Sometimes, to make a convincing case for yourself, you have to show as well as tell, walk the walk as well as talk the talk.
If, however, you’re trying to make the case that you’ve been injured severely enough to warrant substantial compensation, walking the walk may be the last thing you want to do. Walking the walk might, in fact, undermine your case.
After all, there are certain things that a seriously injured person simply cannot do: swim the English channel, for instance, scale Mount Everest, run a marathon, etc.
If, on the other hand, you are seeking some cash, you may still be able to do strenuous things – but you would not want any witnesses to, or public records of, your vigor.
Erica Tamburin made the mistake of walking the walk when she ought not have. She participated in the Ogden Newspapers Half Marathon in May 2010, finishing in 2 hours, 43 minutes (50th out of 173).
What would have been a respectable performance for anyone was truly extraordinary for a young woman claiming severe, permanent injuries from a car accident in the Cabela’s parking lot just six months earlier. (Ms. Tamburin was also listed as the first baseman for the HJS coed softball team subsequent to her accident.)
Tamburin filed suit against Cabela’s in 2011, claiming injuries to her head, neck, shoulders, back, chest, arms, body chemistry, and psyche. The exact nature of the injuries to her “body chemistry” and “psyche” is not known.
Tamburin’s daughter is also listed as a plaintiff in the case, allegedly having suffered the loss of the love, society, comfort, companionship, and services of her mother.
Maybe Tamburin is struggling to make ends meet while raising that daughter, but does that justify a lawsuit? What is the value of her self-respect? What lesson is she trying to teach her daughter?
She never should have walked the walk
