Reference no: EM133582978
The Worst Christmas Party in the World
Maria, who lives in a cul-de-sac in a suburb of New Jersey, decided to extend her annual family holiday party to everyone in her neighborhood. On December 20, 2020, she sends the following email from her AOL account: "Hey neighbors! Pls stop by on 12/24 at 8pm. Let's do a potluck so please bring whatever you want! Don't worry about the booze, I have plenty! Ho ho ho and Merry Christmas!"
Roger lives 3 blocks away from Maria. He spends the afternoon of 12/24 preparing a fancy dessert dish for the party. The dessert dish contains an assortment of nuts. At 7:30pm he leaves for the party with the dessert dish, along with his 4-year-old son Charlie. Bonita, Roger's wife, decides to stay home (she has a splitting headache; however, she also knows that Roger is having a secret romantic affair with Maria).
Meanwhile at the party, the hours go on. Maria's cousin Peter, who is a recovering alcoholic, has been drinking too much egg nog. But Peter is not aware that the egg nog contains alcohol. Peter starts screaming crazy things, such as "Now this is a real Christmas party, not like that fake stuff Muslims do!" Ahmed, who is Muslim and standing nearby, hears Peter and is greatly offended by what Peter has been saying.
Peter then sees Cherise standing under a mistletoe decoration, and without any warning suddenly grabs Cherise and gives her sloppy kiss on the mouth. Cherise pushes Peter back violently while screaming "Peter you are going to be very sorry about that!" Cherish's push is violent enough to cause Peter to fall onto Ahmed. Unfortunately, Ahmed, who has a severe nut allergy, forgot to take his medication earlier that day. Ahmed falls backwards, onto the table that contains Roger's dessert dish. During the fall, Ahmed touches the dessert dish and immediately has a serious allergic reaction.
Maria urgently calls 911 to get help for Ahmed. During the commotion, no one has been watching Roger's 4-year-old Charlie, who sees the big bowl of egg nog and starts to serve himself egg nog, while saying "I am a big boy!" He drinks an entire cup of egg nog and then trips over Cherise, who is sitting on the floor crying. Charlie smashes his nose on the floor and starts to bleed profusely.
The next morning, Peter, who has now fallen "off the wagon," goes to the neighborhood liquor store to buy vodka. He starts to drink in the parking lot, in his parked car. On the way home, Peter's car hits Guadalupe, who dies the next day from her severe injuries. Meanwhile, Bonita, Roger's wife, decides to file for divorce form Roger (she is very upset about what happened to Charlie). Ahmed remains in the hospital, where he is recovering from anaphylactic shock. Cherise calls her lawyer (who doesn't answer because it is Christmas Day).
QUESTION: What issues and topics have we discussed in class that that can be applied to these facts? Who can sue whom? What causes of actions can be applied? (for example, can Ahmed sue Maria for negligence?)