Eugenie Bouchard Hits US Open, USTA With A Seven Figure Lawsuit For Head Injury

by Tom Gainey | October 15th, 2015, 9:53 am
  • 24 Comments

Canadian star Eugenie Bouchard have filed a lawsuit against the US Open and the USTA for the concussion she sustained on September 4 during a slip in the locker room.

According to the New York Times, Bouchard is asking for millions of dollars in compensation for missed time off the tour and personal damage.

The suit alleges a cleaning agent was left on the locker floor without proper warning signage or anyone there to supervise. In the late hours, Bouchard slipped and hit her head.


The 21-year-old attempted a comeback last week in Beijing but the damage from the fall still remains. Its unlikely she will play again this year.

After a dismal 2015, Bouchard was finally playing some good tennis at the US Open. She had reached the US Open fourth round with a match against Roberta Vinci ahead when the incident took place.


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24 Comments for Eugenie Bouchard Hits US Open, USTA With A Seven Figure Lawsuit For Head Injury

RZ Says:

It seems like quite a bad injury considering that weeks later she has had to pull out of matches and tournaments related to this. Shame too as she was finally getting her game together when it happened.


Margot Says:

@RZ
Heard a barking mad story about a guy who is suing one of US’s national parks because a pine cone fell on his head.
ROFL!


RZ Says:

@Margot – I believe it. The negligence of the US National Parks Service to let that pine cone fall!!!!


J-Kath Says:

I’ve got two of those pine cones, Margot, they take up an entire fireplace – anytime you want them used, just holler…


jalep Says:

Not sure what to say, without more details on Genie’s side. Thanks for the link, RZ. Interesting comment by Pam Shriver.

Hope Genie will be able to recover and get her game back.

btw, Margot and Kath – don’t underestimate aggressive pine cones in the America, sometimes squirrels load’em up with rocks and turds and drop them from great height.


Margot Says:

@jalep
Us Brits get it, everything is bigger in America- pine cones, squirrels, rocks, turds and p….oops better stop there…;)


chris ford1 Says:

Fortunately for Genie, NYC is the epicenter of “slip and fall” shysters, otherwise known as ambulance chasers. Same city Al Sharptons daughter Dominique has a 5 million lawsuit against for stumbling on a cracked sidewalk, sprained ankle and “permanent pain and damage” to it. Lawsuit filed right before young Dominique made the summit of a high mountain in Bali Indonesia. Her loi-yah, as they are reverently referred to as in NYC, shamelessly said the mountain hike meant nothing, the poor wealthy dear spends most days in pain, with her mobility impacted, after the sidewalk stumble.
You would think Genie was already quite wealthy from all the slip and falls in Canada, which of course has lots of slippery ice – but that whole nation tragically appears to have only half or so as many attorneys as NYC has “loi-yahs”.


SG1 Says:

This a bit of a special case. Let’s say Genie is a pediatrician and this had happened? Well, she can still get up in the morning and go to work. She might lose a day or two which her insurance will pay for. But, she’s not a pediatrician. She’s a pro athlete. Her physical well being is essential to her performance and a pro athlete’s career is short. We’ve all been learning just how devastating a concussion can be and there may also be unknown long term effects.

If there was negligence by the USTA and National Tennis Center, why shouldn’t she be compensated handsomely? The USTA is running a business and like any business, there’s a certain amount of assumed risk. A court will determine whether or not this case has merit. We can all be sure that the USTA will have some high priced lawyers of their own ready to defend them so I doubt this will be a slam dunk.


SG1 Says:

If (…if being the key word) there was negligence, the USTA may have jeopardized millions of dollars worth of the potential earnings and they have to be held accountable for this.


RZ Says:

@Jalep – I also thought it was an interesting comment by Pam Shriver. Although I don’t disagree with her overall point, I was surprised that as someone with ties to the USTA, she would be commenting at all.


elina Says:

Good point RZ.

Tennis is riddled with conflict of interest more than any other sport.


jalep Says:

I don’t know as much about the extent to which conflict of interest exists in tennis – suspect a lot. In cycling it’s the UCI itself and other governing bodies have been caught. Lance Armstrong is a notable case – he had help from the top dogs and laboratories to “never test positive” for at least a decade.

