<![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video - Gawker Comments]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video - Gawker Comments]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> @LoveHandles: Was it over? I live in DC and recall that guy representing himself in court, getting emotional...

maybe I imagined the details. What a kook that man was.

MartyPants

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> @MartyPants: Hahahaahah, that was a good one. Everyone forgets to mention it was over before the news reports circulated worldwide about it. Nothing stops you from filing a dumbass one. It just won't go anywhere.

LoveHandles

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> @LoveHandles: $54 million dollar lost pants lawsuit, anyone?

MartyPants

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> Once, when I did a week in a mental health center, the main elevator there was a real stickler, which wasn't cool.

haunts

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> @camille_javal: THANK YOU! I'm so fucking tired of people bringing up that suite as the quintessential frivolous lawsuit. In fact, "frivolous" lawsuits are filed all the time; very few ever make it far. And I have rarely heard of one that is actually really frivolous (obviously there are few) but by-in-large, the legal system in our country is one of the things we should be most proud of; instead, most people think it needs "fixing". It doesn't.

LoveHandles

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> And what happens when you've just gotta go [www.break.com]

stuckatmydesk

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> @ladyastronaut: wow, I'm surprised it took so long for someone to bring up the McDonald's suit.

1) She had third-degree burns over 6% of her body (and lesser burns over 16%) that did nerve damage, and required skin grafting and physical therapy. She had no health insurance through her longtime employer. She initially sought $20,000 from McDonald's for her medical bills alone, and McDonald's offered her $800. It was only then that she filed suit.

1a) McDonald's had been warned about their coffee temperature in the past; it was well above the industry standard.

2) The $2.86 million was the jury award; a judge reduced it to $640,000, which may have been reduced even further in settlement (McDonald's agreed not to file an appeal, and the settlement amount was undisclosed).

The McDonald's suit is far less frivolous that a lot of lawsuits, but "burned by a cup of coffee" provides a nice shorthand for people who don't want to bother to find out the facts.

On this case, this guy must have had a bad lawyer, or not listened to his lawyer. He should not have asked for so much, and the facts regarding him going to Anguilla for a long period of time - it's all extremely sketchy. It's sad, because he probably legitimately suffered some kind of PTSD (seriously, 41 hours in an elevator would do that, I would think). If he could show that he attempted to continue with his life as normal, but it was hampered by the experience (which would be likely in New York, I would think - just a few elevators here), then I think he might have done a bit better, and perhaps not ruined any chance he might have of having a career.

He should move to DC; the buildings have much shorter height limits.

camille_javal

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> Heartbreaking. He did deserve more, considering the evidence that they checked out every other elevator but his. Essentially, he got stick Friday night and had to wait until Monday morning. In a building that size, it's unconscionable not to have a weekend maintenance guy.

cassandra

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> @TheHonJudgeSmails: @KarenUhOh: From our end, now that the event is over, we know it's 41 hours. But imagine the thoughts that enter your head at the beginning of this ordea: at minute 20, you wonder how long it's going to take. Then at hour 2, I'm sure you start to have these irrational nightmares about dying in that box. You're able to quell those nightmares with rational thought, for a time being, until at somewhere around hour 6 or so, it feels like a distinct possibility. Then he spent 34 MORE HOURS there, all the while, never knowing it was going to end at hour 41. Your brain has a reserve of chemicals - special panic inducing, last-resort sort of shit - it only releases when death is a real possibility. These things are harsh and fuck with your head forever. I'd want 25 million too. IN the grand scheme of things it seems like an outrageous sum to us, but in his fucked-up head, it's all he can hope for. Something happens up there when you stare death in the face - and it ain't pretty.

LoveHandles

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> Did he never have to pee?

LadyChatterley

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> @Cheap Shot:

I fell out of my chair, thanks.

Airport_Whiskey

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> @britneyspearstears: Thanks!

Bell County

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> Is this a lost Andy Warhol film?

popture

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> This is why city-dwellers should carry a WhizBiz.

TheLorax

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> @Cheap Shot: Exactly what I was thinking -- man, would my surveillance tape have been embarrassing.

dana danger

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> Hopefully he got paid by the New Yorker and/or Nick Paumgarten for this video.

I agree with EvidenceOfAbsence above as to why the security guards failed to acknowledge their screens. 41 hours is a long time with no food or no bathroom. I think he should've gotten more than $100k. Someone who sued McDonalds for burning herself with coffee won $2.86 million. This elevator situation is worse than the coffee incident.

ladyastronaut

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> So, is the lesson not to smoke or not to take elevators?

What I found odd is that they check every other elevator for a fix, but his.

