Gwyneth Paltrow heading to trial over ski crash
Actor Gwyneth Paltrow is heading to trial on Tuesday, March 21st, as part of the ongoing negligence lawsuit over a skiing incident from seven years ago.
The suit concerns a collision in Utah’s Park City with Terry Sanderson, the man who filed the claim, which alledges that Paltrow had collided with him and that she knocked “him down hard, knocking him out” (per Law and Crime).
The complaint adds that as a result of the collision, Sanderson suffered “permanent traumatic brain injury, 4 broken ribs, pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, emotional distress and disfigurement”. Paltrow counterclaimed that Sanderson had hit her in a “full body hit”, which left her with minor injuries that stopped her from participating in the sport for the rest of the day, and that he had apologised on scene.
Sanderson’s original 2019 claim said: “Paltrow got up, turned and skied away, leaving Sanderson stunned, lying in the snow, seriously injured.” Continuing: “A Deer Valley ski instructor, who had been training Ms. Paltrow, but who did not see the crash, skied over, saw the injured Sanderson and skied off, falsely accusing Sanderson of having caused the crash.”
Paltrow claimed that the instructor did witness what happened. The instructor in question, Eric Christiansen, was removed from the original petition alongside The Deer Valley Resort Company after a judge limited the line of argument about a hit and run. It was eventually ruled that the suit would concern negligence solely around the crash.
“No one with knowledge of Ms. Paltrow’s post-collision actions claims to have observed Paltrow acting recklessly,” the judge wrote. “Even when interpreted in the light most favourable to [Sanderson], the undisputed facts fail to support his claim that Paltrow’s post-collision actions were likely to result in substantial harm, that they were highly unreasonable or an extreme departure from ordinary care, or that they came with an apparent and high degree of danger.”
The suit has now changed from a claim of $3.1million (£2.54million) in damages from Paltrow to $300,000 (£246,150). Paltrow is seeking $1 (£0.82) in damages and attorney fees.
Never Miss A Scene
The Far Out Film Newsletter
All the latest film news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.