Texter who fell in fountain threatens to sue

The woman who became an overnight YouTube sensation says she may sue the shopping mall where she was videotaped falling into a fountain while texting. Cathy Cruz Marrero said in an article on readingeagle.com that she's “mortified” by the incident, which appears to have been captured on video by security team at the Berkshire …

[Andrew Tyler 1]

Blob

Ah, so the unindentifiable blob's name is Cathy Cruz Marrero. Cathy Cruz Marrero ought to be terribly, terribly ashamed of herself. Mortified, even. If Cathy Cruz Marrero is so shy, she should have kept Cathy Cruz Marrero's identify a secret. If Cathy Cruz Marrero is just looking for a buck, Cathy Cruz Marrero is pretty foolish to do interviews for the news-media. Cathy Cruz Marrero's judge is going to say something or other about Barbara Streisand, and throw Cathy Cruz Marrero's case out of court.

[Graham Marsden]

I'm glad...

... you mentioned Streisand along with all your mentions of Cathy Cruz Marrero...

[Anonymous Coward]

Cameras and exploitation

We're always fed this line about cameras and CCTV being for our protection/well-being, but I think this amply demonstrates how it always ends up becoming exploitive. Cameras that watch everything we do will also pick up all our human frailties, errors, and misjudgements, and put them on display for the world to criticise or condemn.

Councils here are using them to fine everyone that appears in the camera irrespective of the circumstances. Who cares if you were in the bus lane momentarily because you had to make a left turn into your own driveway or a carpark? You car is in the picture in the bus lane, so pay up!

Of course Cathy should have been more attentive to here surroundings, even she knows that. But we all do similar things from time to time. When I see it happen to others, I don't stop to think about who's at fault - I would check if they were OK or needed assistance. I would like to think others would do the same for me.

But for someone to see the event, record it, publish for the world to laugh at, and render no assistance... I think that's inhumane. I support Cathy's complaint, and having here identity splashed all over the media is just an unfortunate side-affect of taking a stand on something.

[NogginTheNog]

Yeah but..

I kind of agree with you, but I'm not sure she's actually "taking a stand" on this? I think it's a lot more likely she's mortified that her genuine mistake (yeah we've all done them!) has made her infamous, and is trying to save face by lashing out at (sueing) the only thing she can: the mall operators.

[aelfheld]

You do realise

that she self-identified to the media, right?

No one had a clue as to who she was until she decided to contact the media.

If she's so 'mortified' by her 'idiocy' why did she put herself out there?

[Shakje]

@Ralph 5

1) Let's ask a simple question here, if you saw someone falling into a fountain because they were texting, what would be your very first response? Would you immediately run over to help them, scared that they might have broken a hip, or would you actually just laugh a bit first. Let's imagine that they're not even texting, let's say that they were pissed, staggering everywhere, and fell into the fountain. The first response of most people would be to laugh. This is why You've Been Framed is still on our televisions, because there is something inherently funny about people ending up covered in water because of an accident. The issue is whether they should have posted it, but your third paragraph seems to suggest that you think there's no humour in the situation at all.

2) If you watch the clip with sound, you clearly hear someone saying "and this was at 4 this afternoon?" It's not something that's just happened, it's the camera recording system. They're not playing it back, recording it and laughing at it while she's down there, drenched. Who knows why it took 20 minutes to help her? Maybe because they thought she'd get adequate help from the store? Or maybe they didn't even see it? Maybe they got told about it by the store staff afterwards and reviewed the tapes, I mean, how many cameras does an average American mall actually have?

I actually understand exactly why you support her action as well, because I think there has to be lines in the sand based on privacy and CCTV usage, and someone has to do something about it from time to time. Unfortunately she comes across as someone who just can't laugh at herself, and it's so trivial when compared to really bad breaches of privacy that occur and aren't flagged, I just think there could be less time spent on this and more on the serious matters.

