It's always funny until someone gets hurt. But, really, I defy you to read the note about Donald Duck at the bottom of this post and not laugh.
The Courthouse News Service, which we were turned onto by the Daily News, has it that the Phillie Phanatic is being sued by an Abington woman after he dumped her from her lounge chair and into a pool at the Golden Inn in Avalon, N.J. in 2010.
From the DN:
Peirce claims she hurt just about everything in the incident, including suffering "severe and permanent injuries to her head, neck, back, body, arms and legs, bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves and tissues ..." and more. The pool did have water in it, attorney Aaron Denker said, though Peirce was tossed in the shallow end.
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The woman, who her attorney claims is a Phillies fan, named both Tom Burgoyne and Matt Mehler in the suit, as it was unclear who was actually in the suit that day (WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE ISN'T REAL?!), as well as the Phillies and the Golden Inn.
The Daily News also reports that this isn't the first time the Phanatic's put himself in this position:
In 2010 the Daily News found he'd been sued at least three other times in the last decade, once for hugging someone too hard. In 2010, a woman attending a Reading Phillies game with her church group claimed he sat on her legs, making her arthritis act up and ultimately led to a knee replacement, a lawsuit alleged.
But, really, compared to the heinous acts of one of his colleagues, that's nothing:
In 2010, an Upper Darby woman sued Disney, claiming a Donald Duck mascot touched her breast, causing a “shock to her entire nervous system" along with flashbacks and digestive problems.
If you've got Phanatic stories or amusing anecdotes related to any other mascot, let's hear 'em.
>>Phanatic sued by Abington woman over alleged pool horseplay [DN]