Law Suit: Worker didn't help woman dying in gym bathroom

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Grand Master

Hum

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Posted

A Long Island woman collapsed and died in a Bay Shore health club?s bathroom because a male employee refused to enter the women?s locker room to try to save her, a lawsuit claims.

Emily Hamlin, 22, was in a ladies?-room stall at Planet Fitness on Route 27 during an early-morning workout when another gym member heard her drop to the floor, the legal papers say.

?I heard [a] flush, then a thud,? the member, Stephanie Dick, recalled in a sworn affidavit about the February 2012 incident. ?I saw a woman?s arm drop to the floor, followed immediately by a loud snoring sound.?

Dick said she dashed to the front desk and pleaded with gym employee Sean Higgins to help.

?He said he didn?t know what to do and that he wasn?t allowed to go into the ladies? bathroom,? Dick said in her sworn affidavit.

As Hamlin lay dying, Higgins remained frozen and was ?scared and confused and didn?t know what to do,? Dick said.

?He said he was the only one working there and that a girl was expected to come in, but he didn?t know when she would be there.?

Dick?s statement is part of a wrongful-death suit Hamlin?s family is set to file in Suffolk County Supreme Court this week against the gym owners and Higgins.

?I want to know why no one helped her!? Hamlin?s mother, Jeanine, 52, said tearfully last week in her Central Islip home.

?He could have simply called 911! It?s baffling to me.?

Video footage from the gym obtained by Hamlin family lawyer Scott Charnas shows Hamlin entering the locker room at 5:08 a.m. Nine minutes later, Dick is seen at the front desk, imploring Higgins.

Dick said that, getting nowhere, she ran back to Hamlin and pounded on her locked stall door. Another gym member heard and ran out to the front desk.

?She was yelling at Sean to call 911,? Dick recalled.

Video shows the second member waving her arms and pointing to the bathroom at 5:21 a.m. Higgins, at one point, is seen idly looking at a computer screen.

Higgins picked up the phone to dial 911 4 1/2 minutes after learning of Hamlin?s collapse, the video?s time stamp shows.

As Dick talked to the 911 operator via cellphone ? eight minutes after members alerted the front desk ? another Planet Fitness employee, Kristin Smith, showed up in the locker room and ?immediately? checked Hamlin?s pulse, finding it ?weak,? the lawyer says.

Smith knows CPR but didn?t perform it, Charnas alleged.

Police arrived at 5:28 a.m. Hamlin was pronounced dead at 6:03 a.m.

The 24-hour gym, which boasts more than 500 members, is required by law to have an automated external defibrillator at all times and at least one person with certification to operate it.

Hamlin?s gym had neither, Charnas alleged.

A Planet Fitness lawyer sent a letter to Charnas saying the gym is not liable for Hamlin?s death.

?The safety of our members is extremely important,? spokeswoman McCall Gosselin said, noting the company can?t comment further until it has a copy of the suit.

Hamlin?s mom, meanwhile, said the gym must change its policies.

?No dollar amount will bring my daughter back,? she said.

source

Grand Master

DocM

Posted
Posted

Not sure this is going anywhere because there is no legal requirement to be a Good Samaritan; apply CPR or whatever. In some states Good Samaritan's also have very weak protections from lawsuits by the very people they're helping or their relatives even if they survive.

No win situation.

Grand Master

theyarecomingforyou

Posted
Posted

No one is obligated to do CPR.

 

And if something goes wrong, you may get sued.

This is the problem. If you actually try to help and something goes wrong you can end up being sued, which is the height of lunacy. In fact the US actually has legal precedent established to not provide assistance. It seems antithetical for a society to encourage people not to care about their fellow citizens and to have laws that penalise those that do.

 

The real issue here is the accusation that the gym didn't have the legally required equipment or staff trained in how to use it. If that's the case then the gym is clearly at fault. Further, if the staff member had CPR training then he should have provided assistance. In some countries you can be prosecuted for not providing assistance.

Grand Master

Growled Member

Posted
  • Member
Posted

The real issue here is the accusation that the gym didn't have the legally required equipment or staff trained in how to use it. If that's the case then the gym is clearly at fault. Further, if the staff member had CPR training then he should have provided assistance. In some countries you can be prosecuted for not providing assistance.

