Gwyneth Paltrow’s Lawyer Slams ‘Meritless’ Lawsuit Over 2016 Ski Accident As ‘Utter BS’
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Gwyneth Paltrow’s attorney is coming out swinging in defending the actress against a $300,000 lawsuit filed by a retired optometrist who alleges she was negligent in a 2016 accident at a Utah ski resort.
Sources told the New York Post that Paltrow is planning to take the stand in her own defense, after retired optometrist Terry Sanderson, 76, alleged she collided with him while skiing at Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah, “knocking him down hard, knocking him out.”
On Tuesday, The Associated Press reported, lawyers for both parties gave their opening statements. Lawrence Buhler, attorney for Sanderson, claimed that Paltrow took a “so what?” attitude after the collision while skiing, alleging the plaintiff experienced a “full body blow;” in Sanderson’s complaint filed in 2019, Sanderson alleged the accident left him with “permanent traumatic brain injury, 4 broken ribs, pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life.”
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Paltrow’s lawyer, Steve Owens, offered a very different account, telling jurors that Sanderson is “obsessed” with the lawsuit and that the case was a “meritless claim of false allegation.”
“Really kind of an offensive one,” Owens told the journey, reported AP. “That she somehow left him an unconscious man and bolted? I can tell you, we believe it to be utter BS.”
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Paltrow kept her head down as she was pictured arriving at Utah court on Tuesday, where she’s expected to take the stand.
The actress was seen wearing sunglasses and a long khaki coat as she arrived at Park City Court with a bodyguard just after 8 a.m. local time.
Sanderson has accused Paltrow of negligence and is suing for US$300,000 (about $410,000 in Canadian dollars), claiming she caused him serious injury in the accident.
He maintains that Paltrow left him collapsed on the slope and skied away, Global News reported.
In a counterclaim, Paltrow said Sanderson skied into her in a “full body hit,” giving her minor injuries that prevented her from skiing the next day. She claims he apologized to her after the accident.
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Paltrow said she only left the scene of the accident after a Deer Valley Resort employee gave confirmation she could depart.
She also alleged Sanderson has said before that he does not have a clear memory of the accident.
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According to the Post, “opening statements from both sides will be presented Tuesday to the jury of eight and two alternates, most of whom raised their hand during the selection process when the judge asked them if they knew who Paltrow was.”
Sanderson had originally been after $3.1 million in damages, but after a judge ruled he’s not entitled to punitive damages, the amount has been cut to $300,000.
