Let me tell you the story of the “Auntie Christ”. This monster brought a $127,000 lawsuit against her innocent and loving 12-year-old nephew. His offense? He was so happy to see her that he gave her a great big hug, which through a freak accident broke her wrist. Time to use this to take him and his family for all they were worth, right? #Auntfromhell started trending on Twitter as the nation took a collective gasp of horror at the rampant abuse of our legal system.
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The escort is to protect her from marauding toddlers. Probably.
The only problem here? The story missed a crucial detail. Yes, a woman was suing her nephew for $127,000, but not because she was a monster. She was doing it because the US health care system sucks.
Here’s what happened. Jennifer Connell was at her nephew’s 8th birthday party when the notorious hug accident occurred, causing her to fall and fracture her arm, requiring surgery to repair it. Looking for a way to cover her expensive medical bills, she asked her nephew’s family to have their homeowner liability insurance cover it. Guess how much the company offered? $1. That’s right, $1. She did the next logical thing, and sued the insurance company to force them to pay.
This is where the bizarreness of the legal system comes in. Under Connecticut law, the insurance company couldn’t be named as the defendant, but the party they represent could. In this case it meant she would have to sue an 8-year-old boy (12 by the time of the suit) in order to get anything from the insurance company. Something her nephew’s family supported her doing.
So, to recap, a woman accidentally injured by her young nephew had to have expensive surgery, was denied coverage by an insurance company, so was encouraged by the nephew’s family to sue him in order to get the insurance company to pay. Then was demonized online and in the news for doing it. All of that is pretty bizarre if you ask me.
Also, she lost.
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