Obesity Lawsuits and Slippery Slopes

It's old news now, but the House has passed a bill that bans lawsuits against the food industry for obesity.

Now, I'm about as liberal as they come, and without a doubt I would be the worst juror in the world for a defense lawyer, but I'd be the first juror to find McDonald's "not guilty" in any obesity lawsuit. And apparently, I'm not alone.

For example, Reuters reported that, "There's not a single pending lawsuit now that hasn't been dismissed." This would seem to indicate that there's no need to worry about the food industry being put out of business by obesity lawsuits. This bill is supposedly about "personal responsibility."

However, the Washington Post quotes Connecticut Representative Rosa DeLauro as saying, "Only with this Republican leadership would an effort to promote personal responsibility begin with allowing companies to be irresponsible without accountability." Well said, Rosa.

Tort reformers know that a bill like this is an easy sell to the American public. Very few people - including trial lawyers - think that these lawsuits should succeed. But by demonizing trial lawyers, and by slowly acclimating the public to the concept of protectionary laws, tort reformers will be able to push more tort reform down America's throat.

In The People vs. Larry Flynt, Flynt's character made the statement, "If the First Amendment will protect a scumbag like me, then it'll protect all of you -- 'cause I'm the worst." I would agree that this obesity lawsuit (note that it's a singular lawsuit) is the legal equivalent of a scumbag. But, the Supreme Court allowed Larry Flynt to continue being a scumbag because, inter alia, once you start down the slippery slope of banning speech - no matter how offensive - it becomes easier to ban speech slightly less offensive, and the pattern will continue until we live in a land with as much tolerance as Nazi Germany.

That's why it's a bad idea to grant immunity to any industry. So far, judges have thrown these obesity lawsuits out of court, and there's no reason to think that judges will stop doing so. Even if they do, the average juror won't rule in favor of plaintiffs in such cases. This bill is just the first of many frivolous attacks upon the rights of citizens to hold corporations accountable for misdeeds.

Of course, there's one industry that never seems to be held accountable for its misdeeds; the CNN article I lead off with has this quote:

"The National Restaurant Association said the bill is its top priority this year. While only one such lawsuit has been filed -- a case involving New York children against McDonald's that was dismissed -- the industry said it is facing higher insurance costs because of the potential liability."

Ever notice that trial lawyers "hold industries hostage", "terrorize businesses", and "run rampant" like a "plague of locusts", but that the insurance industry can do no wrong? Let's analyze the obesity lawsuit "epedemic" for a minute: One lawsuit is thrown out of court twice. Insurance companies raise their rates and threaten the livelihood of the restaurant industry, but somehow, lawyers are to blame.

You know, I wonder if Dawn of the Dead will cause some insurance companies to raise their rates for shoping malls because of the potential liability in case zombies invade.

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