[Wize]

They may have been too late to help when they saw her fall

"But for someone to see the event, record it, publish for the world to laugh at, and render no assistance... "

From what I could tell, they were watching a recording of the event on their monitor. They may not have even noticed she fell in till the cleaner complained someone had taken a dip in the fountain and was dripping everywhere, then they looked back for the event.

[Tom 13]

That was my reaction when they gave the teaser on the news last night.

When I heard that it was someone from the Mall Security team that assembled and posted the video I groaned.

That's an open and shut case of abuse even for someone like me who is tired of tossers gaming the courts. The Mall can try to negotiate the price, but they will pay up. And at least one person from the Mall Security Team is going to be on disciplinary notice (or worse) for the next 6 months.

[Rab Sssss]

snigger

she was probably unknown. Now everybody knows who she is.

Nice own goal.

[Anonymous Coward]

She must be with Orange.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdeQFiHMsUM#t=0m38s

[Anonymous Coward]

What a jury should give her..

If she sues, the jury should award her an all-expenses-paid lobotomy.

[Otto von Humpenstumpf]

no title here.

That's probably the *only* thing she's not in need of...

[David Kelly 2]

Thats the problem!

Am afraid thats the problem, she already has the lobotomy.

[Fluffykins]

I'd have thought this was proof

She's already had one.

[Anonymous Coward]

She's even more famous now...

http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=280672

[T J]

It will take care of itself

Don't worry she will fall down a manhole on the way to court.

[Jeremy 2]

The title is required, and must contain letters and/or digits.

"Instead of laughing, they should have said, 'Is she OK?' and been down there right away to check on me."

Yeah, and, you know, instead of not looking where you were going, you should have, you know, looked where you were going.

Walking into something while not concentrating: Silly but normal.

Appearing on national television: Dumb.

Reinforcing the stereotype of litigation-happy Americans threatening to sue for something that's entirely her own stupid fault: Priceless.

^^^^ Stop icon because, well she should have...

[The Indomitable Gall]

Nonono.

Put it this way.

The mall has security cameras ostensibly to protect its shoppers. The mall has not asked consent for security footage to be used for entertainment purposes. The mall's security company has therefore violated their agreement, and they have to be held to account.

If behaviour like this goes unchecked, security cameras become a routine invasion of privacy.

[Anonymous Coward]

Privacy

What privacy? She was in a public place. Or, assuming the mall is privately owned, somebody else's private space.

Do you expect privacy in the street, or on the Underground? I don't mean "are you entitled to it", do you /expect/ it?

Also, while I think this was a case of an individual leaking the footage, not the mall, I imagine they have some nice signs up about CCTV and use of footage.

[Tom 13]

@AC: Privacy

If it was a bypasser getting it on a cell cam YES. Because it is from a Mall Security tape, NO. At least, not without her consent. I suspect if the guards had talked to her and put it up for America's Funniest Home Videos with a promise to split the prize if it won, everything would be kosher.

[Alan 36]

Put it another way

In reply to The Indomitable Gall: The mall has security cameras to protect _itself_. To help with emergencies, deter larceny and prevent spurious lawsuits. The cameras are not there for the shoppers.

Security footage taken on private property doesn't need consent (release) if the people are not identifiable. There is no 'agreement' as to the use of such footage, if you enter the property, there are signs stating you waive your right to not be filmed.

Finally, 'invasion of privacy' in the US is still waaaay behind the UK, the country with the most CCTV on earth.

[Barrie Shepherd]

"Security & Privacy"

What prey is private about walking round a shopping mall open to the public ?

[Jeremy 2]

@Indomitable Gall, yesyesyesyes...

You're probably right that the mall cops in the camera office shouldn't have leaked it to Youtube. America being what it is, I'm sure they probably started looking for new jobs pretty much as soon as it went viral, which is punishment enough.

However.

- It's her fault she wasn't looking where she was going (not in dispute, I suspect)

- She cannot have an expectation of privacy in a publicly accessible space.

