Actress Gwyneth Paltrow faces a civil trial over claims she injured a man in a “hit-and-run” skiing accident in Utah in 2016.
FIRST GLIMPSE 👀🎥 of actress Gwyneth Paltrow on day one of her civil ski crash case against retired eye doctor Terry Sanderson ⚖️ @CourtTV #gwynethpaltrowskicrashcase pic.twitter.com/YQVjnl22Mm
— Julie Grant (@JulieCourtTV) March 21, 2023
Gwyneth Paltrow is facing a civil trial in the United States over claims that she seriously injured a man in a “hit-and-run” skiing accident in Utah in 2016. The retired optometrist Terry Sanderson has alleged that Paltrow crashed into him at the Deer Valley resort in Park City, skiing “out of control” and causing “a brain injury, four broken ribs, and other serious injuries”. Paltrow has counter-sued, claiming that Sanderson hit her with a “full body blow”.
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“It’s the uphill skiers’ responsibility to yield the right of way to the people below … especially on a beginner run,” attorney Robert Sykes said, who is representing Sanderson.
“They know that skiers may be less experienced and that skiers below them trust that the ones coming behind are paying attention.”
Terry Sanderson is suing #GwynethPaltrow after a bunny slope ski crash in 2016. “My ribs, my ribs!” Sanderson’s attorney proclaimed while describing his client’s injuries in the opening statement of the civil trial. pic.twitter.com/DszQw2Yq3x
— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) March 21, 2023
The trial is set to last for eight days, with opening statements expected on Tuesday. Sanderson, who is 76 years old, is seeking damages of $300,000 (£245,000), having had a previous claim for $3.1m (£2.5m) dropped. The original claim, filed in 2019, alleged that Paltrow left Sanderson “stunned, lying in the snow, seriously injured” after skiing away from the scene of the crash. The filing also claimed that Paltrow’s ski instructor saw Sanderson injured but did not help him, and accused him of causing the crash in a “false report to protect his client”, as reported by BBC.
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Paltrow’s counterclaim alleges that Sanderson hit her, and that she was shaken by the collision and stopped skiing with her family for the day. The claim adds that Sanderson apologized to her and said he was fine.
The incident has been the subject of legal proceedings for several years, with Sanderson previously saying that he waited almost three years to file the lawsuit because he had problems with lawyers and could not function properly because of the concussion. The trial will see Paltrow testify, and is likely to focus on the conflicting accounts of the crash given by Paltrow and Sanderson.
As the trial unfolds, both sides will be hoping for a favorable verdict, but the outcome remains uncertain.
