Attorneys for actress Gwyneth Paltrow have fired back against a skier-collision lawsuit filed last month against her and Deer Valley Resort.
In the filing made Wednesday to Third District Court, Paltrow says that a collision at the Resort nearly three years ago was the fault of the plaintiff, Salt Lake resident Terry Sanderson.
Besides a Reply, Paltrow’s lawyers have said in a Counter-Claim that Sanderson slammed into her and is now suing to exploit the celebrity and wealth of the Oscar-winning actress. Her counter-suit is asking for just $1 in damages, plus court costs and fees.
The filing from Paltrow comes while Deer Valley Resort filed a motion to the court on Tuesday, asking that it be dismissed as a co-defendant, along with employee Eric Christiansen, who was on the scene of the collision. (Details on that in later editions of KPCW news.)
The replies come nearly three weeks after Sanderson announced his lawsuit, which claims that Paltrow, skiing out of control, collided with him, causing a brain injury and four broken ribs, and then left him without assistance.
A week after the suit, an amended filing from Sanderson changed one small but important detail. The original suit called for damages of at least $3.1 million. The amended suit dropped that, calling for whatever damages a jury would consider appropriate.
The filing from Paltrow said that almost exactly three years ago—February 26th of 2016--- she was skiing at Deer Valley with her family. An incident report said she was making short turns on the side of Bandanna, one of the resort’s easier runs, and skiing slowly to stay behind her children, who were getting ski instruction a little further down the mountain.
The report said that Sanderson, coming from uphill “took her out from behind.” The filling said that Paltrow, wearing a helmet and goggles, didn’t see or hear him.
Paltrow was reportedly angry and told him to be more careful. Sanderson allegedly apologized, and told Christiansen that he had not seen her.
Christiansen told Paltrow and another instructor, to go ahead with her children. Another member of Sanderson’s group, identified as Craig Ramon, came on the scene. Both men said that Sanderson was fine, when they were asked by a passing ski patroller and a Deer Valley mountain host.
The filing said that Paltrow, who was upset and feeling pain and soreness, quit skiing for the rest of the day.
The filing alleged that the 69-year-old Sanderson told his doctor a year earlier that he was blind in his right eye, that his left-eye vision was decreasing, that he had 15 other chronic medical issues, and had sustained a prior skiing injury.
The filing alleged that after the accident, records do not show Sanderson suffered a permanent traumatic brain injury, only that he had a mild concussion, and asserted he has taken extended international vacations since the accident.
Paltrow’s attorneys are asking that Sanderson’s lawsuit be dismissed, with prejudice. The filing said she is only seeking a dollar for symbolic damages, and anything further recovered will be donated to charity.
The filing is also asking that if the case is dismissed against the other local co-defendants, such as Deer Valley, that the case be moved to a federal court, since Paltrow lives in California.