Jeremy

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> Bell County: Commie Nominee!

britneyspearstears

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> @veeelchop: White didn't sue his employer. McGraw-Hill doesn't own or manage the building—Rockefeller Group Development Corporation, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi, does.

@TheHonJudgeSmails: Whether or not White suffered, isn't there a public safety issue here? The management company hired eight separate security guards who failed to acknowledge their CCTV screens; they, and the maintenece crews, should have noticed the elevator was busted and done something about it. Further, according to the NYC Department of Buildings' site, McGraw-Hill's elevators were rated "unsatisfactory" four times in the 90s.

Dunno. If you consider the severance package a Business Week production manager might have gotten in 1999, plus the cost of a bunch of therapy ($150/wk-->$7k/yr for a couple years), plus, yes, some punitive damages, $100,000 doesn't sound entirely crazy.

EvidenceOfAbsence

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> And it took over 30 hours for his shirt-tail to come out. Truth is indeed stranger...

HRHWill

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> Wasn't there a story a few years ago about a Chinese delivery guy who got stuck in an elevator in the Bronx for days, and had to be wheeled away in an ambulance when he was finally found? The story gave me the shivers back then.

Wendy_Kroy

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> @KarenUhOh: which is one figure less that he was seeking ($25,000,000). He actually would have been much better off trying to sue to make them move his office to the ground floor (even if they had to get a facility specifically for him), and a decent monitary compensation ($100,000-175,000).

valarmorghulis

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> I can't wait to see someone make this into an episode of Boston Legal.

All White has to do is write it up so that Shatner gets trapped in the elevator with James Spader for 41 hours and he can collect the royalty checks for years to come.

Problem solved. If not, hey there's always Law and Order.

bizasizzalizzyizzo

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> If you really think he's overreacting to his predicament, I suggest watching the video in realtime. Even in the comfort of your own home, with bathroom, sleep, and meal breaks, you'd be half nuts by the time you were done.

That said, he seems to have made some pretty poor choices in the aftermath.

virgilicious

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> @fuzzymuffins:

He did indeed take a piss through the door.

And he was also - understandably - completely freaked about going on an elevator again. Visible on a camera for 40 hours, and nobody in Rock Ctr security bothered to look at a monitor.

40 hours. Stuck in that elevator.

swashbuckled

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> @karion: you mean he couldn't even update his twitter page? horreurs!

missbheave (is not convinced)

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> sort of reminds me of the Wind-Up Bird Chronicles, and that guy who was stuck in a well. I could see how something like that would change you forever.

rebecca

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> @PrincessKashmir: hahahahahah I've done the SAME thing. Maybe this is God's version of that when he gets bored.

monpetitchou

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> veeelchop: He tried both... assistance is futile.

In Other News...

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> It's too bad he didn't have more cigs. Nothing gets the attention of authority like lighting up a cigarette anymore.

Mediahohoho

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> Why did the lights stay on in that elevator and not the others? (Not an apartment dweller)

a dog called ego

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> @In Other News...:

its the door close button that does nothing.

but why did the guy sue his employer? sue the elevator company, the security company, sue every guy named OTIS, but don't sue your boss. go back to work, prove you are loyal, hopefully get a big sympathy raise and live on. sounds like a good job opportunity to me.

veeelchop

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> @sampan: Or some poor fucking taxi driver who got ratted out by his jealous neighbor. Hah!

Mediahohoho

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> @Mediahohoho: That would "show." Damn decaf.

Mediahohoho

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> Dude should have gone all penitentiary and pumped up, come out like a crip on steroids. That would should those wusses over at Bidness World.

Mediahohoho

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> Well, thank goodness he wasn't stuck in there with a pregnant woman.

Goober_Pea

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> The biopic: Nick In A Box.

Bell County

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> I knew we'd get Guantanomo, now we just need abu ghraib
and gulag and we'll pretty much be done.

nicepony

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> sampan: Yeah, especially if you're a terrorist.

In Other News...

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> Imagine what five years in Guantanamo would be.

sampan

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> I was stuck in an elevator once for two hours. I was at work around the same time, on a friday and was not resuced until after 1 am... and I was mostly worried about where I would pee if they didn't come save me. I was witha friend at least. I can not imagine being alone, in an elevator for that long. I mean, people close to him must have thought the worst! Missing for the whole weekend!? Someone must have though he died!

Neon.Wonder

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> @fileunder: I'd also starve to death.

Helman

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> I'm starting to feel bad for all the times I built tiny doorless rooms around my Sims and laughed as they tore at their hair, soiled themselves and ultimately succumbed to death.

