Terry Sanderson has filed a lawsuit against Gwyneth Paltrow, claiming the actress ran him down on a slope in Park City, Utah and then skied away.
The incident happened in February 2016 when Paltrow allegedly skied into him from behind, “knocking him down, landing on top of him, and causing him to suffer a concussion, brain injury and four broken ribs.”
Sanderson said he and his group were skiing down a beginner’s slope at the time and that he was just enjoying the day. Then, he said he felt something hit him in the back of the shoulder blades. He was knocked face first into the slope.
Robert B. Sykes, one of Sanderson’s attorneys, alleges this was Paltrow, who had been coming down the mountain behind Sanderson at “a very good rate of speed.”
All I could think about was there was this lady that was kind of beside me and I thought, ‘Don’t get her tangled up in this because she may not be able to handle it either as a beginner,’” Sanderson said. “I remember trying to lurch to my right, and I couldn’t control it. I didn’t realize there was weight on my back. I just remember my arms not being able to control myself and then going down, and that’s all I remember to that point.”
The lawsuit claims that Sanderson suffered “physical and mental injuries” including “pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, emotional distress and disfigurement,” as well as “anxiety, depression and other health problems” from the alleged ski and run incident. Sanderson also incurred medical expenses and extra life expenses from the incident and will suffer injuries in the future.
Eric Christiansen, a Deer Valley ski instructor who was with Paltrow at the time, also allegedly failed to call for help and falsely accused Sanderson of causing the crash.
Sykes says that Paltrow and the group she was skiing with didn’t comply with the Summit County, Utah ordinance the prohibits skiing “in a reckless or negligent manner.”
“If you have a collision, doesn’t matter whose fault it is . . . it’s your duty to hang around and render aid, even if you didn’t cause it,” he said. “What Ms. Paltrow did that day was knock down Terry Sanderson, pick herself up, dust herself off and ski off, without rendering any help.”
Sanderson is seeking more than $3.1 million in damages from the lawsuit.
If you would like information about personal injury claims, visit Cohen & Cohen to learn more.
