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HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL 'At faulf determination Dear Mr. Rockefeller, My daughter tore some ankle ligaments on a ride at the Fair. Can I sue the Ag Center for her inju ries? Dear Reader, What a timely question, with the Wm mw % T - / Jim Rockefeller The “Law” man Fair having just left town! I hope your daughter is not in too much discomfort - I did a number on my ankle in college and it was no fun hobbling around on crutches during an icy Chicago win ter. Your question presents some interesting questions about liability or who’s at Your beliefs, your expectations - Part 2 TT Tour beliefs and expec- V tations are in control J. of your life. That may not seem fair, since you had little role in generat ing them your parents and early friends had that honor. Admit tedly, they prob- Dennis Hooper Leaders Building Leaders ably did not understand the power they would have on your future! Without your conscious awareness, however, the beliefs and expectations they installed in you are influenc ing your every choice! If you don’t like what you are creating with your life, can you change your beliefs and expectations? Fortunately, yes! It requires il Ckvbtmas " It is that time of year again! We are so excited about this la m&rA year’s Christmas Parade, which will be held Saturday, ggßflil December Ist at 2:00 p.m., with the line-up starting at 1:00 ■ p.m. Perry has always had a wonderful Christmas spirit, and with your help, we hope to make this parade a huge success. Please take a few moments to fill out this application for the parade. Fax back to one of the numbers listed below. JVO ENTRY FEE Pw y ie of Group/Business/Unit: son Responsible/Contact: Address: ' Daytime Phone: Fax: Email: j Type (Float, Queen, Dance Team, VIP, etc.): i Description of Float (if know): ■ 1 — | If Float, what type of vehicle will be used to pull it? How many units (floats, vehicles, etc.) will you have? v Est. number of people in group (including driver): % WiU your entry include music? Yes No k Please return this form to Melanie Lewis, Houston Springs Resort, 105 Fairway Oaks Dr., Perry, Georgia 31069 or via fax number (478) 988-8093 no later than November 19th. The rules and requirements will he sent back to you as soon as the application is received. If you have any questions or concerns, please direct them to Melanie. Thank you. Houston Springs An Active Aduit Resort Community 478-988-8100 ext.llo4 Fax: 478-988-8093_ r fault. Fault can come from one of three basic sources: direct action; inaction; or a special legal relationship with a “bad actor,” which is called “imputed liability.” On its face, direct action liability is pretty easy to understand (the driver of a car is liable for his/her neg ligence from crashing into another car). In your daughter’s case, the ride operator would be directly liable for, say, neg ligently not having shut the ride off fast enough. However, if the ride itself was also somehow defective, and a fail-safe measure did not perform as designed, the owner of the ride (or even the manufacturer/distrib uter) of the ride could be directly liable for providing your daughter a negligent product. first that you become aware that your values, your beliefs, and your expecta tions are perhaps the most significant contributors to your moment-to-moment behaviors. Your beliefs and expecta tions affect the goals you set, the risks you take, the help you are willing to request, and the degree of persis tence you exhibit. We all flip-flop between two worlds of deception. One is a state of doubt (more about that below). Where most of us live most of the time, however, we believe we “see” things as they really are. We act based on what we consider to be “the truth.” We think we understand the motivations and probable actions of those who work with us. We think we can accurately predict the out comes of our decisions. When functioning in this state of confidence, we typi Mfougtg'tti Mforctgj Hlbur-rxal 478-988-9193 Or whomever serviced/ repaired the ride could be directly liable for having been negligent when doing so. As the Ag Center, presum ably, had nothing to do with any of these issues, it is not “directly” liable. Moving on to “inaction” liability: this most com monly applies where a third party commits some terrible wrongful act (such as a crim inal act). In these situations, the law will not ordinarily impose liability for failing to anticipate the final wrong doer’s evil intent. Consequently, if an employee goes “postal” on the job and kills co-workers, the employer is not typically liable (this is why Virginia Tech is probably not liable for the horrific mass mur ders from last Spring). cally have no awareness that we are actually being influenced by our biases and assumptions. Our perspec tive of reality is really quite distorted and incomplete. Yet