Kid's Universe v. In 2 Labs
Published: Feb. 8, 2001 | Result Date: Nov. 21, 2000 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: BC220216 Verdict – $0
Facts
On Nov. 18, 1997, the defendants left water running overnight in their dental laboratory in a Beverly Hills mall.
Water damage caused the temporary closure of the plaintiffÆs toy store on the floor below. The plaintiffs
planned to launch a "state-of-the-art" retail web site on MindSpring, a prominent internet service provider by
Thanksgiving 1997, in time to take advantage of the holiday shopping season. However, they postponed their
launch while they repaired their physical store. Internet retailing, which previously had found only limited
public acceptance, took off during that season.
Prior to the flood, the plaintiffs were able to obtain revenue sharing deals with ISPs for advertising, but after
the flood, ISPs demanded cash up-front in advance. The plaintiffs failed to launch until early 1998, at which
time they were unable to secure placement on certain ISPs, such as MindSpring and AOL, which had begun
charging high up-front fees.
The defendants fully compensated the plaintiffs for property damage caused by flooding, but the plaintiffs sued
the defendants for negligence, seeking compensatory damages caused by the defendantÆs inability to take
advantage of the boom in Internet retailing that occurred at the end of 1997.
Damages
The plaintiff sought $5 million in economic damages.
Other Information
The plaintiff appeal is pending.
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