From the “Pacific Business News”
“Check out our Scoops column to learn what North Shore surfboard shaper is suing a magazine for defamation,”
Can you guess who!?
I love the North Shore, there is never a shortage of rumors and drama!!
Hi Bill -
I never would have guessed. A quick search revealed that Craig “Owl” Chapman is up against Surfer’s Journal?
I rarely read magazines so I missed the issue in question. Care to enlighten the rest of us?
to the tune of 20k!
Any idea on the nature of what “may be” the defamation?
Aloha John and Plusone
Let me preface this by saying that Owl and I are friends. And like most everyone on the North Shore Owl is also a character and a half.
The story in question was great! It told the classic North Shore story of the backyard board maker and how you never… never… pay up front for your board, if you want to receive it in a timely manner! Sadly, in this case, they used Owl to dramatize this common occurance. It didn’t make Owl look very good. I have no comment on the veracity of the incident or any of the details, as I was not involved. I neither support or condem his lawsuit. But it will be interesting to see how it plays out.
after umpteen yeas
I have concluded thus
the archipeligo sandwiche
each isla hasan identity/soul
the orchid isle the valley isle we all know
the friendly and the garden Isle love them so
when it comes to confrontation in the middle ground
to the Litigation Island plaintifs and defendants
they all must go
oh the mighty,warriors and crest fallen
may ye find peace and love some day
dora whould you know this was coming?
or did you write the script
and put it in the p.o. box
the nearsighted Strigaiformes
picked up one day…
or is this a pubblikity stont
to boopst the new bernie baker
Owl book to hit the stands
in may
gonna beat the new gnat jung psychosis surfing book
out in june,which will be sueing life magazine
postumously over a flippant hand gesture photo
tanqueing political aspirations in tazzy.
oh runnymeade oh runnymeade
its your creased boardshorts
we love so,roots for sale to the highest bidder
contingencies to the offices of Backbit,
Hammerschmidt and Schmooze
1147 suite 134 fort street mall
Honolulu ,Hawaii 96786
is this any way to have fun?
or to pay respect to the history
and obligation we owe
to 'The beach boy’s free with their ho’o mali mali?"
…ambrose…
''halala"ko ko na na
they will probably settle out of court for 10k, unless owl wants to fight it to the end, in which case he may lose legally and financially…
Hate to see him sell that old grey Toyota (whatever it is) beater car he’s been driving, just to pay for some legal services. What would he cruze the Kam in to do his 20 wave checks per day in?
My buddy’s last 2 Chapman/Brewers have been done fast and efficiently. Glassing has been done right next door, color work was done at that time by Alexander…right there too. I don’t know how you could get a board any faster, I mean it was 3-6 weeks tops.
Mr. Craig Chapman is a icon and legend. I hope he wins.
I read this article a few months back, and my impression was that the author wasn’t trying to defame Owl at all. The whole story read as the author just being humble enough to have Owl shape him something. The fact that the board doesn’t come out quite like the author wanted but he eventually accepts it, shows it was never really about the board, but who shaped it. The whole article is a anecdotal tribute to Owl.
Ya, funny how folks get panties in a bunch. I thought that article was an Owl tribute. Eccentric genius shaper, enough in demand vs his own financial needs that you have to “chase the guru” a little to get the goods.
20K doesn’t seem like much to sue for. If you’re gonna sue “go big”. That’s what I always say 
well legally speaking you can sue any one for anything and take it to court is its over 20 bucks? i believe
but this isn’t the weirdest legal case i’ve heard of how about the i ate at a fast food restaurant and got fat, and who could forget the I spilled coffee on me that was hot and got burned
but really some people just sue to sue
but i have to agree if your going to sue, sue big go for the up hundred thousands
- logan
Although it did’nt seem to me like the Journal was trying to defame Owl, maybe he felt insulted in some form or other. It could also be possible that some friend or aquaintence influenced him to take the action he did…who really knows. Sounds like the guy writting the article was a bit concerned with the way Owl does business. Those eccentric/underground types usually are’nt very savy on the business end of things. He probably wondered if he was even going to get a board. But, to his credit Owl delivered.
I read the story when it came out and found it kind of funny. Can’t remember exact details in the article so somebody stop me if I get way off.
The article led me to believe it was like a running joke, and in the end he got his board. Interaction. Personal relationship. A funny story to tell your friends. A surfboard with more character than something bought off the rack at surfnsea.
-or-
Grandpa to grand kids: “Back when I was in HA-waii, I went to Surf n sea and bought a surfboard.” Great story, maybe when senility sets in.
Bad business? Yeah.
The north shore is a small place though, really not so different than any other surf town I’ve spent time in, that is when the “scene” is not in town. Anyways, you will see the same people again and again and again. I doubt he was trying to screw him over.
Just curious, what exactly is the turnaround time on a board on the NS in winter?
