Skip to main content

Director Brett Ratner Sued Over Alleged House Party Injury

By Daniel Taylor, Esq. on September 08, 2014 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

A woman has filed a lawsuit against "Hercules" director Brett Ratner, claiming that after she was injured during a party at the director's house, Ratner refused to call 911.

Lauryn Flynn is a 42-year-old stylist who attended a party at Ratner's home celebrating the release of "Hercules" earlier this year, reports The Hollywood Reporter. Flynn claims she was injured when a glass table broke, cutting her Achilles tendon.

Flynn claims that instead of someone calling 911, however, she was transported to the hospital in a somewhat less-expedient fashion.

Lawsuit Alleges Director Feared 'Bad Publicity'

According to Flynn, no one at the party wanted to call 911 because it may have generated bad press for Ratner, known for directing the "Rush Hour" series of films in addition to producing the TV series "Prison Break."

Instead, Flynn claims that she was transported to the hospital via the car-sharing service Uber. Flynn also alleges that she overheard Ratner saying, "People get hurt here all the time, just clean it up," according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Ratner's lawyer denied that happened, and told THR that Ratner "was not aware of the accident at the time it occurred." In fact, Flynn's brother Beau, "who is Ratner's producing partner," was the one who drove his sister to the hospital, Ratner's lawyer said.

Duty to Rescue

Generally speaking, there is no legal duty to rescue another person who is in danger or has been injured. However there are several exceptions to this rule.

If a person's negligence created the need for another person to be rescued, that negligent party may be liable if his failure to provide help causes or worsens a person's injury. Also, in cases where a person has begun to rescue another person, they may have a duty to continue assisting that person if failing to do so would be unreasonable.

In this instance, Flynn may be able to allege that Ratner's negligence was the cause of her initial injury due to premises liability, which makes the owner or tenant of a property responsible for dangerous conditions that may cause injury to another person on their property. If she can show that Ratner's negligence was the cause of her injury, she may be able to hold Ratner liable for any additional injury that may have been caused by the lack of proper assistance following her injury.

Flynn's lawsuit claims that she has been unable to work since suffering the injury. But Ratner's lawyer called Flynn's claims "completely false and defamatory."

"It is obvious that this lawsuit is a way for Lauryn Flynn to try and get her 15 minutes of fame," Ratner's lawyer told THR.

Related Resources:

Copied to clipboard