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> Tort Law did for the consumer what the unions did for the worker and were
> designed to keep companies whose bottom line is the almighty buck from
> injuring and killing folks for the sake of that almighty buck. I am appaled
> at how many times I've been told a possible law-suit resulting from
> death/injury is considered the "cheaper" alternative. I am also appalled at
> how often a ligit liability lawsuit is turned into a media circus and made
> to look friviolus. The bottom line is, if a company has a documented risk
> asssment and has shown good faith in warning the public, a friviolus
> lawsuit will never make it to court.
And I am equally appalled at the scalding stupidity of the average American
consumer. Tort law ensures people remain complete flaming morons incapable of
even the most basic simian reasoning.
Tort laws are about lawyers getting money. Those lawyers don't care one tiny
infantecimal iota about "the common people." How come all those Tort lawyers are
driving around in Mercedes and their clients drive up in Pintos?
People see big businesses as sugar daddies that they can suck dry for their own
irresponsibility. Who needs hard work when there are Fords, Microsofts, and GEs
in the world to sue, sue, sue!!!
That isn't to say there isn't some legitimate claims of liability. But the fact
is we are a nation of victims. People LOVE to see themselves as victims of the
big, evil companies. In reality, people are victims of their own astronomical
stupidity. And rather that face that depressing fact, they look for a scapegoat.
And companies with money make the perfect scapegoat. They have a lot of money and
there are seething teams of lawyers ready to take your case and stick it to the
big-boys.
> This is important to any of us in the technical writing domain, as it puts
> the onus on us to provide adequate instructions, which include warnings
> (and labels if that is a part of our job). Most writers are completely
> oblivious to their responsibility under the Tort Law and many companies are
> equally oblivious (or choose to ignore). As such, they are also ignorant
> to the fact that they can be sued in a liability action, as a company and
> as individuals, for their failure to provide adequate instructions and
> warnings.
Most writers are also completely oblivious to how the products and technologies
they are documenting actually work. Therefore, they are even less qualified to
offer any insight into liability issues.
> To make matters even more complicated, it's a double-edged sword for a
> writer. Business loves to hate the Tort Law and tends to kill the
> messenger. If you, as the writer, are doing a proper job, you are the
> messenger.
This issue - along with practically every tech comm issue - all come down to
people understanding what they're documenting. If you don't understand it, then
there is virtually no hope that you can fashion reasonable warnings. And no
offense to the classes you mentioned, but just knowing an international standard
of warning labels doesn't mean you are qualified to then actually implement them.
Once again, you have to know the products & technologies in order to understand
how they might be used in an insecure or dangerous manner.
And tort lawyers have done a phenomenal job of helping ruin jobs and industries.
Every time a tort lawyer gets a big settlement from a company, remember that
means that company has fire people to pay for that settlement. Those of you laid
off from work may have very well been the direct result of some supplier or
vendor of your company NOT placing a big order because they have to pay Sally
Dingledork 3.2M in damages because she spilled coffee on herself because she was
too busy blabbing on her radioactive cell phone while driving her mammoth SUV and
arguing with her abusive pot smoking idiot 3rd husband about the stupid IKEA
furniture they just bought from Moron-Mart.
Money doesn't grow on trees. Somebody has to sign the check at the end of the
day. And when the resources of a company are depleted paying big settlements to
morons that translates into people out of work. Deepening an already deep hole.
Andrew Plato
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