Community Corner

Judge Awards Small Sum to Man Trapped on Small World

A disabled man who spent 30 minutes trapped on the "It's a Small World" ride at Disneyland was awarded $8,000 for his trouble.

A disabled man who became stuck for 30 minutes on the "It's A Small World" ride when it malfunctioned was awarded $8,000 from Disneyland in a federal lawsuit.

U.S. District Judge James Selna, in a non-jury trial, ruled Friday in favor in part for Jose R. Martinez and his wife, Christina Buchanan-Martinez. The judge also earlier ruled in favor in part for Disneyland Resort, according to court records.

The gist of the trial involved disabled access to Disneyland's first aid station, which has since been corrected, Disneyland spokeswoman Suzi Brown said.

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Martinez, who is dependent on a wheelchair since suffering a spinal cord injury when he was 16, became stuck on the ride Nov. 27, 2009, and filed a lawsuit in 2011, according to court records. He suffers from chronic problems with hypertension, diabetes and anxiety disorder, according to court records.

While stuck on the ride, "Martinez's anxiety increased as his bladder began to fill," Selna said in a ruling last November granting Disney's motion for summary judgment dismissing most of the complaint.

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"Martinez also developed a severe headache and recognized that he was experiencing autonomic dysreflexia, which is often caused by an overly full bladder," Selna said in the ruling.

Martinez had medication with him for the malady in his backpack, but he and his wife never attempted to reach it and did not ask a Disney employee to fetch it for them, Selna said in the ruling.

The ride's theme song played loudly over and over again, but was turned off when guests complained, Selna noted.

Martinez's attorney, David Geffen, said $4,000 was awarded to his client for pain and suffering and the rest was for an Americans with Disabilities Act violation.

Selna ruled Friday that Disney had a duty to warn disabled guests that they could become stuck on the ride for an extended period of time if it broke down.

"I find a breach of the common-law duty to provide safe premises," Selna said in his ruling.

"I find that the breach caused harm to Mr. Martinez in that he was stuck on the ride. I find he was further harmed by not having the option to make an informed decision as to whether he wanted to take the ride, notwithstanding the possibility of inconvenience in the event of an outage."

Disneyland issued a statement expressing disappointment over Friday's ruling.

"Disneyland Resort believes it provided all appropriate assistance to Mr. and Mrs. Martinez when the ride temporarily stopped and is disappointed that the court did not fully agree," the statement said.

- City News Service


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