If you're at Corona del Mar State Beach, don't be surprised if you hear that ominous seaside refrain.
You know:
Duh-dunt … duh-dunt … duh-dunt, dunt-dunt, duh-dunt, dunt-dunt, duh-dunt, dunt-dunt …
However, it may not be a killer shark in the water you have to worry about. Oh no, dear friends, the threat to you, your loved ones and our bitchin' Cali beach lifestyle may be caused by the most ravenous monster of all:
A “hazardous” restroom stall.
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The Orange County Register has the scoop.
Marlene Elaine Olson is suing the City of Newport Beach, the company that manufactured the door of a restroom at Corona del Mar State Beach (a.k.a. “Big Corona,” which of course means the beach is “connected”) and the company whose hapless workers installed the offending barrier.
“As
Olson attempted to shut her stall door, a person in the
perpendicular stall was exiting that stall and the two doors collided,
causing Olson's door to slam shut, injuring Olson's left hand, breaking a
finger and causing the tip to be partially ripped off,” states her suit.
Court documents accuse the installers of doing the “in a hazardous way,” the door maker of designing a “defective” product and the city of “failing to ensure the bathroom stalls on public property
were safe for use by the general public.”
No specific damage award is being sought by Olson, only that it exceeds
$25,000 and includes compensation for lost
wages and medical expenses.
Pop quiz for those playing the home version of this post:
How many times has the same door been opened and shut without anyone experiencing a problem?
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.