- The security employees didn't violate her privacy because they didn't ID her in any way.

- An employee (admittedly a rather bemused looking employee but who wouldn't be) *did* ask if she was OK, if you watch the video through.

- It's her fault alone that the whole world now knows who she is and where she's from because she couldn't resist claiming her fifteen minutes of fame.

- It's her fault alone that the whole world now knows that she's possibly going to be a convicted felon quite soon because she didn't stop to think that the press would dig into her private life.

Every angle she could possibly think of suing over is undermined by the fact that she brought it upon herself.

[The Fuzzy Wotnot]

I assume you never done anything really stupid in a public place?!

Yes she is a right div for not looking where she is going, but her complaint is about the misuse of CCTV footage.

If this had been someone else's mobile footage, I'd say 'Tough titty madam!', but the security personal abused their position of trust to send out a bit of private security footage for a laugh.

Imagine you got mugged in the same place, I bet you'd have to fight for weeks to get the footage for your court case against the person who did it. Some dopey woman falls in a fountain, by accident and next thing the footage is all over the world.

[Nathan Meyer]

Cathy Promises She Won't text While Walking

She'll only do text when driving, I'm sure.

[borkbork]

Hopefully it's a lesson to other text-walkers...

...TO WATCH WHERE YOU'RE F*&^ING GOING! It's hilarious that it was a fountain this time, rather than a pensioner/toddler/other innocent bystander that the texting zombie walked into.

[The Fuzzy Wotnot]

Push 'em down!

I love the planks who emerge from the Undergound stations in London, and as soon as there is a mobile signal, just stop dead in their tracks and start texting and checking mails!!!

"STEP ASIDE AND DO THAT SOMEWHERE ELSE YOU F**KING INCONSIDERATE PRATS! THE WORLD DOES NOT REVOLVE AROUND YOU, DESPITE WHAT FACEBOOK AND TWITTER HAVE LEAD YOU TO BELIEVE!"

[Graham Marsden]

@Push 'em down!

I don't know if it still happens, but a while back there was a spate of thefts from idiots who would immediately stop outside the Underground station to check their phone and the thieves would be waiting to simply grab and run...!

[Steve Evans]

Indeed...

Cathy Cruz Marrero should accept that she was stupid. Cathy Cruz Marrero should have kept quiet and just got on with her life, safe in the knowledge that nobody could have identified the fuzzy blob as Cathy Cruz Marrero, but now she has come forward, trying to pass the blame when she should have kept her head down and stayed quiet.

So Cathy Cruz Marrero, when you start claiming your life has been ruined etc etc, just remember who identified the blob as Cathy Cruz Marrero... Yes, that'll be you Cathy Cruz Marrero.

Muppet.

How long before American mobiles have warnings of "Must be be used when walking" next to the "not for internal consumption" one?

[Tom 13]

While I agree with the sentiment that she probably would have been better off

keeping her head down, it is not entirely true that no one would know who it was that was on the video. The video identified the mall and it is entirely possible that other employees from the mall would know the video was her because of other things they heard through the grape vine.

But as I've already posted, for as much as I hate slip and fall lawsuits, if I were on the jury hearing her case, I'd have to give her the award, and not a pittance.

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't...

...see anything that suggests she is considering sueing to suppress the video. Appears to me she is more concerned at the attitude of Mall employees and quite rightly so IMO.

[It wasnt me]

Grow up.

ODFO. Shes quite clearly completely fine as she gets up and walks away. Nothing mopre than hurt pride and that is entirely self inflicted.

Moron.

[niya blake]

She needs the money

She is on trial for 5 counts of credit card fraud(she used a co workers credit card) , reciving stolen property. This also make her less sympathetic to a jurry.

