Injured 'Mermaid' Actor Sues Disney

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 7:07pm

http://www.backstage.com/bso/news_reviews/nyc/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003855367

Who didn't see THAT coming?

That was sarcasm by the way.

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 7:23pm

I got teary eyed reading his personal statement in that article. Thank God he survived and will recover, but at this time where he is surely struggling with such a huge change, it is hard to deal with. I hope he is adequately provided for by the parties involved.

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 7:27pm

Wasn't somebody here a witness to the accident? I seem to recall. Could it have been human error, or was this negligence?

[NYC_or_Bust]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 7:31pm

Regardless, he was hurt on the job. And I hardly feel like it was premeditated. I mean, slipping on a "wet floor" at Walmart is QUITE different than taking a 36 foot fall.

Sue, and milk it for all its worth!

[NGD2225]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 7:32pm

Could Disney have NOT settled this outside of court? This has bad PR all over it.

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 7:34pm

Yeah, I'm usually the first person to make fun of needless lawsuits, but if I were him, I'd definitely sue. Being injured like he was has got to be so much MORE painful when you get your living as a dancer.

And yeah, having seen the show, the ship looked quite scary. I don't know how the cast managed to look so cheery and nonchalant atop that set piece... I'd have been too scared to sing a single note up there.

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 7:35pm

I do remember that someone was at that performance sitting in the front row. They saw nothing, as the accident happened minutes before the 2pm curtain, but they could certainly here it.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 7:37pm

"Could Disney have NOT settled this outside of court? This has bad PR all over it."

You are 100 percent right, it would seem like the more sensible thing to do

[Yes, I'm Chance]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 7:47pm

Maybe they tried and he refused.

[PitPro2004]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 8:20pm

I remember the ongoing battle at Beauty and the Beast when the musicians were coming down with ailments thanks to the dry ice that poured into the pit each night. Disney didn't care less about their employees back then and I have no reason to think they'd care now.

More power to Adrian. Saw him in Smokey Joes Cafe. He's wonderful, but he's fighting an uphill battle. If Disney were smart, they'd just take care of him and leave it at that, it's not like they are hurting for money right now.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 8:29pm

I say Disney should be covering all of his medical bills, putting him up somewhere really nice and still be paying his weekly check he would be getting for as long as he was contracted to be with the show. That's the right thing to do. If they're not doing at least that, as they could do so much more, then he should sue.
Updated On: 9/25/08 at 08:29 PM

[BrianIdol]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 8:30pm

I guess the actor was more seriously injured than originally thought (or at least than I thought). I thought the main injury was his wrists, but other than that he was ok? I'm either remembering wrong or the story was fully told.

[alliez92092]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 8:57pm

The statement that Disney originally released was that he wasn't seriously injured and that the fall was only 20 feet. Both of those facts were proven wrong very quickly. The original thread with all of the information about his fall is somewhere, but I don't have time to go look it up.

[winston89]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 9:46pm

BrianIdol, When the event happened Disney made it look like he just got up shook himself off and went about his day like nothing happened. Clearly that wasn't the case. As it was said the full information is on an old thread. I think it was called something like "Adrian Bailey gets injured at Little Mermaid" or something like that.

I honestly think that Disney tried to settle this out of court. But, Bailey (in a smart move) didn't take their settlement and wanted to sue for as much as he can.

I honestly think that he has a good chance of winning the case. My only concern is that Disney fixed up the ship set piece as soon as this happen to make it look like a mistake. Which is a bad thing because it was submitted as evdience and that would be tampering with evdience which is against the law.

Keep in mind that there was a laundry list of problems going on with this show. Disney did nothing while people involved with the show were complaining. However, as soon as this problem happened they fixed things up right away to make it look as if they weren't there to begin with. I also remember there being complaints from the actors when Beauty and the Beast was on Broadway as well. And, I am sure that there are/have been problems at Mary Poppins and The Lion King as well.

[obsessedjb]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 9:57pm

"At Bellevue Hospital Center Bailey, age 51, was treated for "fractured wrists, a broken back, a shattered pelvis, a fractured sternum, several fractured ribs and a fractured foot." The singing actor has already undergone four surgeries, according to the court petition."

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/117787.html

[WishingOnlyWounds2]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 10:05pm

I hope he recovers fully.

[Yes, I'm Chance]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 10:11pm

He sustained injuries that could end his career, he has a rather obvious case and one he should win. Even if the injuries haven't ended his career, there's clearly going to be some emotional trauma.

[jagfkb]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 10:15pm

I don't think I will ever see A chorus Line the same way again...

My thoughts are with Adrian and his family...

[JeaniusIsMe]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 10:15pm

It certainly seems like a viable negligence claim to me- particularly if there was need to change the set following the accident.

As for settling out of court, 98% of lawsuits are settled, and this one is just in it's early stages. They've only recently filed the suit, so now it's on Disney to respond legally. Offering a settlement would come either with the legal response, or could happen anytime following the actual filing of the suit. I'm almost certain it will be settled prior to trial (which, in all likelihood, could be years down the road any way- sorry for all the technical stuff, I'm a law student...)

[Little-Lotte]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 11:10pm

Good for him for not taking whatever offers they were giving him (and you know they tried) and taking them for all they got. I hope he gets a pretty chunk of change for all this. Though that's still not gonna make up for the fact that he will possibly never be able to dance again, which is just heartbreaking!

[H.Higgins]

Posted: 9/26/08 at 1:56am

This was such a tragic thing to happen to a person. I can't imagine.

As before, wishing Mr. Bailey a full recovery and a damn good outcome from his lawsuit.

[Tkt2Ride]

Posted: 9/26/08 at 2:52am

It's the insurance company playing games. Most of them are too eager to take your money and so slow when it comes to paying their own bills. In the end, there is almost always Lawyers. I'm glad too that he did hire a Lawyer. I'm sure, he had little choice. Disney is though at their insurance company's mercy, unfortunately. You pay a huge fee for the coverage but when you ask them to pay, it always comes down to Lawyers. The insurance company fights the suit because too many will settle too soon. Injuries like these though will have a life long effect on this poor guy. Even when he does recover from injuries, later he will end up with arthritis. I think he probably has a good chance of working again but it will always be rather painful for him to do well.

I was concerned with how Disney set up the stage for this show. I expected more skating accidents. This had to be terrifying for the whole cast and crew. Somewhere, someone cut corners and they have to just stop doing this with very large sets.

It could have been assembled wrong, too? It will be to Disney's disadvantage though if they didn't have professional photographers and an investigator go over it after the accident. Things happen and sometimes, it isn't really the productions fault. It still has to be compensated for to the injured performer. It seems like it wasn't his fault and those injuries are really severe.

I hope this insurance company settles this fairly soon so he doesn't have to suffer from this stress on top of worrying about the future of his career. My condolences too for him and his family.

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 9/26/08 at 9:16am

So sad I just hope he can recover... emotionally.

Just yesterday, I took a class here at work about Disney and their Loyalty program.

I know that many "cast members" at the park are injured or suffer from exposure or heat exhaustion because they are not allowed to be seen holding the heads or getting out of the costumes or anything of the sort.

Disney makes good products, but sometimes at VERY high cost.

[Dre2387]

Posted: 9/26/08 at 11:52am

Good for him. I knew it was bound to happen (him suing Disney.)

I wish him the best of luck and he deserves everything he can get from them.

[brettystar]

Posted: 10/2/08 at 4:26am

What about all the cast who have been injured because the show is so bad? Like their reputations....lol