spoke to the woman after she fell in the fountain.)
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Ths is why I have so much trouble as a photographer...
There is no implied confidentiality in security video, as a moter of fact there is an implied use in all security videos. Why would it be private, it's there to catch people doing stupid things they shouldn't(Theft, Vandalism, etc.)
As some have mentioned this is in on private property, which is not actually at all related to the use or recording of the video. People are mixing up private/public property and private/public spaces. If private property is opened up for public use(such as a mall, museue, etc) it is considered a public space.
There is no "Reasonable Expectation of Privacy" in a public space. Therefore your picture can be taken and video recorded at will. Most people think that jsut because they are in a Mall, or at the Airport, or in a club that I can't take pictures of them. Acctually the opposite is true, I have every right to take your picture.
People just need to grow up and stop being stupid about things like this. The lady messed up and now like a second grade kid has had her feelings hurt.
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Humiliated?
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I think the real issue is public v. private as many of you are hitting on. I'm no lawyer, but if you can be arrested in a mall for public nudity then I'm pretty sure you have no expectation of privacy. If you did there would never be anyone convicted of public nudity in malls (which sadly, isn't the story in the United States).
As for a jury trial, unless you have a number of people who are against the system you'll never get a majority vote in her favor. Most of the jury will simply laugh and vote that it was her own fault. She'd probably have better luck finding a corrupt judge than stacking a jury :P
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My theory
1. Lady falls into fountain...nobody was really around so nobody noticed. I doubt security even saw it on their monitors.
2. Lady calls security telling them what she did.
3. Before going out security reviews the tapes and then changes their pants after wetting themselves. This could easily take 20 minutes, especially if they want to have themselves covered liability-wise before talking with her.
4. Later guards upload to YouTube for all to witness.
If the lady never would have called security in the first place I bet nobody would have known. I am sure she told her cousins about this so once they saw the video that matched the lady's story they knew it was her.
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I'm not saying that she should win her lawsuit, but I still think that it is an invasion of privacy if all security video can me made available online. It's bad enough that we have to tolerate being videoed, it is even worse if we can be mocked with it.
Another Example:
Would you want security video from the latest back-scatter X-Ray at the nearest airport of you to be posted online?
Bottom line, businesses and cities are pushing surveillance on us because they say they need it to fight crime. This is an example of it not being used to fight crime. They need to have strict rules about posting video that is taken as part of a security feed online. For that reason I hope this lady wins her lawsuit.
In my opinion it is very different if the video is shot in a public place with a cell phone camera where it can be seen, than if it is taken with a security camera (often hidden)
Just my two bits.
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It depends on whether a court rules that you have a reasonable expectation of privacy. It's a bathroom, so normally yes. But if the cameras are blatantly obvious or pointed out with prominent signage, then less so.
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you should try and find out whether Harvey Purtz "Naive-Father" is single. He singlehandedly destroyed his deceased son's reputation by letting everyone know he was a racist and a homophobe, and you singlehandedly managed to look like a moron, and an untrustworthy character because of five felony charges -- including theft by deception and receiving stolen property.
You two need to hook up.
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Dangerous
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funnies 'home' videos a a response, with no links, and it says that my post will first be reviewed? Strange.
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She complains that mall security did not rush to her aid, yet in this handy video we see her get up and walk away unaided. It was after she went to someone else and then called security that it took them 10 minutes to show up. The wording is important, was it 10 minutes from the fall or 10 minutes from the call. Did she call and request they get her medical attention? Or did she call and report she was the one bathing in the fountain. One gets a very fast response, the other gets some confused people showing up wondering what it is they are supposed to do. Other than her pride she appears uninjured, one wonders if she is one of those people who call 911 because they have a sore throat.
And now it comes out she has stolen from coworkers to the tune of around $5000. Oh and she is actually 3 years older than she told the media. And she is just all upset about everyone knowing who she is... from how she walks... And her cell phone was "stolen" shortly after this, no possible way she could claim theft because they won't replace a phone used as a tea bag. She is after all a good upstanding citizen who would never steal....ummmm nevermind.
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"...Video Captured Her Text-And-Walking Into A Fountain"
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How stupid can you get
Stupidity +2 (1 for "you're an employee there, you should know the general layout blindfolded, and 1 for not paying attention while texting (I read while walking but then, I've mastered the art of paying attention to my surroundings, its called peripheral vision and hearing folks))
Gets out of fountain immediately without requiring any help
Hears friends talking about this viral youtube video about a woman who fell into a fountain. Immediately confesses to friends it was her. Stupidity +1
Finds and hires a lawyer at no doubt considerable expense to her. Stupidity +1
Sues the shopping mall where she works for a completely stupid reason. Stupidity +1
Doesn't think "Oh, my reason is completely stupid, and the mall will have better lawyers". Stupidity +1
Doesn't think "Will the mall want to retain me as an employee knowing I'm prone to throwing around insane lawsuits against my employer?" Stupidity +1
GIVES A TV INTERVIEW SHOWING HER FACE SOUNDING LIKE A FUCKING CRYBABY WHILE ADMITTING "I COULD HAVE WALKED INTO A BUS" IT WOULD HAVE BEEN HER OWN FUCKING FAULT. STUPIDITY + INFINITY
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If anything she should laugh it off. She put smiles on faces, brought laughter to millions of people, AND she gets her 15 minutes:) But NOOOO... instead she runs to a lawyer and comes out looking like a total prude with no sense of humor.
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How to get rid of idiots like this:
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shes an idiot
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Where's Gloria?
One of the security at the mall was fired over this.
And this woman has a criminal past.
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