Hmmm....

LOS ANGELES -- A woman is suing ABC's reality show "Extreme Makeover" for unspecified damages, alleging its decision to cancel her appearance contributed to her sister's suicide.

In a lawsuit filed Sept. 9 in Los Angeles Superior Court, Deleese Williams, 30, of Conroe, Texas, claimed the producers subjected her to needless humiliation and goaded her sister, Kellie McGee, into insulting her appearance.

[link]

IANAL, but it seems to me this woman would have a hard time proving that her association with the show led to her sister's suicide.

Oh, and he's the scariest-ass driver I've even had the misfortune to ride with.

I have a friend who holds that title for me, though thankfully she's chilled the hell out over the last 7 years. Back in the day I once saw her tailgate someone so closely that they finally pulled off the road to let her by. Later that weekend we spent an hour speeding around Chicago trying to find the train station because even though she stopped for directions 5 times, she would only follow them for about three blocks before she decided "Oh, I know where I'm going now" and went her own way. Before finally reaching the train station we nearly had three accidents, narrowly missed more pedestrians and cyclists than I can count, ran half a dozen red lights, performed 4 U-turns and one O-turn (she tried to pull a U-ey and then realized we were on a one-way street.) I don't think I rode in her car again for 5 years after that.

The claim is that the producers encouraged her sister to call her ugly. I haven't reviewed the complaint or anything but it does seem plausible.

Are they going to have to prove that a reasonable person would have done what the producers asked and then committed suicide? Or was her mental state that apparent?

I have a friend who holds that title for me

I had a former boss like that. More for his speed demon ways than anything else.

But he was, as kids today say, "a real piece of work" in other ways, too.

Is it common for an individual or group to be sued over someone's suicide? I was thinking the defense would argue along lines like, "How do you know what the reason was for someone's suicide" - do lawsuits like this succeed?

In fact, I would go further: Your backyard is generally not a good place for a shallow grave.

People! Shallow graves are bad. A wood chipper and a secluded spot on a river is all you need. Just be sure to thoroughly hose down the wood chipper afterward.

Just be sure to thoroughly hose down the wood chipper afterward.

Which is why it's important to plan ahead, and not do this sort of thing in mid-winter, in the upper Midwest.

This is from last July: [link]

Family Takes Reality Show, Others To Court

The Lemont, Ill., family that appeared on a Fox network reality show will now ask a judge to consider their plight.

They say they were promised a new home with improvements to help their recently-paralyzed son, but instead, the family says the experience left them in a dangerous house and a financial hole.

Which is why it's important to plan ahead, and not do this sort of thing in mid-winter, in the upper Midwest.

Yeah. It's rather... embarrassing to return a rented, blood and bone-spattered, ice-filled wood chipper.