Oscar-winner and businesswoman Gwyneth Paltrow is on trial this week in a civil suit over a 2016 collision with another skier, with the case raising questions about who is legally liable for on-slope collisions.
In court hearings, attorneys for Paltrow, 50, and plaintiff Terry Sanderson, 76, have portrayed their clients as prudent skiers while exchanging accusations about who was responsible for a crash at Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah.
Paltrow took the stand on Friday and denied causing the accident. However, when asked, she said she had no witnesses at the moment of the accident.
Click here to view related media.
Click to expand
“I have many witnesses who saw this [it] Split seconds later, the positions of the bodies on the mountain that would indicate who hit whom,” Paltrow said Friday.
Given the dueling accounts of the crash, the case will likely relate to something more tangible, lawyers say: the skiers’ position on the mountain when the crash occurred.
Uphill or downhill?
Sanderson sued Paltrow in 2019, alleging that she skied recklessly and crashed into him from above, causing serious injuries and emotional distress. Paltrow later countered, claiming it was Sanderson who hit her from behind.
The case depends on which of the two parties acted inappropriately on skis, experts told CBS MoneyWatch.
“If one skier hits another, it’s negligence. Did they do something wrong?” said personal injury attorney Roger Kohn of Kohn Roth Law.
Gwyneth Paltrow enters the courtroom after a lunch break in her trial Thursday, March 23, 2023, in Park City, Utah, where a court case will allege she crashed into a skier during a 2016 family ski vacation. Jeff Swinger/AP
As far as behavior on the ski slopes is concerned, it is almost always the uphill skier’s duty to beware of the downhill skier. In other words, the downhill skier – the person further down the slope – has the right of way.
“The uphill driver has to watch out for the downhill driver. If you overtake and hit someone, you’re probably liable and to blame,” Kohn added.
According to the National Ski Areas Association Code of Responsibility, which governs ski areas in North America, “People in front of or downhill from you have the right-of-way. You have to avoid them.”
Skiers must also “always be in control” and be able to stop to avoid other people.
collisions happen
Ski collisions are not uncommon and when injuries do occur, lawyers are sometimes involved.
“Some lawyers have built their entire careers on ski accidents,” Bryn “Butch” Peterson, a veteran ski instructor from Colorado, told CBS MoneyWatch. He added that he once saw a woman get hit by a skier coming “busted out of a tree trail” in Vail, Colorado.
Terry Sanderson arrives in court on Tuesday, March 21, 2023 in Park City, Utah. The retired optometrist is suing actress Gwyneth Paltrow over a 2016 skiing accident that occurred at Deer Valley Resort. Rick Bowmer/AP
But unlike this incident, most skiing accidents are not caused by collisions between skiers or skiers and snowboarders. They occur when skiers hit a tree or other obstacle.
According to the NSAA, there were 57 reported fatal incidents during the 2021-2022 ski season, most of which resulted from skiers crashing into trees. Men accounted for 95% of all deaths. There were a further 54 reported “catastrophic” incidents during the same season.
Homeowners Insurance
Most home insurance policies also include general liability insurance, which essentially follows a homeowner even when they are away from home, including when they are skiing.
“It covers you if there’s something dangerous in your house or on your property and someone gets hurt and sues you, but it also follows you around if you’re at the grocery store and you run over a child with a shopping cart and it will cover you Ski collision claims,” said David Cutt of Cutt, Kendell & Olson in Salt Lake City, Utah.
“So that’s what’s going on here. In this case, if Paltrow has homeowners insurance, then they step in and pay a settlement or judgment up to the limit of the policy,” he said.
According to Kohn, an attorney would normally only be hired if the defendant is wealthy or has home insurance.
“If you’re suing someone who doesn’t have homeowner’s insurance, it’s a waste of time,” he said.
But, he added, if they have insurance, that policy will kick in, and the insurer will defend the claim and pay it.
In a two-person collision, one of the parties involved is not always negligent.
“But there is a clear liability case if you can show that the other skier speeded, misbehaved or should have seen the other skier,” he said.
He said she said
Cutt said he’s tried dozens or more of those cases in Utah, and the verdict always depends on who the jury thinks the uphill and downhill skiers are.
“In that trial, Sanderson says he was the downhill skier and she hit him from behind, and she says the exact opposite — that she rode along and he hit her from above,” Cutt said.
“So it’s going to come down to the jury hearing everyone about the collision itself and the aftermath and deciding who they think is credible and who they don’t,” Cutt said. “And the fact that it’s Gwyneth Paltrow is the big elephant in the room.”
More