[Anonymous Coward]

You left out the best part of the story

"In the hours that followed Cathy Cruz Marrero's appearance on "Good Morning America" today to talk about the fall and its aftermath, she was in court for a status hearing on charges of five felony counts, including theft by deception and receiving stolen property. "

from

http://abcnews.go.com/US/fountain-falling-texter-cathy-cruz-marrero-dont-text/story?id=12685189

[The Fuzzy Wotnot]

So? What's your point?

So she's up for other felonies, this is a different case which is tried by different court and court officials.

When the jury on the 'tripping case' find out she's on credit card fraud charges too, they may not be very sympathetic I'll grant you, but everyone is entitled to fair trial for each crime they are involved in, whichever side of the dock they are on.

[Arctic fox]

Whilst I do not sympathise with the lady's little........

......."accident" I am not very impressed with the video being uploaded in the first place to the net by the goons that that mall employs. Would we be ignoring _their_ behaviour if it was film of a violent sexual assault? Next time employees of a firm where you are a customer upload security videos to the net for a laugh at your expense I hope _you_find it funny. The difference is that she is a plank - they are nasty arseholes who think the concept "breach of confidence" is for pussies.

[Ian Yates]

no title

I'm not condoning their actions, but if she hadn't spoken out, we wouldn't know that it was Cathy Cruz Marrero who walked in to a fountain and her name wouldn't be a point of ridicule.

She's had her minute of fame, she'll probably never be heard from again.

[Arctic fox]

@Ian Yates. There is a problem with this.

I have very little sympathy for the woman concerned, however there is another issue here that many posters appear to be uninterested in. Any time there is an article here at El Reg about CCTV and the culture of surveillance in our society we get a shit-load of postings bemoaning (quite rightly IMO) this development. One of the points always made (entirely legitimately) is of course "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" - "who watches the watchmen?", to make sure that they do not abuse their position. What is very clear from this thread is that many of these "lovers of liberty" suddenly to not give a shit when the victim is an "acceptable victim" from their point of view. Their commitment to libertarianism goes straight out the window the moment they do not like the "victim". The conduct of these goons at that mall in utterly abusing their position ought to give us all pause for thought.

[Anonymous Coward]

@Arctic fox

As a "lover of liberty", I believe in the liberty to make oneself an acceptable victim - but acting in a way that demands ridicule.

[Ben 42]

Sexual assault? Really?

How did you manage to bring that into this discussion? No crime was committed in that video, it was just someone doing something stupid. Sure, if they were sitting there laughing while someone was assaulted on camera I would consider that outrageous behavior, but that's not remotely similar to what happened here. The question here isn't whether they were right to laugh at the video, the question is whether they were right to post it online since it's clear that this was all happening well after the fact, and there's nothing they could have done to help her at that point anyway.

And for what it's worth, if it had been me falling into the fountain, I'd have had a good chuckle about it, done a few talk show spots and laughed all the way to the bank with my appearance fees.* But then there's probably not as much money in that as there is in suing. Maybe a book deal though...

*Not that I have _ever_ done anything stupid in public...in front of an attractive woman...nope, not me. ;-)

[Winkypop]

CCTV

Customer

Caught

Tripping

Violently

[Beanie Wabster]

Beanie Wabster

Most excellent comments .....

[Mat Child]

Stupid...

Before today I've never seen this. I have now obviously. What an excellent way to ensure it's even more popular.

As for the assertion that she should have been checked on - According to the sound track "Pedro from Housekeeping" had asked her if she was alright within minutes of the incident. If true and she was in need of assistance she had her chance right there but passed it off.

[Peter Simpson 1]

Pedro's on the video

He must be the guy with the mop & bucket who stops as he's headed toward the fountain totalk with her. Someone else stops to talk with her as well. Pedro's clearly visible in the cell-phone recording of the playback.

Cathy needs to learn to take some personal responsibility, instead of driving off after an accident, using someone else's credit cards and trying to get someone else to pay her for a dunking that was so obviously due to her own inattention. Allegedly, of course, because she hasn't been convicted of stupidity...yet.

