Hollywood star Gwyneth Paltrow (50) has won a lawsuit over a skiing accident. Eight Utah state jurors ruled Thursday that the actress was not at fault for a skiing accident that occurred in 2016. The jury, on the other hand, blamed the plaintiff, a 76-year-old man, for the incident. He now has to pay her a symbolic compensation of one US dollar.
The skier filed a lawsuit against the actress in 2019. Paltrow was skiing “out of control” on a slope at Utah’s Deer Valley ski resort and injured him in a collision, the plaintiff alleges. He suffered broken ribs and a brain injury. He demanded compensation of 300,000 US dollars (around 275,000 euros).
Attorney for 76-year-old Terry Sanderson said Thursday in court in Park City, Utah, that a jury should award his client compensatory damages for “permanent brain damage.” The accident injuries would have changed the life of the 76-year-old forever, the plaintiff’s attorneys explained. “He didn’t return home that night as the same man,” attorney Robert Sykes said. A part of him stayed forever on the beginner slopes of the posh ski resort of Deer Valley.
Oscar winner Paltrow, on the other hand, blamed the plaintiff. On the witness stand, she testified that he had hit her in the back. She filed a countersuit, seeking $1 and reimbursement of her attorney’s fees.
As in the past few days, Paltrow’s attorney Stephen Owens said it was not Paltrow who hit Sanderson in the accident in the Rocky Mountains. Rather, Sanderson drove into the actress.
“He hit her. He hurt her,” Owens said. “And then he just asks her three million dollars. That’s not fair.”
Sanderson initially sought more than $3 million in damages, but the lawsuit was dismissed. The actress could have just written a check and put the matter behind her, the attorney said. “But what does that tell your children?”
