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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."'"
This is the irritating thing about it. You can harass people with frivolous lawsuits, and, while the judge may throw them out, the lawyers still get paid. Provided the guy's lawyer asks for his fee up front, what is his disincentive to file lawsuits like this one? I really wish lawyers could receive some sort of punishment or censure for wasting the court's time and enabling harassment.
We had something similar happening here, where people started complaining about the electromagnetic field from a cell repeater tower.
PR statement from the telco: "Gee, wonder what it'll be like when we turn it on in a few weeks..."
Needless to say that the court tossed the suit without a hearing.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
A more apt analogy would be somebody who develops extreme sun sensitivity late in life, and then attempts to sue the sun.
And as much as I'd like to believe this is a really, really stupid example, I somehow can not completely discount the possibility of this happening someday, somewhere.
If libertarians are so opposed to effective government, why don't they all move to Somalia?
Oh, almost forgot: Of course the complaint was repeated a few weeks later when they turned it on.
The judge issued a fine for wasting the court's time a second time. Don't remember the exact wording, but the general meaning was something like "don't play smart, we already know that you fake it".
Reading verdicts can be quite entertaining at times. Especially when judges display a sense of humor.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I wouldn't categorically say all of them are morons. Assuming they aren't intentionally claiming to be sick to get their way, they might actually be sick. Sure, it might be a psychosomatic illness rather than physiological one, but either way the person is ill and needs treatment.
Also, by better separating the morons from the real cases, we can hopefully eventually perform actual research to separate any physiological cases from psychosomatic ones. Then we can hopefully cure both and put an end to cases like this.
Write your representatives! Repeal the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics!
Be careful when saying things like "mental illness is as real as any physical illness". In order to equate mental illness with physical illness, you must equate imagination with reality. If I imagine my arm is broken, that doesn't make it physically broken. If I imagine I have a brain tumor, that doesn't mean I have a brain tumor.
But, if I imagine I feel pain, then that might be equal to "actually" feeling pain, since pain is an imaginary symptom (occurring literally only in your head).
So, it's true in some ways, and untrue in other ways. Just make sure to be clear on what you mean.