[Anonymous Coward]

Fuck ups you can never live down

Because for the next 243 years she's going to be starring in early-hours repeats of ITV premium adult line ad-vehicles like "Funny CCTV moments that cost people their dignity but cost us nothing to buy in - season 14".

[RobE]

This would be a Good Advert

This would be an excellent advert for motorists not to use their mobile phone whilst driving.

[Anonymous Coward]

I can save her a bunch of money, time and effort

All her lawyer is going to find out is that security were too busy mopping up puddles of piss from the control room floor..

[Anonymous Coward]

ooo, errr

Now you've done it. New keyboard please!

[Anonymous Coward]

Foolish, but ..

... she does have a case in that they should not have posted the video on YouTube : that was a serious failing on the part of Mall Security, and someone should be taken to task for it.

[Arbuthnot Darjeeling]

I was going to post

a comment on this greedy idiot woman but previous commentards have covered it beautifully.

[Anonymous Coward]

Errr

"Instead of laughing, they should have said, 'Is she OK?' and been down there right away to check on me."

Erm weren't they watching her on CCTV?...

[Ceiling Cat]

What confuses me . . .

Is why people are so addicted to cel-phones.

Sure, great, something that makes it bloody impossible to get away from friends/co-workers/collection agencies...

Back in my day, we had land lines... and answering machines.

[Woodgie]

So hang on....

...She wouldn't have laughed seeing someone else doing the same thing?

Anyway, she got up immediately and walked away as if nothing had happened. Why would security have to go and check on her? It's not as if they left her floating face down in the fountain for those 20 minutes. To me she was demonstrably OK, she showed no signs of distress, just mild embarrassment.

Why do people seem to be unable to take responsibility for their own actions?

[Ian Yates]

Hear, hear!

"Why do people seem to be unable to take responsibility for their own actions?"

[Captain Thyratron]

What's the fun or profit in that?

That would mean admitting fault at the expense of one's fragile ego. Also, personal responsibility seldom rewards people with generous settlements.

The principles of the litigious American:

1. Everything is someone's fault.

2. Nothing is my fault.

3. I am entitled to fortune.

4. Someone must pay for everything bad that happens to me; furthermore, if everyone actually responsible is dead, then someone else shall be found liable and payment shall be extracted from them by whatever means necessary.

[Anonymous Coward]

Even Cathy misses the point

I am surprised that no one has noticed the real issue here, one´s privacy. Sorry Cathy, but it is evident from the video that the only notable injury you suffered was embarrassment, but how did this video arrive to You Tube in the first place? Are the recordings of any actions we make on security cameras the property of the security unprofessional behind the security monitor? Will we no have one of the thousands of cable television channels dedicated to watching how we behave in public places without our permission?

Yes, Cathy is a looking for her 15 minutes of fame and easy money, but were she not so self absorbed she could be doing a just cause by suing for the correct reasons.

[myob]

20 min?

In the version I saw, they comment when one of the housekeeping staff checks on her, and they comment about that on the voiceover. Not got a leg to stand on.

[It wasnt me]

Hmm...

"Not got a leg to stand on." Or rather, she has 2, but is too retarded to use them.

[Vladimir Plouzhnikov]

OK, how do I...

...find myself a nice lawsuit against a large company?

I'll pretend to not look where I'm going in a shopping mall (is shopping mall owner a big company? Dunno, but they must have at least SOME money to keep that nice fountain going!).

Then I'll fall into the fountain.

Then I'll get out of the fountain.

Then I'll wait for 5 seconds (to make sure noone has any time to react).

Then I'll walk away.

Then I'll fix myself a no-win-no-fee lawyer (or, maybe, I'll do that first, before I do anything else?).

Then I'll call the TV and shout - "OUTRAGE!!! I nearly DIED!!11!1!!1 And nobody CARED!!!11!1!!!"

