Have you ever been getting ready for work, listening to the news/weather forecast and the chirpy women in the inevitable sleeveless dress who is telling you that there will be a light dusting of snow, no accumulation and you are looking outside the window at not only a blizzard but about six inches already preventing you from leaving the driveway?!? Or this one; the weatherman is telling you how the sun is shining while you hear a torrential rainfall on your roof?!? Yes, I know Chicago is known for ever changing weather but this has gotten out of hand. More often than not, the weather outside never truly matches the weatherman’s predicted forecast. Each day’s weather is a gamble, with our guess being just as good as the meteorologist’s predcition- who in fact went to school for this! Just this past week was no exception. A supposed “light dusting of snow” was predicted for the Chicagoland area, but instead we woke up to more than a few inches of snow with high winds and bitter cold. Since this seems to happen so often, it has us wondering if it was actually a possibility to sue the weatherman for his incorrect forecast? At first I thought I was the only one with these nutty thoughts but the more I asked around, it seems that everyone who lives in the Chicagoland area has at some point thought what a great job being a weatherman/woman must be; you’re on for ten minutes during the newscast, use some really nifty graphics while giving out the forecast yet you need not be even remotely accurate about what you are imparting to millions of viewers who rely on your words to plan their morning commute/trek to Starbucks/decide to forego the long underwear/ bundle up or not, etc. Even more aggravating, if the forecaster is correct they get heaps of praise. If they are wrong (as it seems by my very unscientific anecdotal statistic gathering of looking out the window, happens at least 80% of the time), you have a built in excuse of; “Oh, the weather pattern shifted”, or “that’s El Nino for you!, or “weather is always rapidly changing”, and the all time favorite excuse-“IT’S CHICAGO!
So, Can you sue the weatherman?
Unfortunately for us, the answer to this question seems to be NO. But while researching this we discovered that people actually do try. However, in the vast majority of cases, when the weather is incorrect, citizens actually sue the federal government and not their local weatherman for failing to protect them and warn them about the extreme weather. According to the Federal Tort Claims Act, the government can be sued if there was a negligent act or omission on the part of the person representing the government or any misrepresentation by that person. Most often people sue the government in extreme circumstances like hurricanes or tornadoes where there is severe financial loss and/or severe injury or death. In most of these circumstances the case is thrown out by the court. This is because in the United States, the government is in fact protect by tort immunity which prevents the government from being sued for damages by citizens.
The citizens of the Orleans Parish in New Orleans, LA decided to sue the New Orleans levee board for failing to close the floodgates before a storm which caused severe financial loss to many of the residents. The New Orleans levee board in turn sued the National Weather Service for their failure to predict the weather and tidal conditions. The court dismissed the case stating that the government in this case was immune from tort liability because the National Weather Service was acting within the function of their authority. After Hurricane Katrina, many residents tried to sue the federal government for their part in the damage suffered when the levees broke after discovering that their insurance wouldn’t cover the damage. Most lawsuits ,with the exception of a few class action suits, were dismissed. Similar occurrences happened after other major Hurricanes, such as Hurricane Sandy along the East Coast.
But, there are some cases (although rare in the United States) where citizens actually win their case against the weatherman. An Israeli woman sued her local weatherman for his incorrect forecast and won the case. The weatherman predicted a sunny day but in actuality the weather was the complete opposite with rain and storms. After watching the weather forecast the woman went outside dressed for warm weather, got a cold, and missed four days of work. The woman sued her local weatherman for $1000 and won the case. And here I thought it was a myth perpertrated by moms everywhere that going outside in the cold or rain not properly dressed actually causes a cold!!!
Yes, I know we here at Lauralaw seem a bit weather obsessed but we pride ourselves on always getting to court on time for our clients and always have to factor in the effect of the weather on the traffic, another condition that is always bad in Chicago! We do understand that weather prediction is allegedly a science which can never be 100% accurate. It would be nice for the weather to be correct at least one time this winter so we could properly prepare and dress appropriately. But, for now we’ll just have to continue to pay extra attention to the ever changing weather forecast. This weekend’s forecast calls for colder temps and a possibility of snow on Sunday into Monday. So here’s hoping that they are wrong!!!
As always if you should find yourself in need of legal assistance feel free to contact us and one of our skilled attorney’s will be happy to assist you. Have a happy and warm weekend!
Happy Birthday to President Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and our own Timothy Black whose birthday is February 16th, and of course-Happy Valentines Day!
