Next week, Gwyneth Paltrow will appear in court to defend herself against a negligence claim brought forth by a man who alleges that the actress harmed him gravely in 2016 while they were skiing in Park City, Utah.
Terry Sanderson, 76 who is a retired ophthalmologist the plaintiff, claims that Paltrow struck him from behind while he was skiing at the resort on February 26, 2016, “knocking him down hard, knocking him out,” and causing “permanent traumatic brain injury, 4 broken ribs, pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and disfigurement,” according to his complaint, which was obtained by Court TV. Sanderson is seeking damages of more than $3.1 million. He claims the incident was a “hit and run.”
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She allegedly “got up, turned, and skied away, leaving Sanderson startled, laying in the snow, according to the lawsuit.” Paltrow has filed a countersuit in which she is seeking legal expenses and costs in addition to $1 in compensatory damages. She admits that they collided in her lawsuit, but she asserts that she was further down the slope when Sanderson hit her from behind, giving her a “full body blow.”
The lawsuit claims that Deer Valley ski instructor Eric Christiansen approached Sanderson and “falsely” accused him of “having caused the incident,” despite the fact that Christiansen was with Paltrow and “did not see the crash.” Sanderson claims that neither Paltrow nor a Deer Valley employee who was there at the collision site provided assistance or called for help.
The Salt Lake Tribune reported, “At the news conference, Sanderson’s attorneys – Lawrence D. Buhler and Robert B. Sykes – pointed to the National Ski Area Association’s Skier Responsibility Code, which states that skiers must “always stay in control” and that “people ahead of you have the right of way. It is your responsibility to avoid them.” They also noted that a Summit County ordinance prohibits “reckless skiing” and mandates that “any skier involved in a collision that results in an injury” must stop, render assistance, notify ski area employees and give their name and address “before leaving the ski area.”