[Swoop]

"Is she OK?"

“Instead of laughing, they should have said, 'Is she OK?' and been down there right away to check on me.”

Er, she quite clearly got up, climbed out and walked away. Not even limping. I think we can safely say she was OK, apart from the injured pride!

[Mad Mike]

Darwin Awards

I guess this rather begs the question of why nobody had thought to electrify the water (or change it from water to something else) to remove these genes from the gene pool. Clearly, she's a liability. Perhaps the judge should force her to employ someone to walk infront of her and warn everyone else to avoid the general area of the stupid bint.

[Anonymous Coward]

Just think

If she had texted while waliking down the street, she might have stepped off the pavement and been hit by a truck. Instant Darwin.

[Anonymous Coward]

Um, they aren't watching it live...

It is quite clear from what the security people are saying that they are watching it later in the day (most likely during a break or at the end of the shift), and some time after the event had happened.

However, it is completely unprofessional of them to leak it onto YouTube.

[Elmer Phud]

yeah but . . .

"However, it is completely unprofessional of them to leak it onto YouTube."

We are glad they did, though.

Another one who texts while walking and blames it on anyone else when they fall over, bump in to people, knock small kids over, trip over a dog, walk in to a baby buggy etc. etc.

It's always someone elses falut -- never, ever that of the textee.

Fail as it's one up for those of us who have been ranted at by some fucking idiot who is unable to connect with treality.

[Leona A]

But then,

After reading the full article, one that that upset me was, the security staff where all to happy to laugh, joke and post the video on YouTube, but when her phone got stolen they didn't want to know, refused to help! Begs the question if the staff are Security or just sick Voyeurs?

[Leona A]

So valuable lesson learnt then

"I usually don't walk and text, but I did this day," she said. "I won't anymore."

[Bonce]

Cathy Cruz Marrero

Has also f*cked her insurance claim for damage to her mobile phone.

[Anonymous Coward]

Dumbass

Said before but gotta be said again.

Idiot, can't walk and avoid obstacles, take away her phone and make sure she doesn't go out without her carer anymore

Someone will make a buck from this as AC F**k ups you..... said, so she should get a cut of that to ease her ego

[Uk_Gadget]

Berzunp

Um, the phone recording of the security video was not live. This was recorded via playback sometime after the incident. Security members had no immediate knowledge of this event happening.

Still funny as fuck tho..

[Tim #3]

of course

this couldn't have happened in the UK, as our data protection laws that include images and video are rigorously enforced by the ICO.

Tis a hilarious clip though.

[envmod]

lol

what a complete fucking idiot.

[Anonymous John]

About to fall into a fountain?

We've got an app for that.

[Axe]

Missing the point?

Has nobody realised that the security guards were playing back the recording of the fall?

Pedro from housekeeping probably told security about this stupid bint falling into the fountain and then later that day they looked back through the tapes and watched it. they won't have been recording themselves watching a live security feed.

As far as putting it online, there was no real way of identifying her before she came forward so no invasion of privacy.

Nothing to see here, go about your business......

.

[Anonymous Coward]

Data Protection Issue?

All other comments aside, surely the issue here is that the Mall (via their employees) miss-used the CCTV footage for their own entertainment. I'm sure she has a case under whatever regulations exist in the US for data protection to sue the Mall. If a bystander had videoed her on their mobile of if a TV crew were filming it would be different. The Mall however has a duty of care to not miss-use the CCTV footage. It does seem that this is her main point, not that she'd been caught out being an idiot and causing herself embarrassment.

[Arbuthnot Darjeeling]

To be honest

the invention of a 'duty of care' here is laughable, but if it were legally established that there was one, the mall could argue they carried out their duty of care by using cameras that record images that are such low resolution that people can not be identified from the footage.

The woman herself surely has a duty of care not to embarrass her friends and relations which she could achieve if she STFU

[Anonymous Coward]

Huh?