if we take action and the outcome is quite different from what we had predicted, we are genuinely surprised. Because of the decisive role we are expected to play, we leaders operate as if we perceive “the truth” perfect ly. We speculate as to how we got to this point, and we Assessing Your Leadership Skills -SBS/person *" * ■ K i jin OPINION comes from 3 sources The are exceptions. For instance, if you can show the employer either negligently supervised or wrongfully hired/retained the employee, knowing that there was a “bomb” ticking . . . well, the employer could be liable. For instance, a store owner would not be liable for a patron going “postal” at the store, killing other patrons. However, if the store owner had received direct threats, an hour before the tragedy, and did nothing (like call ing the police), maybe that would be a basis for liabil ity. In another example, the owner of an apartment complex (or a hotel) might need to make sure there are appropriate security mea sures (gates, lights, locks, even a security guard) to protect tenants and deter think we know what to do to get us where we want to be. We think we know what will work, as long as every one cooperates with us. So we assume the stereotypical “I’m the boss, so do what I tell you” dictator approach. Sometimes we realize that our perspective in a given situation is incomplete. At times like this, we can easily flip into the other extreme: we doubt our abilities. We question our capacity See HOOPER, page 7A F. Dennis Hooper Certified Leadership Development Coach Building leaders and organizations of excellence (478) 988-0237 dhooper2(«r juno.conf HOMES AS LOW AS $49 SQ^FT. ' itwv, '■ ' .t:Wi -J r tbe/<rfu2wi>eAs f~lo<yis iPtatv I / Ass o 'Ptaw 4 sului<>+n6,3.s SabLtv 1 f&j aO. Aatbi* * Offer only available at the Macon Building Center. Offer not valid on existing contracts. Offer expires 11/30/07, Not valid with any other offer. Final Value of Upgrades & Options based on Selections by Customots. See your Ametwa's Home Piece Building Consultant for details. '* These prices ate under roof, built on your lot prices and do not include site improvements. Pictures may show upgrades not included in price. Macon Building Center 6255 Zebulon Road #230 Macon, GA 31210 478-474-9070 1-800-NewHouse AmericasHomePlace.com © f 5 5414 FREE FIREPLACE $3, W® VALUE Offer Available Until 11/30/07 Call Today For Free Pre-Qualification We Find Ways To Approve More Loans Than Any Other Custom Home Builder Over 35 Years Of Custom Home Building Experience 900-4,000+ Sq. Ft Floor Plans To Choose From Featuring Standard Upgrades Including 9' Ceilings, Low E Glass, 5" Gutters & Downspouts And More... wrongdoers. Inaction liability is prob ably not applicable to your daughter’s injuries. Absent knowledge that the ride was unsafe, outside of the com munity of the operator and ride owner, I cannot see any one else (including the Ag Center) being liable for your daughter’s injury for a “fail ure to act.” The last theory of liabil ity is imputed liability; this flows from legal relation ships and is almost a con tractually imposed liability theory. Hence, employers are lia ble for the negligent (but not intentional) acts of their employees - this means the owner of the ride is liable for any operator negligence. However, there will be NO imputed liability to the Ag Center, because there is Dinakara B. Shetty, M.D. “Where Care Is Continuous & You Will LOVE The Way We Care" Specialising In: Heart Disease, Senior Care, Cancer, Stroke Prevention, Cholesterol Management, Arthritis, Diabetes, Blood Pressure, Obesity, Physical, Lung Disease, Minor Surgery, Inhouse Labs, Stress Tests, Ultrasound, X-Ray, EKG, & Bone Density Test 1719 McNeal Center • Russell Pkwy • Building 700 Warner Robins, GA * 328-0806 DAVID OVERTON JEWELERS <^ > We Buy Gold Scrap!! Bring It In And Let Us Weigh It. PAY SANTA WITH SCRAP GOLD! 905 Downtown Carroll St. • Perry 54.1.1 S SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2007 ♦ certainly a lease agreement stating the ride is an “inde pendent” operation from the Ag Center and this relation ship will be impose liability. Look to the company responsible for the ride to seek just compensation. I hope your daughter is up and about very soon! If you have any other questions, please feel free to e-mail them to me. Local attorney Jim Rockefeller owns the Rockefeller Law Center and is a former Houston County Chief Assistant District Attorney, and a former Miami Prosecutor. E-mail confidential legal questions to ajr@rockefellerlawcenter. com.. Visit www.rockefeller lawcenter.com for Frequently Asked Questions and Jim’s blog, The Rockefeller Report. •Jewelry Repair & Cleaning •Watch Repair •Engraving M^T-lFri. •Appraisals 9:3oam-si3opm •Estate Jewelry Sat ‘ 9:3oam-2pm •Class Rings Custom Home Builders 5A Dr Dtn.k... B „ D Board Certified Internal Medicine 155187 L55408_