PrincessKashmir

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> @lawyergay:

i'm sure he opened the door to pee... least that's what i would have done.

traumatic, yes. but when you put your life on hold to try and prove that you've been emotionally scarred ... stupid.

the case should have been on the negligence of rescue, and the guy should have just kept going with his life.

what the hell, be famous for showing that you can be stuck in an elevator for 2 days and overcome it! now that's a MAN....

fuzzymuffins

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> please 41 hours, he still had some saliva and his imagination. make it work

mgayb

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> This is my worst nightmare.

lionel-mandrake

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> People spend decades in prison being tortured, and we're supposed to empathize with this guy who got stuck in an elevator and then stopped going to work and relocated to a tropical island so as not to prejudice his lawsuit?!

Also, although I can't see his face, I imagine him to look and sound just like 'Michael Bolton' from Office Space.

vulturesquadron

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> He's so lucky he didn't rub one out.

Cheap Shot

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> @karion:
Goddamn, karion, definitely. I'd go insane.

fileunder

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> @karion:

Two days is a longgggggg time. Ten minutes in a Duane Reade line can drive you mad. Guy should have received a lot more dough.

nicepony

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> I was stuck in an elevator for 41 minutes and nearly had a god damn stroke.

oudemia

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> @TheHonJudgeSmails:

I am confident that you would feel different had you been trapped for two days in an elevator. The guy didn't even have an iphone. He had nothing but his own thoughts for two goddamn days. I don't know many folks who could take it.

karion

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> @dogisdead: I think he did what my husband does when faced with 10 minutes of nothing to do: removes all items from his wallet, including drivers license, green card, credit cards, etc. to validate his existence.

Sargasm

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> I was locked in my bedroom one time for like 14 hours. I had to pee into a Diet Coke can. I was never so happy as when my roommate came home. I had yelled into the alley the night before and everything. Freaks me out a little bit to think about. Awww.

CodePink

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> I visibly cringed when he finally opened the elevator door...to a wall. Also, was he playing cards? Who carries a deck of cards with them when going out for a cigarette!?

dogisdead

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> I haven't seen the vid yet but I'll snark anyway: 9 months in the womb and he freaks out over 41 hours? W.U.S.S.

Some of My Best Friends Are People

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> Really too disturbing for snark.

Spirit Fingers

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> @soybomb: Fair enough.

@KarenUhOh: @BalknChain: They gave him > $100,000... more than ample.

TheHonJudgeSmails

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> The best part is, at the end, they put a little "elevator out of service" sign up. A cute, final indignity.

TheHonJudgeSmails

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> I didn't see him take a piss. It's a fake, like the moon landing.

heartbreakturnip

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> @In Other News...: You have entered the Twilight Zone. doo do doo do..

BalknChain

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> @TheHonJudgeSmails: Agreed, just give him something for his suffering and any medical and move on. And for heavens's sake destroy those tapes. Creepy..

BalknChain

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> I couldn't tell from the footage...but he must have peed at least once in there, right?

lawyergay

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> @TheHonJudgeSmails: Well, a bit harsh, I'd say. My experience--and I know there are exceptions galore, so those needn't be pointed out--is that many people file a lawsuit because they have no fucking clue what else to do about what's happened to them.

And I'll admit, 41 hours is a long time, but it's not close to seven figures long.

KarenUhOh

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> @TheHonJudgeSmails: he worked for business week - what other route would you expect him to take?

debord at work

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> This reminds me too much of my normal existence for comfort.

InternMary

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> That is a fucking bummer. At the very least, I hope he brought his whole pack of cigarettes outside with him, instead of just the one.

Helman

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> "Lift log, hour 38. I now have conclusive proof that the 'door open' button does not actually function. I suspect, actually, that it never really has."

In Other News...

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> finally something that perfectly reifies the intense, life defying claustrophobia of working in book publishing. how appropriate that it actually happened at a publishers!

debord at work

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> "See? The Muzak isn't THAT bad! It isn't... that... bad... TURN IT OFF!!! TURN IT OFF!!! NO... MORE... MIDI... RICK... ASTLEY!!!!!!!!"

In Other News...

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> He deserves to be unemployed. To be sure, getting stuck in an elevator for 41 fucking hours is a terrible thing. But he tried to go the slimy litigious route, and lost. Good.

TheHonJudgeSmails

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> Is this the elevator version of Michael Douglas's Falling Down?

In Other News...

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> That... is kind of a amazing.

nanotalent

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped In An Elevator For Two Days: The Video]]> Yet another ploy by Bloomberg to get NYers to quit smoking.

richardmarxhatesmyhair

]]>