"Wyomissing, Pennsylvania"

Is that a joke or a real place because i've only heard of Wyoming, Pennsylvania

[djberriman]

Pants on fire

Housekeeping (the person with the trolley) goes over straight away and asks her if she is ok, security even confirmed she said she was just a little wet, someone else also approaches her so this statement is untrue.

“My issue is I don't think security was professional because they didn't send anyone to check on me until 20 minutes later and I had already left,”

Clearly the security guards and the person filming it are watching all the videos on playback sometime later, and as anyone would having a laugh.

Quite how she knows they didn't send anyone for 20 mins when she had 'already left' is rather confusing, if she wasn't there any longer how did she know?

Just another idiot, if she had kept quiet its doubtful anyone would have recognised her.

[Anonymous Coward]

Lucky

.... should think herself lucky she didn't walk out in front of a truck or fall down a set of steps....

[BadwolfBracken]

Sue the buggers

I'm not sure who is the bigger idiot

Her for giving us all a laugh or the goon that uploaded what should be private footage

[Ocular Sinister]

Seriously

To all those bell ends that insist on playing with their toy/reading the newspaper while walking STOP IT. Just f'ing stop it. It is not big. It is not clever. There is nothing in the Metro worth reading at the best of time but reading it WHILE WALKING DOWN THE STREET IS INANE. Watching a film on a poxy 7.5" smartphone screen is inane at the best of times, watching it WHILE WALKING DOWN THE STREET IS SERIOUSLY STUPID!

Stop. It.

Now.

Of fuck it, SUCK ON THIS!

/rant

[Anonymous Coward]

7.5" smartphone screen?

7.5" smartphone screen? Sounds relatively large. My smartphone screen, from a well known brand, is around 3.5".

[Ocular Sinister]

OK, 3.5"...

Excuse my ignorance vis a vis smartphone screen sizes. I've never used one, nor will I likely ever do so and my ability to estimate sizes and distances is notoriously bad.

This time, I fear it is my fail...

(3.5" screen? Watching a film? While walking? WHY!?)

[Jimbo 6]

Preaching to the converted

There's no point in telling the Reg readership this.

Try putting it as your F*******k status,or stick it on Twatter, or have a flashing neon sign constructed and tow it all around town so all the *morons* can see it. If they're not too busy texting, natch.

[adnim]

All these comments

ridiculing the woman and not one mention of her right to privacy.

Whilst I agree with, and I find much of what is posted amusing, this footage should have never made it into the public domain.

It does serve however to reinforce my view on cloud based data storage and the risk to personal and private data, not from hardware failure or security shortcomings, but from the usually inadequate, ill trained and morally corrupt guardians of that data.

As for the woman she didn't show due diligence but neither did the security team or the malls IT security practice in allowing footage to be taken from the CCTV system.

"I usually don't walk and text, but I did this day," she said. "I won't anymore." At least she learned something from her experience. It is refreshing to know that some people can be educated.

[Anonymous Coward]

"they didn't send anyone to check on me"

Should have tripped a little harder then. They'd have sent somebody to check your corpse for change.

[Jim Coleman]

As Microsoft would say...

...Really?

[John Sturdy]

Further possibilities

Perhaps she can sue them for not having warning signs on the fountain: "Contains water. May be wet."

What would amuse me even more is if someone walks into a fountain while watching this video on their phone.

[kerlmann]

Why stop at the mall...

....she should extend her litigious action towards the handset manufacturer, the operator network, her friend that she was texting, and of course God himself for giving her fingers to text with and feet to walk on. Nothing wrong with a bit of bet-hedging...

[Captain Thyratron]

Standard operating procedure, of course!

Well, it wouldn't be the first US lawsuit to name God as a defendant.

[Sarah Davis]

something most of you seem to have missed,...

this woman is not suing because she didn't look where she was going. She's suing because the mal security uploaded the security footage.

