The timing and contents of the Moore lawsuit against Bertuzzi may shift public support.

 Steve Moore and his lawyer Tim Danson are undermining the intelligence of everyone by defending the timing of their lawsuit against Todd Bertuzzi and the Vancouver Canucks on the eve of Team Canada’s Olympic debut as pure coincidence.  Danson contends that he needed to file the lawsuit at this time because the two-year limitation for the case was set to expire. So if that’s the case why not file the lawsuit a month ago instead of now? The justification is simple; we all know that this case from the beginning has been tried in the court of public opinion and Danson and Moore are further perpetuating that fact.

You may remember that Moore and Danson filed their first lawsuit (unsuccessfully in Colorado) one day after perhaps the saddest day in the NHL – the official cancellation of the first entire season by a major professional sport.  The NHL was being slagged and eulogized at its lowest moment and it was at this point when the lawsuit was announced; a lawsuit that named the NHL, several Canucks players, the head coach and the management. When the first lawsuit was announced I compared it to the tact of an airline showing "Alive" as the in-flight movie.

Before I go on any further I want to officially state that I don’t condone Todd Bertuzzi’s attack in any way. The manner in which Bertuzzi sought vengeance for his fallen teammate was cowardly, brutal and rightfully punished and admonished by the NHL.  Steve Moore is fully within his rights to seek legal retribution for the assault - to a certain extent. After reading through the full lawsuit against Bertuzzi and the Canucks I’m not convinced that Danson and Moore are being realistic in their claims.

Large portions of the lawsuit are grossly over-the-top, far-reaching and downright ridiculous in their assertions of responsibility.  In all, the lawsuit against Bertuzzi and the Canucks is for $19.5 million - $1.5 million of which is a claim made by Moore’s parents, Jack and Anna Moore. The remaining $18M in the suit is split amongst $15M for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages including loss of income, $1M for aggravated damages and $2M in punitive damages.

The lawsuit doesn’t delve into any great detail about the $15M claim only to state that Moore is seeking compensation for: past and future economic loss including hospitalization, medical, therapy and rehabilitation expenses, and loss of earnings and earning capacity. I’ve gotta believe that nearly all of that claim is for the loss of earnings and when you crunch the numbers they don’t make any sense.

The scouting report on Moore paints him as a career checking line centre:

Has size, tenacity and sound two-way ability. Fits the profile of a quality checking line centre. Will never be confused with a natural goal-scorer and doesn't have a huge offensive upside.

I went through the current NHL rosters and compiled a quick list of checking line centres and their salaries that are comparable to Steve Moore’s abilities despite their range in age and experience.

• Tim Taylor, $725,000
• Manny Malholtra, $560,000
• Greg Johnson, $1,000,000
• Dan Hinote, $643,720
• Samuel Pahlsson, $625,000
• Derek Armstrong, $760,000
• Mark Smith, $450,000

Generously you can conclude that Moore might have been a $750,000 player throughout his career. If that’s the case Steve Moore would have needed to play until he was 47 years old to recoup the $15M in lost earnings. Forty-seven years old! 

I heard Moore’s lawyer Tim Danson attempt to defend the claim on the Team 1200 Sports radio a day after the lawsuit was announced and his justification seemed completely arbitrary. Danson stated they asked for the $15M because they felt that Steve would have been a 10-year player if Bertuzzi hadn’t ended his career. When asked by former NHLer Gary Galley why they wouldn’t use the average length of a an NHL career (which is less than 5 years) as a basis for lost earnings Danson seemed caught off guard and just went back to his arbitrary claim that “Steve Moore would have been a 10-year NHLer”.

As over-reaching as the claims made on future earnings may be they don’t even approach the absurdity of the $2M claim for punitive damages make.  Let me paraphrase a little from the lawsuit:

Bertuzzi’s action and conduct tarnished the reputation of hockey and Canada’s image internationally.

…Bertuzzi’s plan to injure Moore and the execution of the plan was a disgrace to hockey at large and set a most regrettable example to Canadians at large who play and/or support hockey, and was an embarrassment to Canada, which can only be effectively vindicated with an award of punitive damages.

Comment: Let me see if I’ve got this straight. Steve Moore wants to collect $2M on behalf of Canada and the hockey world. Wow, when did the entire country and the “unifying body of hockey” elect Steve Moore as their representative and lone beneficiary? If Steve Moore and his lawyer were so concerned with the image of hockey and Canada’s international image then why would they file a lawsuit and cause an unwelcome distraction during the WINTER OLYMPICS WHEN BOTH CANADA AND HOCKEY ARE ON THE INTERNATIONAL STAGE???!!!

I fully sympathize with the type of stress and mental anguish such a high profile case can bring onto a family but after reading through the justifications of why Jack and Anna Moore (Steve’s parents) feel entitled to damages there’s no way I can be convinced that they deserve this reward.  Jack and Anna Moore are claiming $1.5M in damages from Bertuzzi for negligent infliction of nervous shock and mental distress. Let me quote from the suit:

Bertuzzi knew or ought to have known that the game between the Avalanche and the Canucks was being televised. Bertuzzi further knew or ought to have known that Moore’s immediate family would be watching the game. Bertuzzi knew or ought to have known that his conduct was reasonably capable of shocking and terrifying these plaintiffs, and that his actions would produce grave effects upon them, which they did. Bertuzzi is therefore liable to Jack and Anna Moore in damages for negligent infliction of shock and mental distress.

Comment: How the heck was Bertuzzi supposed to know which parents of the opposition would be watching the game? Do you honestly think that players are that clued into the opposition before a game that they ponder whether someone’s uncle has the game TIVO’d or not? This is absurd; I don’t understand how you can hold Bertuzzi accountable for something like this.  If by some chance the Moore’s win this suit I would suggest everyone who’s sick of hearing about this case file their own lawsuit for negligent infliction of mental distress.

Athletes from across sports have remarkably been able to come back from even more grave injuries than the ones that Steve Moore is apparently still suffering from. I think the overwhelmingly feeling from the hockey community is that we all like to see Moore grab inspiration from these comebacks and make his own with a return to the ice. Sadly with the serving of this lawsuit the public sympathy for Moore is being replaced with disdain for the absurdity of the claims made in the suit.