A Fan is Suing Every Time I Die Over an Amputated Toe
Such is the American legal system that if someone wants to bring a lawsuit against someone else for anything at all, no matter the merit, they can. And while the court system will [hopefully] do what it’s supposed to do and bring about justice for whichever party deserves it, tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees (at a minimum) will be spent along the way in addition to the countless hours of mental energy and anxiety that come along with a lawsuit. It’s fucked. The only people who truly win are the lawyers.
With that in mind, it’s completely understandable that Every Time I Die vocalist Keith Buckley is upset about a lawsuit a fan has brought against his band over a toe, which the fan claims was injured and ultimately had to be amputated after the band allegedly kicked a monitor off the stage at a show. Buckley, unsurprisingly, thinks the story is bullshit. Speaking to Kerrang!, Buckley explained:
I heard a story about your brother saving somebody’s life at a show [This story. -Ed.]. Do you have any wild stories?
“One of the craziest stories I know of right now is that there’s a girl who says that we kicked a monitor over on her foot and that it broke her toe, and that she had to get her toe amputated. We’re currently in court disputing this.”
For a lost toe?
“Yeah! Because one, it never fucking happened. Two, how long are you responsible for a hurt toe? Like, even if the thing fell on her toe — which it absolutely didn’t — and she hurt her toe, but she didn’t clean it, she didn’t take care of it, she didn’t set it, and then it had to get amputated, like how long are we babysitting this fucking toe? I’m so pissed off when I think about that. That’s what’s currently on the top of my list.”
How much do you have to pay for a toe? Is it a big toe or little toe?
“I think it’s a big toe. They tried to show us pictures, and I’m like, ‘I’m not fucking looking at these pictures.’ It didn’t happen. It’s not my responsibility. I’m not responsible for that fucking toe. It’d be like if I broke my arm when I was in fucking seventh grade playing baseball. If my arm hurts, I’m not going to fucking call my coach and be like, ‘Dude, come on, man. Help me out here.’ He’s not responsible for that anymore.”
We obviously aren’t privy to the details of this case, but Buckley clearly believes resolutely that the band wasn’t responsible for the injured toe to begin with. As for his argument about when the band’s responsibility would stop even if they had injured the fan’s toe, that’s a good point too. I’m reminded of a lawsuit in the ’90s brought against McDonald’s for burns someone sustained after the lid popped off a coffee cup, which resulted in the “Be careful! Hot liquid inside!” warnings that now adorn takeout coffee cups everywhere. America is a litigious society with someone always looking to cast blame and recover money.
That said, I certainly feel for the fan and hope she’s doing OK now. I’m just not certain a lawsuit is the best course of action here… although, again, we don’t have all the info. Presumably we’ll get an update on Toegate in the near future… errrr, distant future, because lawyers.
