Gwyneth Paltrow Counter-Sues Eye Doctor for $1.00 Over Ski Collision
Attorneys for Gwenyth Paltrow have announced they will be countersuing a man who alleges he was struck from behind while on a ski slope by Ms. Paltrow causing serious injuries.
76-year-old Terry Sanderson a retired optometrist, states that he was skiing on a slope at Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah on Feb. 26, 2016, when an out-of-control Paltrow came barreling down the hill and struck him forcefully from behind.
“I heard something I had never heard at a ski resort — a bloodcurdling scream,” he said.
“I got hit in my back so hard, and right at my shoulder blades. It felt like it was perfectly centered, the fists and the poles were right there, at my shoulder blades. Serious, serious smack. I've never been hit that hard,”
He went on to say he suffered, “ a concussion, brain injury and four broken ribs.”
According to Sanderson’s complaint, Ms. Paltrow then got up and skied away and leaving him lying in the snow. Then Sanderson alleges he was offered no help by Ms. Paltrow, nor the staff of the resort.
The lawsuit goes on to claim that a ski instructor who had been skiing with Paltrow, but had not witnessed the crash, had tried to falsely put the blame on Sanderson, saying it was actually he who caused the crash and not the actress.
But the reason for the lawsuit is NOT because of Paltrow’s celebrity status, says Sanderson's attorney, Robert Sykes.
“Her attorney’s taken a statement with our permission from the witness,” Sykes told NBC News. “They don’t deny the collision. Their position is Gwyneth Paltrow was downhill and Terry hit Gwyneth Paltrow.”
Both parties claim to have been downhill at the moment of the collision, relying on an old and lesser known Utah law stating downhill skiers have the right of way.
Suing for damages, Sanderson at first wanted to recover $3.1 million from the actress, but the judge threw the case out saying Sanderson wasn’t entitled to Punitive damages. He now hopes to be awarded for damages totaling more than $300,000 for injuries sustained in the ski wreck.
Neuropsychologist Dr. Samuel Goldstien says that even though Sanderson was healthy and vibrant while traveling the world and skiing the worlds mountains, he’s taken a sharp decline in his health since the crash and reportedly told jurors:
“Were it not for that particular accident, the life he was living in the six months to a year before that … he would continue to be living.”
Paltrow’s team of attorneys contend that their client did not strike Mr. Sanderson, but that he had in fact struck Ms. Paltrow and caused the accident on the slopes. They have offered a counter suit totaling only 1 dollar. This is a symbolic gesture to state that an actors celebrity status and reputation is what’s at stake and not financial restitution.