Negligence, Other Injury Breaking of policy led to me getting allergic reaction

B

B218

New Member
Jurisdiction
Illinois
Hello

I was on the Metro bus (St Louis-St Claire County IL) and they have a no eating no drinking policy. I am allergic to gluten, and the lady in the seat across the aisle ate a sandwich. It gave me a migrane, which is a sympton of my allergic reactions. The bus driver refused to tell her to stop, in fact telling me it was my problem.

Do I have a case? And if so, how do I go about suing? I called their customer support and it is affecting my ability to work today.
 
Zigner said:
If your allergy is so severe that sitting in the general vicinity of someone consuming an item with gluten causes you problems, then you really ought not go out in public.
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It hasn't flared up like this before, but the close proximity and it being such an enclosed space I think triggered it. I'm heading to the ER
 
B218 said:
Do I have a case?
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Are you inquiring about a medical issue, ie... a case of flatulence, halitosis, GERD, diarrhea, slobbering, IBD=

Inflammatory Bowel Disease​

, etc?

Otherwise, I see nothing that leads me to believe you have a successful civil lawsuit.

However, if you think you do, you're free to initiate a small claims lawsuit against the person(s) or entity that you believe harmed you.
 
army judge said:
Are you inquiring about a medical issue, ie... a case of flatulence, halitosis, GERD, diarrhea, slobbering, IBD=


Inflammatory Bowel Disease​

, etc?

Otherwise, I see nothing that leads me to believe you have a successful civil lawsuit.

However, if you think you do, you're free to initiate a small claims lawsuit against the person(s) or entity that you believe harmed you.
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I'm getting a migrane that is causing me to be unable to work
 
B218 said:
It hasn't flared up like this before, but the close proximity and it being such an enclosed space I think triggered it. I'm heading to the ER
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Frankly, you have no idea what caused your migraine. That's one of the defining characteristics of a migraine.
 
B218 said:
Hello

I was on the Metro bus (St Louis-St Claire County IL) and they have a no eating no drinking policy. I am allergic to gluten, and the lady in the seat across the aisle ate a sandwich. It gave me a migrane, which is a sympton of my allergic reactions. The bus driver refused to tell her to stop, in fact telling me it was my problem.

Do I have a case? And if so, how do I go about suing? I called their customer support and it is affecting my ability to work today.
Click to expand...
What happens when you walk past a bakery? Let's stop the world so you can get off. It's getting very weird out there.
 
B218 said:
Hello

I was on the Metro bus (St Louis-St Claire County IL) and they have a no eating no drinking policy. I am allergic to gluten, and the lady in the seat across the aisle ate a sandwich. It gave me a migrane, which is a sympton of my allergic reactions. The bus driver refused to tell her to stop, in fact telling me it was my problem.

Do I have a case? And if so, how do I go about suing? I called their customer support and it is affecting my ability to work today.
Click to expand...

A quick internet search reveals that exposure to airborne gluten can result in an allergic reaction to persons with Celiac Disease. Headaches are on the list of reactions.

The burden would be on you to prove (with evidence not speculation) that:

1 - The sandwich contained gluten.
2 - The sandwich released gluten particles.
3 - The migraine was caused directly by the exposure to the particles.
4 - The bus company had a duty to you to prevent exposure to airborne gluten. (I assume you want to go after the bus company rather than the woman eating the sandwich.)

Frankly, I don't see you being successful in claiming any of that. And I don't imagine any attorney would take the case for one headache and one day difficulty at work.
 
B218 said:
I'm getting a migrane that is causing me to be unable to work
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If the odor of the sandwich was that harmful to you, why didn't you simply exit the bus at one of it's many stops?

Another barrier facing you will be if you KNOW you are harmed by certain odors, why weren't you wearing a mask and other protective measures?

You'll also need to KNOW the identity of the female devouring her sandwich on the bus. That would be much easier had you been on a commercial airliner. Identities are generally not required to ride local government public conveyances.
 
B218 said:
the lady in the seat across the aisle ate a sandwich. It gave me a migrane
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Post hoc ergo propter hoc.


B218 said:
Do I have a case?
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A case of what?

If you think you can sue Metro Transit and recover damages because someone broke the rule and the bus driver failed to enforce the rule and you thereafter had a migraine, forget it. You can certainly complain to Metro Transit, but the bus drivers have no legal obligation to you to enforce the rules. Even if they did, there's virtually no way you could prove that the person eating the sandwich (to the exclusion of all other possible causes) caused your migraine (especially since, for all you know, the sandwich was made with gluten free bread). And, even if you could do all that, what are your damages? You had a migraine. Did you seek medical attention and incur medical bills? Did you miss work and lose wages? Or were you just uncomfortable for several hours?


B218 said:
And if so, how do I go about suing?
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By filing a complaint. Most people hire attorneys.
 
zddoodah said:
Post hoc ergo propter hoc.
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Thank you for posting one of my most favorite Latin phrases.


For the uninformed: Post hoc ergo propter hoc, translated means in English:
("after this, therefore because of it")

Noun:

1.An error in logic that assumes the cause of something is another thing that merely occurred earlier.
Origin

Unknown Latin ("after this, therefore because of it")
 

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