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maejms · Dec 16, 2007, 12:09 AM

A former friend is suing me because this past summer she bought a microwave at a garage sale, since she had back surgery the fall before she couldn't lift and carry it because it was too heavy for her, so she asked me to do it. I carried the somewhat heavy and cumbersome microwave down a steep driveway, across the street and to her car. She opened the passenger side back door for me, and as I was trying to get it in the car, the metal part scraped and tore about a 3 inch scratch on her vinyl-like door panel. She and I are no longer friends now (due to other reasons) and has threatened legal action because of this. She says I owe her $238.60, and if I do not pay her she will take me to court and she says that I will be responsible for all court costs as well as the cost to repair the damage. I am wondering if she even has a case against me since she asked me for my help and it was an accident? Do I need an attorney? I would appreciate an answer on this, thank you.

***At the time of the accident I felt just terrible, so I had offered her $100. She said "I'll see" since the car was from a "no credit, no problem place" and she was having several mechanical issues with it. (She purposely tries to wreck her transmission on the car while it is still under her warranty, so she can get a nicer one). And she never asked for the money I offered, until our recent disagreement=(I refused to lie to her fiancee' regarding her recent infidelity when he questioned me about it). So I am wondering since my initial offer was refused, can she come back several months later and try and sue me over this? I know she is doing this out of spite. Any help on this matter is greatly appreciated:) Thank you.

Wondergirl · Dec 16, 2007, 12:33 AM

I'm really sorry to hear about your low back problem. You said the pain started after you carried a heavy and cumbersome microwave down a hill and struggled to put it into someone's vehicle? That's a shame that you ended up getting hurt when you were helping someone.

Seriously, most lawyers will give a free consultation by phone. Maybe call one or two and run this past them?

rpg219 · Dec 16, 2007, 05:15 AM

LOL, that's a way to turn it around Wonder... giver her a taste of her own medicine. It really is a shame that your (ex) friend would do this to you. I would call an attorney as well. However, I don't think she really has a case.

JudyKayTee · Dec 16, 2007, 06:25 AM

Originally Posted by maejms

A former friend is suing me because this past summer she bought a microwave at a garage sale, since she had back surgery the fall before she couldn't lift and carry it because it was too heavy for her, so she asked me to do it. I carried the somewhat heavy and cumbersome microwave down a steep driveway, across the street and to her car. She opened the passenger side back door for me, and as I was trying to get it in the car, the metal part scraped and tore about a 3 inch scratch on her vinyl-like door panel. She and I are no longer friends now (due to other reasons) and has threatened legal action because of this. She says I owe her $238.50, and if I do not pay her she will take me to court and she says that I will be responsible for all court costs as well as the cost to repair the damage. I am wondering if she even has a case against me since she asked me for my help and it was an accident? Do I need an attorney? I would appreciate an answer on this, thank you.

Well, in fact you DID damage her vehicle; the circumstances do not matter other than you have to use all due/diligent care (do the best you can not to cause damage). I would think that if she opened the door for you and said, "Here, put it in here," and the door wasn't wide enough you were simply following her directions and would have little and perhaps no liability and you acted with due/diligent care. If you acted on your own it would be a different story.

I think it goes back to pretty much anyone can sue pretty much anybody for pretty much anything - it's winning and collecting that matters.

Sounds like revenge and sour grapes and I personally find that most people who threaten to sue do nothing; it's the people who say nothing and surprise you with papers that I worry about.

(Someone responded that you suffered a back injury in the process of carrying the microwave; am I reading your post wrong - ?)

Fr_Chuck · Dec 16, 2007, 06:38 AM

I wish I had better news from my opinion. Lets say you hire a mover, and they damage your wall moving something, they have to pay to get it fixed, that is why movers carry liability insurance. So yes, she may well have a case against you, since you did do the damage.
And she can of course sue you if she wants to ( most likely small claims court, so courts are not that high) Your only defense is to explain that they did not want the payment for the damage before, so they had agreed that you did not have to pay them for it. But only latter after you were no longer friends, that they now wanted the money.

