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NYU Caught in Jell-O Wrestling Suit
By
Garth Johnston
Published Oct 23, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Oct 23, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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Some people. An NYU graduate who was pushed into a kiddie-pool full of Jell-O in May 2004 is now suing the school (for $1 million) for failing "to prevent the Jell-O wrestling event" and for disregarding "its duty to maintain its premises in a safe condition." Yawn.
On the one hand, it does sound like this guy had a bum deal. There Avarm Wisnia was, well into his Junior year, hanging out on May day at an NYU "Beach Bash," looking at all the other young and nubile NYU-ers running and jumping into the mounds and mounds of squishy jiggling red Jell-O, when suddenly, without warning, he was violently pushed into the Jell-O pool, a pool which sadly "had only a thin athletic mat underneath." When he was pulled out of the red sugary gelatin, his hip was broken and he was on the way to the hospital. That does sound like a pretty bum day to us.
On the other hand, why is this guy suing NYU because someone else pushed him into a pool of Jell-O? While NYU does bear some responsibility for the presence of Jell-O at the event (it was provided by their food services) why is Wisnia not suing the school group that set up the ill-fated wrestling match? Or the person who pushed him? As distinctly not-lawyers we are positive there are good reasons for why he's suing NYU and not the others (like, uh, cash money) but we're going to choose to ignore them.
Because in the end, all that we could think about while reading this story was "Really? Jell-O? He hurt himself in a pool of red Jell-O?"
1948 poster image from the Jell-O Ad Museum
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