$7.44 Million Verdict in Crestline Case

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Bob Kuczewski
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$7.44 Million Verdict in Crestline Case

Post by Bob Kuczewski »

I'm not sure if this belongs in "Politics" or not, so please feel free to move it if it offends any of the USHPA loyalists at Sylmar.

There have been a number of reports on a recent $7.44 million verdict in the Firtat v. Pivka case originating from a paragliding collision at Crestline. I've been assembling some of that information here:

https://ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3903

From all that I've read, it appears that Pivka's irresponsible behavior collapsed Firtat's wing and caused an impact with the ground. The jury has upheld that view and rendered a 7.44 million dollar verdict against Pivka. I've pulled a number of partial documents from the court file and found that USHPA's lawyer (Timothy Herr) testified against Firtat and in Pivka's favor.

This raises an important ethical question in our sports. If it really is true that one party does a very bad thing that injures another party, should we really join forces to allow that injury to stand without compensation?

Our justice system isn't perfect, but it has one simple goal - justice. Justice means punishing people who do bad things to other people. It also means compensating people who've been injured by the bad behavior of others. Yet USHPA stands in direct opposition to such justice because it might (almost always) harm their insurance pool. That's why they expelled me. I spoke up for justice in the Hamby case, and USHPA retaliated by expelling me as soon as the case was settled in Hamby's favor.

If you think about it, this means that USHPA will always be on the side of the bad actor in our sports. After all, it''s the bad actors who cause accidents, and it's the innocent victims who will want justice in the courts for being injured. Yet seeking such justice ALWAYS puts the innocent victim on the opposing side of USHPA's insurance pool ... and therefore on the opposing side of USHPA itself (and USHPA's lawyer and USHPA's Director and USHPA's Board Members).

This means that the USHPA-sponsored insurance scheme will always stick up for the bad actors and always attack the good actors. Is that sustainable? Is it even desirable if it is sustainable? After all, what kind of people will you attract to a sport where bad actors are protected and innocent people are punished or ostracized?

I believe that Joe Greblo is a good human being, and I don't think that Joe would endorse the kind of irresponsible behavior that has lead to these injuries (Firtat, Hamby, etc). Yet Joe's unwillingness to defend those who seek justice has, paradoxically, done just that. Retaliation against those who testify against USHPA's interests may be tempting to avoid the short-term pain of law suits. But in the long run, those chickens will come home to roost. USHPA's loss of insurance was just the first shoe to drop.

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