[TW Lawyers] Liability of a community theater production accident

R

RebelToRumble

Veteran X
Good morrow fellow lovers! Back in May I was a part of a community theater for a non-paid acting in a play. During the 2nd to last live show there's a scene where myself and another actor have a scripted struggle to "protect" another actor from being harmed. The other actor, who is a lot bigger than me, lost his footing I guess and accidentally swung his arm around and hit me square in the nose, breaking it. :reaper:

I had surgery the following week to fix my nose, which before miscellaneous insurance discounts was just around $9,000. Thankfully, the Playhouse had insurance. Unfortunately they only have a small $5,000 policy, which I used up rather quickly. There was a lot of other shit that went down actually dealing with the insurance people (missing claims, forgetting what kind of policy they have so I end up wasting 3 months submitting EOBs instead of actual claims) etc etc...

Where I stand now is I've asked the playhouse if they'll cover the rest of my surgery, which after insurance discounts from my company is about $2,700.

Here's the question: I was on their property, working for free [they do charge admission, the director and stage mgr are paid but actors are not], I accidentally got hit in the face from another actor. What kind of liability is this? I'm not trying to sue for anything, I just want to know if I have any bit of legal ground to pursue repayment of my medical bills (2,700) or if I should be thankful that I was able to use their 5k insurance policy at all.

I do have insurance at my work, I have a yearly $1,500 deductible which I can use to cover the rest, I am not against doing so, I just would rather spend the least amount of money as possible (2,400 out of pocket before being reimbursed)

Cliff Notes: Hit in the face on the property of a Community Playhouse in a live production. Unpaid but they did make money (if that matters). Surgery totaled around 9k but after their 5k insurance policy and some misc insurance discounts and such I still owe 2,700. They told me I am liable for the rest, is this true or do I have legal ground to pursue the rest of my bills?

I'm not wanting to sue for lots of money, I'm not trying to be an asshole, I'm not wanting to make them do anything... I just want to know what's the legal standpoint rather than taking the world of a very old lady who's been my correspondent from the theater.

:wave: :sunny: I love you all and my nose is still broken after my first surgery, so I'll have to have surgery again :(

PS: sandpaper
 
Was it a live production of

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and you were playing Samuel L Jackson's character?
 
a 5000 insurance policy? i can't imagine that even covers legal minimums. their insurance may not be liable to pay more .... but they are.
 
Make some fancy Bob Loblaw letterhead and type up threats and CC yourself and mail it to them. If you dont get a check, call a real lawyer.
 
... first thing that came to my mind was how the hell does a broken nose cost 9 grand!?

are you having rhinoplasty work done? i thought broken noses were like rotisserie grills, "set it and forget it?"
 
Unless you signed something saying that you woudn't sue them as part of your participation, you pretty much have full legal right to do so. I put on car shows and big events...I've been sued once due to an older gentleman who tripped on a cord and busted his knee (it was due to a vendor being an idiot that I had zero to do with), and he sued my insurance for like $250k.

The fact that their insurance only covers $5k worth of damages means somebody is f'ing up...they should have much higher coverage for that.
 
if a doctor only wants a couple hundred bucks to work on your for two hours straight ripping out teeth, hollowing out roots and taking xrays, then how the fuck does a broken nose cost that much money
 
My dad spoke to a lawyer fren of his this afternoon and the lawyer said I have no case and no judge or lawyer would deal with me. I kinda thought this was bullshit but I wanted TW's expert opinion. Dad said the lawyer said that even though it was on their property, they're not liable because they were not at fault, and in no way had anything to do with me being accidentally punched in the face on stage [while performing for them..... :| ]

Here's the rundown of my surgery costs.

  • Hospital Room: ~$4,600 or so
  • Surgery: $1,650.00
  • Pre/Post-Op checkups [with Surgeon]: $505.00
  • Anesthesiologist - $1,750.00
  • Preliminary X-Ray: ~$50.00 out of pocket, ~$350.00 cost to insurance
  • Medications: $60.00 out of pocket, ? cost to insurance

Surgeon actually said to me on my last postop visit "Now that I can see what's up with your nose, I think I can fix it...come back to see me if you wanna get it taken care of." What the fuck??

Now all of those things added up is just a few hundred under 9k. My company's insurance got some heavy discounts because of the network stuff so if insurance were to pay for it 100% it would be around $7,500

Everything inside tells me they're liable, after seeing people being able to sue McDonalds for coffee they spilled on themselves this seems to be a open/shut case... but my dad's lawyer friends said no, no one would take on a community playhouse in this case because it was an accident and whatever.

The part that makes me sick is I have to go back under the knife again... going to choose another doctor though.
 
without reading any responses, see if you can ask the guy that hit you about his homeowners or renters insurance
it carries liability for acts committed by you, the insured
they have medical coverage payment options which are no fault options to help pay medical bills in the event someone gets hurt through an action you preform or by being on your property, even if they do it to themselves
 
Goshin said:
without reading any responses, see if you can ask the guy that hit you about his homeowners or renters insurance
it carries liability for acts committed by you, the insured
they have medical coverage payment options which are no fault options to help pay medical bills in the event someone gets hurt through an action you preform or by being on your property, even if they do it to themselves
Click to expand...

I don't really know the guy and I haven't seen him since May. I doubt the playhouse will give me any information on him since they're not being very helpful but I suppose I could ask... I still want to pursue the Playhouse being that they were the business and I was working for them.

A few people have mentioned going to talk to the guy who hit me but I don't think I have it in me to walk up and say "hey man, remember when you accidentally broke my nose? I want you to help pay for it..." the guy drove a car that barely ran and he didn't look like he had any means what-so-ever, I don't want to rain on him.
 
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