My personal guess, most people threaten to sue, most never do, they just hope you will pay. And you should not pay if you were going to, without a written estimate of the damage from a shop.
Now personally I would have paid for it when it happened, and I would pay now since I was at fault. But if you don't want to pay, I would wait and see if they really do sue, most likely they won't

Wondergirl · Dec 16, 2007, 10:29 AM

JudyKaeTee, I was joking. Note the word "Seriously" that begins the next paragraph.

I was suggesting that the OP could mention to the microwave owner than he had hurt his back while carrying her m/w.

oneguyinohio · Dec 16, 2007, 10:56 AM

Since she retained your services to move this object for her, she technically used you as a volunteer no cost employee for the job.

I would tell her that your employer for that position should pay the fee!

Since that would be her, she will probably be able to get the check in the mail right away!

maejms · Dec 16, 2007, 11:08 AM

A former friend is suing me because this past summer she bought a microwave at a garage sale, since she had back surgery the fall before she couldn't lift and carry it because it was too heavy for her, so she asked me to do it. I carried the somewhat heavy and cumbersome microwave down a steep driveway, across the street and to her car. She opened the passenger side back door for me, and as I was trying to get it in the car, the metal part scraped and tore about a 3 inch scratch on her vinyl-like door panel. She and I are no longer friends now (due to other reasons) and has threatened legal action because of this. She says I owe her $238.50, and if I do not pay her she will take me to court and she says that I will be responsible for all court costs as well as the cost to repair the damage. I am wondering if she even has a case against me since she asked me for my help and it was an accident? Do I need an attorney? I would appreciate an answer on this, thank you.

***At the time of the accident I felt just terrible, so I had offered her $100. She said "I'll see" since the car was from a "no credit, no problem place" and she was having several mechanical issues with it. (She purposely tries to wreck her transmission on the car while it is still under her warranty, so she can get a nicer one). And she never asked for the money I offered, until our recent disagreement=(I refused to lie to her fiancee' regarding her recent infidelity when he questioned me about it). So I am wondering since my initial offer was refused, can she come back several months later and try and sue me over this? I know she is doing this out of spite. Any help on this matter is greatly appreciated Thank you.

ScottGem · Dec 16, 2007, 11:41 AM

The bad news is; yes she can sue you. The good news is that you don't need a lawyer for this and I doubt if she will win. Since she asked you help with the oven and since her vehicle was probabably not designed for transporting such a device, you would probably not be held responsible. At the most, I think a small claims judge would have you split the bill.

If she does file suit, you should subpeona a picture of the car, meausrements of the oven and measurements of the door opening.

Note: I merged your two threads, please don't start a new thread about the same question.

Justice Matters · Dec 16, 2007, 01:08 PM

Your defence could be that at all at material times you took direction from your friend with respect to transporting the microwave and as such she had ultimate control over this project's success or failure.

She attempted, through you, to put an oversize microwave into the interior of vehicle not designed for the transport of such objects. There is a certain degree of risk in trying to put a "square peg into a round hole" and she assumed this risk willingly. It was highly likely, perhaps even inevitable, that some degree of damage would result. (She probably assumed this risk because she did not want to pay to have the microwave transported in a proper delivery vehicle.)

She could have minimized her risk by instructing you to put the microwave into the trunk which is the normal place where one transports unwieldy objects in a car. We doubt very much that she would have been upset if the inside of her trunk was scratched.

In conclusion, we agree with Scottgem that your chances of success are greater than hers.

With all that being said, if you wish to improve your chances of success at trial (and thus avoid the risk of having a judgment appear on your credit record) you could send her a cheque for the $100 you previously offered along with a letter saying it is not an admission of liability. A trial judge may appreciate your friendly gesture and become irritated with your friend.