Man tries to stop friend from driving drunk by punching him in the face, drunk friend sues and wins $138,000

[Terminator]

AUGUSTA, Maine — A Kennebec County Superior Court jury has awarded a Winslow man more than $138,000 for facial injuries stemming from a fight during a night of drinking at a restaurant in West Forks in 2005.
Eric Johnson’s jaw was broken during the fight with Brian Beaulieu of Sidney. The two men had previously been friends and worked together for a rafting company.
Beaulieu admitted hitting Johnson during a scuffle over car keys when he and another man tried to prevent Johnson from driving.
Johnson claimed he suffered a fractured face and underwent three surgeries, including having a plate inserted to hold his jaw together.
Johnson had sued for $413,000, including punitive damages, but the jury reduced that to $138,000. Beaulieu’s lawyer said an appeal is under consideration.

[Five-0]

Something just seems so wrong with this.

[PeterJasonMN]

I'm not saying the drunk needed to win the money, but holy shit, a busted fucking jaw requiring a plate?

[k-9max]

Huh, no comment here either,

[Ender]

people say one shouldn't drink at home, because it is the precursor to a "problem."

i drink at home alone or with friends more often than i drink out with other people....because i know how i react to alcohol, how my friends react, etc etc...and know that nothing stupid is gonna happen. not to mention if it comes down to it, my friends can stumble home in a few minutes if need be.

[Ducky]

Wonder if he would have tried to sue if he'd gotten into a wreck where he was the drunk driver?

[carolina]

Something just seems so wrong with this.

I agree.

[Star Man]

Wonder if he would have tried to sue if he'd gotten into a wreck where he was the drunk driver?

Yes, people that sue like this are looking for a quick buck no matter who is the target of the lawsuit.

[gozling]

this is so retarded...

[jmur5074]

When I was in high school, me and some friends got all drunked up out camping one night.

One of my buddies decides he wants to drive into town for a hardees hot ham and cheese.

We all advised against this, he ignored us and got in his car, and put the keys in the ignition. I jumped in the pass. seat and put the car in park, try to take the keys, and he smokes me across the face.

At this point it turned into a knock down drag down fight, each of us turning eachothers face into hamburger basically.

Long story short, we dragged him out of the car, and called a sober person to BRING us some hot ham and cheese. 10 hot ham and cheese sandwiches, one broken nose, and one chipped tooth later, we were sitting around the fire BS'ing as if nothing had happened.

And no one got sued.

[Jenna]

10 hot ham and cheese sandwiches, one broken nose, and one chipped tooth later, we were sitting around the fire BS'ing as if nothing had happened.

Wow, you and your friends were good sports. Whose nose was broken and whose tooth was chipped?

[jmur5074]

Wow, you and your friends were good sports. Whose nose was broken and whose tooth was chipped?

My nose was broken.

His tooth was chipped.


Still no idea how his tooth got chipped.

That's how me and him were....we got pretty rough at times. It was all in good fun, no one got mad, and we always joked about it later.

[gozling]

see that is just how things should be....
i know when i used to be on the ski team back in high school we went on an away trip...

one guy got all hammered and wanted to drive to ihop... we tried to stop him and he ended up breaking his ankle and the other guys broke a rib and such was life...

they all just got suspended from the team and that was that.