Industry News
A Utah judge has dismissed some claims filed in 2019 against Gwyneth Paltrow after she was involved in a collision with another skier at Deer Valley Resort, UT, ruling that it was not a hit-and-run ski crash as the lawsuit claimed.
In the 2019 lawsuit, retired optometrist Terry Sanderson alleges that on Feb. 26, 2016, Oscar-winning actress Paltrow was skiing “out of control” and that she hit him from behind, “knocking him down, landing on top of him, and causing him to suffer a concussion, brain injury, and four broken ribs.” He was suing her for damages above $3.1 million for the alleged “hit-and-run ski crash” at Deer Valley Resort, UT claiming she hit him and then skied away as he lay in the snow with serious injuries, reported the Salt Lake Tribune. Three weeks later, Paltrow countersued, claiming it was, in fact, Sanderson that hit her.
After hearing arguments from Paltrow’s attorneys, Judge Kent Holmberg dismissed the claims that she negligently inflicted emotional distress and that Sanderson was entitled to punitive damages, reports KSL.
Sanderson is still seeking over $300,000 from the lawsuit, maintaining that Paltrow negligently caused his injuries.
Sanderson said he was skiing with five friends when he “heard this just hysterical screaming like … King Kong in the jungle or something” and that Paltrow struck him in the back seconds later, breaking his ribs, giving him a concussion, and causing a “closed brain injury,” which one of Sanderson’s attorneys compared to shaken baby syndrome.
After the collision, “Paltrow got up, turned and skied away, leaving Sanderson stunned, lying in the snow,” according to the lawsuit.
Sanderson, who was 69 at the time of the collision, is 5 feet, 8 inches tall, and weighs 160 pounds. He said he was skiing slowly when Paltrow hit him at full speed.
Paltrow’s attorney in Utah, Stephen W. Owens, referred questions to the actress’s publicist, who emailed this statement: “This lawsuit is completely without merit, and we expect to be vindicated.” According to Sykes, Paltrow’s lawyers “don’t deny the collision. Their position is that Gwyneth Paltrow was downhill, and Terry Sanderson hit Gwyneth Paltrow.”
Sanderson initially reached out to Paltrow, hoping for a settlement, but when he didn’t receive a response, he hoped to be “vindicated” through the lawsuit.
The lawsuit was also filed against Paltrow’s ski instructor and the Deer Valley Resort Company. Deer Valley’s request to be dismissed from the case was denied in August 2019.
The trial is scheduled for March 2023.
Agree! What a big shame amber heard are not in jail!
If mr Sanderson hit Gwyneth in full speed and with 160 pound ,she should have been the one with injuries! She does not seem very smart,so I dont think she will get away with this Lie! there must be some really false witnesess, even her children? Good Luck mr Sanderson!
This is a case of a celebrity once again get away with no consequences for their actions. Sad.
So funny you can speak without knowing the full story. If she was hit and not the other way around, how did he end up with all of the injuries? I personally know Dr. Sanderson. He’s not a liar, but others are. You people are so starstruck with the vagina girl that you judge without knowing the facts.
There were witnesses who saw the instructor pick up Mr Sanderson and then ski away. He was negligent as an employee of the resort.
Sorry to hear about the injury but I didn’t really care until I read that ski area was dragged into a lawsuit. Just another reason why lift tickets are so expensive in the US. Blame the ski instructor, who wasn’t even on scene presumably, and sue the ski hill, give me a break. Sue happy idiots like Sanderson hit the pocket books of all lift served skiers. .
He is just after Deep Pockets,, that’s all.