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Man Sues Neighbor Claiming Wi-Fi Made Him Sick
OrangeMonkey11 writes "A Santa Fe man who claims to suffer from 'electromagnetic sensitivities' has sued his neighbor after she refused to stop using wireless devices. 59-year-old Arthur Firstenberg claims his sensitivity can be set off by cellphones, routers and other electronic devices. From the article: 'Firstenberg, 59, wanted Raphaela Monribot to limit her use of the devices. "I asked her to work with me," he said. "Basically, she refused." So he sued Monribot in state district court, seeking $530,000 in damages and an injunction to force her to turn off the electronics. "Being the target of this lawsuit has affected me very adversely," Monribot said Friday in response to e-mailed questions. "I feel as if my life and liberty are under attack for no valid reason, and it has forced me to have to defend my very basic human rights."'"
the more they'll act like morons.
I wish reporters wouldn't give this type of crap the time of day.
Sent from your iPad.
It's the guy's problem, not his neighbour's. If he's got a sensitivity to it, he should don a tinfoil hat and live inside a Faraday cage.
I developed lactose intolerance late in my life. Should I sue the makers of all my favourite foods because they can't accomodate me?
Ok people, do you have any CLUE how many radio waves are going through your body at any given time? I mean seriously do people think that GPS's, Cell Phones, Watches, all have some kind of invisible tether? Your best hope is to find a cave in the mountains. Not a home in suburbia...
CS: It is all sink or swim...oh and did I mention there are sharks in that water?
If he is a homeowner, how he protects himself from his surrounding environment is his responsibility. If he really believes he is being made sick by electro-magnetic energies around him maybe he needs to wrap his house in a Faraday cage and shut the hell up.
You can't sue your neighbor when their cherry tree blooms and sets off your allergies. Same thing.
Death looks every man in the face. All any man can do is look back and smile. - Marcus Aurelius
I suspect that the plaintiff is suffering from some significant mental health issues. Maybe paranoia or hypochondria or something. My guess is that this guy isn't suing because he's a jerk, but because he thinks the issue is real.
Hopefully the suit will be dismissed with a minimum of fuss and expense, and the guy can get the help he probably needs.
...without telling the Moron, and then let the moron keep insisting "your wireless makes me sick". It would be funny. Especially in court.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
Or if he can tell the difference between those wifi devices and the electric generators on the trains running behind his house (just actually read the article...)
if the SCO lawsuits can make it to court anything can.
Undetectable Steganography? Yep, there's an app fo
1) Mount a satellite dish on the wall of a long room.
2) Place a chair at the opposite end of the room.
3) Have this guy sit in the chair for an hour.
4) See how much he complains about headaches, how much he acts up, how he has been brain-poisoned etc.
5) Show him that the dish is not connected to anything, and never has been.
If he doesn't react, affix it to a signal generator and see how he performs in an actual scientifically conducted test. But do it my way first, then make it into an amusing video montage so everyone knows how much of a tool he is.
Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
The actions of one inside one's house and freedom of movement and ability to do what you want within the law? That's not freedom? That wouldn't fall under their human rights? Seriously?
Unless you think just food is a human right. Then I think you would be OK with people going and stealing food because they have a right to not starve. Certain rights have implications beyond the obvious.
Dan
From the summary:
"I feel as if my life and liberty are under attack for no valid reason, and it has forced me to have to defend my very basic human rights."'"
Ok, so the guy filing the suit is a moron and the suit has no technical merit at all. But really? Running a router is now a basic human right? A little melodramatic don't you think?
Well, some places are declaring Internet access a human right...
But I don't think that's really the point.
Generally speaking, you're allowed to do what you want within the confines of your own house. Of course you still can't murder people and whatnot... But it's a little unusual for your neighbors to be able to dictate what kind of telephone you use, and whether your Internet connection is wired or wireless, or whether you can own or use a cell phone. Those are all liberties that we pretty much take for granted.
"Work is the curse of the drinking classes." -Oscar Wilde
I'm sorry... UTP is not the answer. The answer is to tell this guy to go fuck himself. I'm not responsible for changing my behavior because some other nutbar has a psychosomatic illness. That's for him and his doctors to deal with. Not me and his lawyers.
My blog. Good stuff (when I remember to update it). Read it.
being able to sit my laptop on the counter without worrying about tripping over a cable is worth more than the crazy demands of a delusional hypochondriac.
Good neighbours put up their own EM shielding when they suffer from imaginary conditions.
"And, I'm sorry to say, probably win."*
*Citation needed
Just because you're jaded doesn't mean reality matches your view.
...when you are the victim. Don't know for an Wireless AP but I go real headaches from a telco's base station. It was as close as 70 meters from my appartment and although it was 4 storeys higher than my home it still made me sick. And the most interesting part: while climbing the stairs to my appartment going through the floors when I was getting near my floor the nasty sensation was setting off. So the guy may be in his right. All he did was to buy a house and then waited till somebody started making him sick. Why don't you look from the other side - make the lady put her house in a Faraday cage if she insist on her wireless?
Where's the control in your experiment? How do you know that it was the tower and not, say, the ultrasonic pest repellent devices that your landlord had installed on your floor? Or any of a half dozen frequently used but kind of nasty chemicals that are routinely found in apartment buildings? Or the flickering old-style fluorescent lights? Frankly, the fact that the sensation wasn't worse OUTSIDE when the building isn't shielding you from what sounds like line-of-sight irradiation makes me dubious that the source of your headaches have been properly isolated.
Or, you're trolling, and I fell for it.
Put my fist through my alarm clock with its ding-dong death inside my ear. - The Blackjacks.
The devices in question are already approved by the Federal government for use in residential settings.
That more than likely trumps any claims by this nutcase*.
It will be up to the nutcase* himself to insulate or shield the interior of his home.
Think about it - if instead of electromagnetic sensitivity he thought he had car sensitivity - cars driving by his house made him sick. He'd want to stop people from driving on the street, but that's another government sanctioned activity that no court would let him impose restrictions on.
*nutcase - someone with a psychological disorder that they think is caused by something external, instead of the truth which is that he's got too much time on his hands. He should really buy an old mine and live underground if he wants to avoid RF.
Putting moderation advice in your
This is case were there is no evidence that the plaintiff's claims or medical affliction have any basis in reality.
No, SCO had *no* evidence. They were given *everything* they asked for, every single benefit of every doubt, and they came up with no more that this guy's case - basically Darl's claim that "we *must* own the copyrights!"
The only difference is the this guy probably honestly believes he's being affected, whereas SCO knew that they had no case.