Sorry about you loss, elina. Read your posts on the other thread.


chris ford1 Says:

Legally, this may be interesting. I believe that Bouchard is technically a contractor, doing work at a facility she had a contract with via the WTA. NY workman’s compensation insurance is the law shielding employers from injury lawsuits by employees in most circumstances outside malice and willful safety violations. Workman’s comp limits legal liability. Same basic deal in Canada, I think.
She’s basically in the same boat as a concession contractor employee burned as hot grease from a fryolator went everywhere when another employee dropped a full beer cup in as they were getting the 5.50 fries the USO ticketholder at the counter wanted fries with. A lot more glamorous and highly paid contract job than the fry guy/short order cook apprentice, but in the eyes of the law – no different.
Simply put, it is far, far easier for a visitor or customer to sue a New York supermarket over a slip and fall accident than for a direct employee injured on the job or a Frito Lay employee falling off a ladder while packing Doritos on a shelf at the supermarket.

And there may be compensation agreements in legal force that the WTA as the contracting agency, carries insurance on its players in lieu of organizers in multiple countries having to do it – as part of the WTA “fee” they charge tournaments.

Expect an interesting legal fight.

And this may impact Bouchards play. It will not help her case if she starts winning big matches and becomes Nike’s latest and greatest “golden gurl” again. And before the slip and fall, it is well documented that Bouchard was in steep decline as a player and her concussion may have had little impact on her play.


chris ford1 Says:

Should read ” the USO ticketholder at the counter wanted to go with his beer.”


elina Says:

Thanks jalep.

Good article here on many examples of conflicts…

http://www.si.com/tennis/2012/03/21/mailbag


Wog Boy Says:

If she wins the case I can see many more players in the future “falling” on the tennis venue premises, in USA and Australia (same laws as in USA), not just the players but visitors too…on the second thought I am going to Melbourne in January, hmm..


Wog Boy Says:

^^ and if you don’t know what I am talking about (I think you do know) this short video two minutes) will tell you, pay attention after 1:00 :)

http://youtu.be/HlvUFQwCylE


kriket Says:

It says in the late hours. I wonder what that means. Did she have to be there, preparing for a match or was just passing thru on her way home. I doubt they’d be cleaning and leaving it recklessly if they expected a lot of player traffic. How come noone else has fallen? Or even complained after what had happened to Bouchard to say “yeah, I’ve noticed that it was slippery as well, I could’ve fallen too if I wasn’t careful”. But noone said that. I wonder why.


kriket Says:

So yeah, she’s trying to milk it for whatever money she can. It’s possible if it goes her way, that she would get more money that her career worth of prizes.
I wonder what evidence does she have. Has there been any “crime scene investigation” right after the incident, or is it now the case of hearsay. She says it was wet, but noone really knows, because there’s no official record of what had happened. Her claims not substantiated by any real evidence.

But reading about the cases her lawyer firm of choice has won, there’s a chance she doesn’t need much evidence. It’s gonna be interesting to see how it turns out.


Wog Boy Says:

I am pretty sure USTA can afford top barristers too, and they can successfully argue that her Asian withdrawal was staged to strengthen the case, they have been preparing the case for much longer than one or two weeks since her withdrawal, and with her career on a free fall prior the accident …don’t you think so?


kriket Says:

I think USTA should’ve gone the Sopranos route right after the incident, consulting with each and every respectable lawyer firm in NYC about the case, and therefore preventing them all to be hired by the other side, on the count they’ve already been consulting with one side :)


Wog Boy Says:

Yeah, Bada Bing way:)


jane Says:

“Not sure what to say, without more details on Genie’s side. Thanks for the link, RZ. Interesting comment by Pam Shriver.

Hope Genie will be able to recover and get her game back.”

same, jalep. she was doing so well at the USO too, seemed like she was getting her game back, working with Connors, etc. what a shame.

————

“Good point RZ.

Tennis is riddled with conflict of interest more than any other sport.”

did’t read the link you posted after that comment elina, but i totally agree! the reporting, the tournament directors, the websites, sponsorships etc… it’s all so tightly imbricated.

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