The Sacramento Bee reports that a jury has awarded 16.6 million dollars to the family of a woman who died in a contest. A radio station in Sacramento held a contest to see who could drink the most water without urinating or vomiting. The winner received a Wii video game console. However, the station violated its own policies and a California woman died of water intoxication. The jury declined to hold the contestant legally responsible.
This verdict speaks to companies that implement policies and procedures, but fail to follow them. This is often seen as a primary issue in Dram Shop cases where a bar or restaurant have policies about serving alcohol, but rarely follow them. It also comes into play in trucking litigation where trucking companies fail to follow their own policies or those set out in the Federal Regulations.