Web Extra: “Sue Easy” Web site enables the blame game

Growing up, we had one simple rule that governed our house: You live with the consequences of your behavior. If you don't study and fail a test, learn from your mistake. If you lie, even at the prodding of adventurous best friends, there go the car keys.

Fair enough, right?

This rule guided our house for many years but, sadly, it doesn't apply in today's legal system. When people do not like the consequences of their decisions or actions, they immediately look for someone to blame, someone to sue.

Unfortunately, a new Web site, SueEasy.com, may make it easier to file a lawsuit and to play the "blame game" instead of taking personal responsibility for our actions.

Too often, our society has abandoned all sense of personal responsibility and replaced it with a warped sense of entitlement. The "somebody's gotta pay" attitude is pervasive and that does not bode well for future generations.

When our courts reward people for failing to take responsibility for their actions, we're saying that such behavior is OK and should be rewarded. Is that the message we want to send our children? Do we really want to teach them that they can always point the finger of blame?

East Texans Against Lawsuit Abuse every year works with local sixth- and seventh-graders to start them thinking about personal responsibility with our Annual Personal Responsibility Essay Contest. The kids seem to grasp the concept better than most adults. A recent sixth-grade contestant wrote, "Who I am is defined by my actions, my words, and my attitude: who I become is up to me. There may be some detours but no u-turns. I have to live with the consequences of my actions: I cannot turn and run from them."

It is painfully clear that many people run from responsibility and rush to point fingers when something goes wrong.

Consider the teenagers who tried to sue a fast-food chain after they gained weight from eating there nearly every day. They claimed not to have known that three fast-food meals a day would pack on the pounds.

Or the case of a two-time prison escape artist who is suing the sheriff of Pueblo County, Colo., after he injured himself using a rope made out of bedsheets to rappel down the 85-foot walls of a jail in which he was locked. The inmate's lawsuit seeks $64,000 in damages to pay for medical expenses, claiming it was too easy to escape.

And don't forget the case in Houston of a wayward husband who sued 1-800-FLOWERS for $1 million when they sent a thank-you note for a recent order to his home. Unfortunately, the beautiful bouquet was for his mistress and the thank-you note alerted his wife to his extramarital activities. The plaintiff claimed the note from the flower shop violated confidentiality agreements and increased the cost of his divorce.

Many of these types of suits are dismissed. But they still take money, time and energy to defend. And, while the more ridiculous cases may draw a chuckle, there's nothing funny about the cost of all of this. The U.S. tort system cost Americans $247 billion ($825 per person) in 2006 and that doesn't include the extra price we all pay for consumer goods because of lawsuits.

In fact, lawsuit abuse drives up consumer prices, hurts businesses and jobs as employers must cope with ever-increasing liability costs and even threatens our access to quality health care and life-saving devices or treatments.

The fix to this mounting crisis is simple: We need to reacquaint ourselves and our youth with the concept of personal responsibility and stop playing the blame game. We need to realize that every dilemma or personal disappointment is not fodder for a lawsuit and does not warrant a treasure trove of cash. And that, like it or not, we all must live with the consequences of our behavior.

Martin is president of East Texans Against Lawsuit Abuse.