I agree and it is an issue and it is probably why the family will win the lawsuit.

Veteran

moloko

Posted
Posted

No one is obligated to do CPR.

 

And if something goes wrong, you may get sued.

This is crazy isn't it.  Best to not do it and wait for the professionals. 

 

?No dollar amount will bring my daughter back,? she said. "....but it sure will help."

 

/fixed.

HAHA

 

Even if you know CPR, you should not perform CPR on anyone w/o the permit.  Otherwise, you will get sued by their family if something goes wrong.  It's sad, but you have to protect yourself first.

 

This is true for the individual, but they are suing the gym.  I think since she was still alive that they are not liable but it up to the courts. 

I agree and it is an issue and it is probably why the family will win the lawsuit.

Sad but true.

Grand Master

Growled Member

Posted
  • Member
Posted

Higgins did -- after 4.5 minutes.

 

I think most thought that since this was a young woman that collapsed, that it was not that serious.

 

They didn't realize.

I wouldn't be thinking it was anything serious either, since she was young. But I would have rushed in there to see.

Grand Master

Original Poster

Posted
Posted

what was he going to do ? get the broom and sweep her up ? .... he does not have to save her... his only obligation is to make sure stuff is clean and in its place before he leaves... I hope they family lose the case and are told to shut up

Veteran

Stetson

Posted
Posted

There were two problems.

 

1) He should have called 911 immediately

 

2) They were apparently in violation about the auto-defibrillator and trained staff member

 

I think that all of the rest of the stuff about how he didn't go into the bathroom (to do what? "Yup, she's collapsed all right!") and about the other staff member knowing CPR are pretty irrelevant. "Knowing CPR" and being qualified to perform it at a moment's notice are two different things. 

Mentor

kazuyette

Posted
Posted

what was he going to do ? get the broom and sweep her up ? .... he does not have to save her... his only obligation is to make sure stuff is clean and in its place before he leaves... I hope they family lose the case and are told to shut up

 

Are you ironic or just plain stupid ? Or maybe you're just an ugly troll ...

Grand Master

techbeck

Posted
Posted

What, no one else could call 911?  Everyone has a cell phone these days.  But hey, blame it on the employee to make a buck.  Yes, the employee should of called 911 but maybe he panicked.  And what else was he supposed to do?  If he didnt know what he was doing, could cause more harm than good.

Proficient

matt4pack

Posted
Posted

I don't even see why a gym should be required to have someone to perform cpr and know how to use a defibrillator.  A gym employee is not a lifeguard who's full time job is saving people and shouldn't have that responsibility.  If you're going to start a precedent like that then you might as well say every place should have someone for it which would be completely unrealistic.  

 

Also no one else there had a cell phone?  Is this story from like 1995?

Proficient

SupportGeek

Posted
Posted

Good samaritan laws protect those who do act.

 

Sadly, those laws do not exist in every state, and sometimes even when they do exist, they only protect against criminal prosecution, but civil lawsuits are perfectly fine to bring against the Samaritan 

Grand Master

game_over

Posted
Posted

I don't even see why a gym should be required to have someone to perform cpr and know how to use a defibrillator.  A gym employee is not a lifeguard who's full time job is saving people and shouldn't have that responsibility.  If you're going to start a precedent like that then you might as well say every place should have someone for it which would be completely unrealistic.  

 

Also no one else there had a cell phone?  Is this story from like 1995?

 

The gym still has a duty of care to look after it's clients. This guy isn't personally responsible, but the gym is liable, not for her death, but for the very poor handling of an emergency. It's already stated that a violation has been committed and with this guy not having a clue what to do i can only assume more violations have been comitted aswell. 

Grand Master

Original Poster

Posted
Posted

Are you ironic or just plain stupid ? Or maybe you're just an ugly troll ...

says the person trying to get a reaction out of me by calling me a troll? pfft what ever :) ....just pointing out with an extra thick layer,,, that he does not have to help her... even if he was allowed in the bathroom... 

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