Woman Injured by Singer's Stage-Dive Receives $1.4 Million Award


 By Shane D. Scott on April 17, 2014 1:29 PM | Permalink

During a February 2010 performance in a Philadelphia club, the lead singer and saxophonist for punk-funk-ska rock band Fishbone, Angelo "Dr. Madd Vibe" Moore, dove from the stage into the audience. He landed on a New Jersey woman, Kimberly Myers, a 41-year-old mother of three who worked in management for a pharmaceutical clinical trials firm. https://askcompetentlawyer.com/ She was knocked to the floor unconscious, and then taken to a local hospital, where she was treated for a broken skull and collarbone.

In a ruling issued February 12 this year on the damages caused by negligent conduct and failure to warn audience members of the hazards to which they might be exposed, veteran federal district court judge Jan DuBois awarded a nearly $1.4 million judgment against Moore, the Los Angeles-based band, and John Norwood Fisher, the band's bassist and Moore's business partner.

While Myers' out-of-pocket medical expense were less than $16,000, in awarding awarded her more than $350,000 for future medical expenses, the court noted evidence she suffered continuing health problems, including shoulder pain, memory loss, and auto-immune problems which led to her contracting lupus. The award also included $750,000 for non-economic damages, including disfigurement, humiliation, anticipated future pain and suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life.

Citing an apparent lack of remorse by the band's frontman Moore, the judge also tacked on another $250,000 in punitive damages against him. The opinion noted that while Myers lay unconscious, Fishbone "continued to perform as if nothing had happened." He also observed the band had previously been sued for causing similar injuries, and noted Moore's acknowledgement in a disposition that "every couple of months an ambulance is called to the concert venue."

Myers testified she had not known Fishbone would be performing on the night she went to the WXPN World Café, nor of Moore's penchant for stage-diving. The judge noted the Fishbone lead singer's explanation why the group doesn't warn audiences about that conduct: to avoid taking away the performance "theatrics or the spontaneity." The decision also quoted Moore's statement in a disposition that audience members "want to be on the edge when they go to a Fishbone show."

Judge DuBois further observed Moore's statements had shown his main concern with stage-diving, which he continues to do despite audience injuries, was "with own safety," plus "the potential for what Moore believes to be frivolous lawsuits filed by 'predators.'" Myers earlier settled claims made against the band's management company and the University of Pennsylvania, which owns the club where the injury occurred. She sued the band and the two band members in 2012, arguing Moore and the band acted negligently; they did not respond to the lawsuit, resulting in a default judgment against them. In a damages hearing on the judgment, the judge asked, but Moore refused to answer, whether he had taken drugs before the show where Myers was injured.

If you believe you or a family member has been harmed by the negligent or reckless acts of another, please feel free to contact the Law Offices of Shane D. Scott, PC for a free consultation about your options.

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