We all make mistakes, most of us manage not to make really stupid ones like this, but if we do, hey, that's life. BUT the security had no right to upload the video, and thats the point of contention.

Yeah, she screwed up, and was prob thankful that only a few people were around at the time, and the security had a good laugh - that should have been where it ended. It's one thing to do something stupid, it another for someone to film it and upload it without your permission - in this case i'd sue as well.

[Captain Scarlet]

Send it in to

She should send it into "You've been framed" she'll get £250

[TimB]

this is actually more interesting than it looks

Had the uploaded footage been raw CCTV, the mall at least would probably be in serious trouble for not securing that data. However, the fact that we can hear the staff talking over it means that what got uploaded wasn't raw footage. Rather, I suspect someone filmed the playback on their phone, which they then uploaded.

The mall can very easily argue that their security staff need to be able to review footage, and there's no way they can reasonably stop someone from filming it on their phone. Sure, there's a good chance that the person who filmed it could be fired, but I don't see it going any further than that.

[Meghan Stewart]

Points to ponder

Point 1: You were in a public place (yes I know it is privately owned.. but it is still open to the public) and people could see you fall into the fountain in real life. Pedro fron housekeeping did ask if you were allright and you said yes.

Point 2: No one could tell who the hell you were from rerecorded crappy CCTV footage. You came forward and identified yourself. You are the only one to blame for your loss of privacy.

Point 3 :Because of you coming forward, you have been identified as a criminal wanted on felony charges. Felon; meaning you lose your right to vote (depending on which state you are in) and own a firearm. Lets not forget about prison time, which guess what.... you are not entitled to any privacy in prison either.

Put them all together and you realize one thing: Cathy is a dumbass who decided that she should take advantage of the situation to try and hit a quick payday. If she was in Florida, her lawyer would be Jack Thompson.

[Anonymous Coward]

Forget all that...

I want to know if her phone kept working after getting wet. If it did - what was the make and model?

Wonder if she'll try and put in a warranty claim?

[David Kelly 2]

Should have been watching YouTube rather than texting!

Had she been watching YouTube rather than texting she could have seen herself fall into the fountain before actually falling into the fountain!

[Paul RND*1000]

She quickly got out and walked away

So she's suing because the mall cops didn't check if she was OK?

Um, no. People who are not OK don't get up and walk away quickly to escape their acute embarrassment. People who are not OK typically stay down and call out stuff like "help me, I'm hurt".

Her head's full of rocking-horse shite.

[Anonymous Coward]

Seriously ...

This is trumped by the texting woman I saw fall down a beer cellar hatch (beer was being delivered, big men, big barrels, big truck you know the usual scene) -- she singularly FAILED to notice ANY of this going on around her and plunged into a very deep, dark and frankly unmissable hole in the pavement;

I later discovered she was just shaken nothing broken.

[unitron]

Mall needs smarter management

The mall in question has fired the security jerk who uploaded the footage, but it hasn't occurred to them to recoup some of the money they'll no doubt lose in her entirely justified lawsuit (they're responsible for their former employee's actions) by suing all of the media outlets who have violated their copyright rights by airing the footage, not to mention their failure to invoke said copyright to get the footage pulled from YouTube.

[Kevin 6]

Wow talk about double standards

When wikki leaks posts illegally obtained sensitive government documents on the net they are saviors, when a mall security guard posts a blurry video of someone falling in a fountain in some shopping mall he is a criminal.

I god damn this world has gone mad

[MnM]

litterally

Harumpf

[bugalugs]

As well as suing for privacy breaching upload

I would sue the mall for inadequate guards round the water feature. In Australia any public display of more than an artistic film of water has to have a fence around it ( excluding floods ). The wall around the fountain pool only appears to be knee-high : climbable by an infant whose loss might be felt more than that of Cathy Cruz Marrero.

[Rumcajz]

Important question

What kind of phone was it, and was it still functioning after going into the fountain? My bet is it was an iPhone...