Dancer Sues Clumsy Partner For Her Polka-Related Injury
April 04, 2011
Just in case your dance instructor hasn't told you, the polka may be hazardous to your health. Ask Lindsey Paris. Six years ago Mrs. Paris, 59 years old, went to a wedding at the Cameo Restaurant in Garfield, N.J., and was asked to do the polka by Fransisca Cunningham, who was sitting at her table. She alleges he dragged her to the dance floor. Then, after a quarter turn around the floor to the ``Beer Barrel Polka,'' she says, Mr. Cunningham tripped and fell on her, fracturing her left hip. Mrs. Paris says she hasn't danced since and walks with a limp. She sued Mr. Cunningham for damages in state court and lost the first round when the case was thrown out in 2009. But last week, a three-judge appeals court in Newark reinstated her lawsuit. ``I love to dance, but I probably should have stuck to the slow fox trots at the beginning of the wedding,'' Mrs. Paris says, noting that the polka was played because the groom was Polish and his bride was half-Polish. There's some dispute over whether the polka itself was to blame. ``Most people learn the polka from family members and they tend to dance it on the wild side,'' says Cythia Hoover, a manager at Stepping Out Dance Studios in New York. Mr. Cunningham's attorney, Roberto Ibrahim, says that Mrs. Paris volunteered to do the polka and tripped herself. In any case, he says, dancing isn't the sort of activity that should give rise to lawsuits. ``Can you imagine suing over the polka?'' he asks. ``People are too litigious.'' Mr. Cunningham didn't return phone calls. The appeals judges discussed at length whether the polka is an ``inherently dangerous'' sport, like sky diving, or simply a mild recreation. Two of them chose not to decide, ruling that the lower court must instead determine whether Mrs. Paris was made to dance against her wishes. A third appeals judge, Williemae Detwiler, agreed that Mrs. Paris's case should go forward, but said the similarity between certain types of vigorous dancing such as the polka and sports activity is ``evident.'' He said he doesn't believe ``that there is anyone who has engaged in dancing who has not at some time been stepped on, kicked, pushed, or otherwise been subjected to unintended bodily contact while on a dance floor.'' The stumbling dancer with two left feet ``is a recognized fixture of the social scene,'' he added.
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