Owl suing seems like BS, though. Was there any lies in the article? If he flaked on shaping someones board he shouldn’t get bent out of shape when someone tells that story whether it be to a few people or a few thousand. Responsible reporting of the matter would’ve been to get Owl’s side.
But then again it’s just supposed to be an entertaining story right?
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and who could forget the I spilled coffee on me that was hot and got burned
if you have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about, you should probably keep your mouth shut.
…'tis better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
Quote:
Quote:and who could forget the I spilled coffee on me that was hot and got burned
if you have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about, you should probably keep your mouth shut.
…'tis better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
i was talking about a guy who spilled coffee on himself that he got (from i can’t remember where) and he sued the restaurant
i was just saying there have been weirder law suites than that
sorry to confuse or anger anyone
my apologies. i (and i imagine most everyone else who read that) immediately thought you were making reference to the Stella Liebeck incident at McDonald’s, in which she spilled coffee on herself and sued McD’s and was awarded something like $300million by the jury.
the facts of that case were twisted and perverted throughout mainstream media, and people often like to bring it up as an example of stupid people milking the American civil justice system. people think she just spilled coffee on herself, and it was hot, and it burned her, so she sued and won a ridiculous amount of money for her own stupidity. the actual facts of the case paint a VERY different picture:
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the coffee spilled because the top was not properly fastened by the McD’s employee. people think she was driving while this happened, but she was actually parked in the parking lot.
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the coffee was kept over 20-degrees hotter than it is supposed to be as determined by the FDA. McD’s does this so it stays fresher longer, and they have to change out the coffee less often.
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when the coffee burned her, it literally melted the skin off of her body around her thighs. it was THAT hot! 20-degrees makes a BIG difference – like the difference between having an epoxy board and poly board closed up in a car out in the sun. the epoxy fails at 155-degrees, while the poly can hold out to about 175-degrees. in many cases, the epoxy board will be shot, while the poly board will still be okay. (had to keep things somewhat on topic – surfboard design and construction, baby…YEAH!!!)
* after the incident, she needed months of skin grafts (very painful), physical therapy, and was unable to work. she included none of this in her initial settlement offer to McD’s, which was for $20,000, covering only the cost of her medical expenses, with no assessment for pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, unemployment, etc. This settlement offer of only $20k was REJECTED by McD’s, because they wanted to make an example out of Ms. Liebeck for anyone else who didn’t want to follow through with a big lawsuit, and just sue some random company to get a settlement check and be on their way.
- the jury awarded Ms. Liebeck a few million dollars in actual damages – medical expenses, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, work compensation; and awarded $300million in punitive damages against McD’s. punitive damages are capped at $3million, so despite the enormous verdict, she didn’t get nearly that amount of money.
point being that this was a very real issue in which justice was rightly served, and it has been ridiculously perverted over the years. so much so that some form of web-media now issues the annual “Stella Awards” (named in Ms. Liebeck’s honor) in which awards are given to the top ten most ridiculous lawsuits that people have won (resulting from their own stupidity, of course) in the last year. i believe my personal favorite in recent years was the one about the guy who, while cruising down the highway in his new RV, set the cruise control, and then went in the back to make a sandwich. obviously, the RV crashed, but it didn’t say in the owner’s manual that you can’t do that – and so the guy was awarded $750,000 + a new RV. while definitely amusing, this story is entirely fabricated. it never actually happened (in fact, i think most of them are completely fictional), but serves as a continuing example of how people still mock the Stella Liebeck / McDonald’s incident without actually having any of the real facts.
only the ignorant believe that ignorance is bliss. i say knowledge is power!
it was a $2.9 million award
for $2.9 million most people would let you slowly pour that hot a cup of coffee in their faces…and handle their own medical issues…
that is why it is a perversion of justice
Moral of the story : don’t put a hot Styrofoam coffee cup in between you legs and try to pull the lid off so you can put cream in the coffee. The results might burn your legs badly, especially if you are wearing cotton sweat paints. Ouch! Don’t eat, or drink at McDonalds.
This came in from my neighbor yesterday : Interesting. I hung out with Owl a little bit in Hawaii and Australia and he is a trippy guy. I think the best quote I ever heard from him was “Don’t cut guys off in the water, they might have a really good looking sister”. He also knew some key aspects of shaping boards which he learned from Brewer
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it was a $2.9 million award
actually, the initial reduction of the punitive award was to 2.7 million. it was then further reduced to a little under half a million.
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for $2.9 million most people would let you slowly pour that hot a cup of coffee in their faces…and handle their own medical issues…
that is why it is a perversion of justice
sounds more like a failure in the evolution of humanity than our legal system.
At the risk of staying way off track here…
The whole point of punitive damages, by definition, is to punish the guilty party. That’s why they are awarded separately from compensatory, or actual, damages. Of course, the punitive damages are the big american dream payday for lawsuits, but if they don’t serve as a deterrent to further negligence then they are not serving their purpose. Thats not to say that any human needs to win a gazillion dollars in a lawsuit, but big companies should be accountable for their actions, and they should feel the nurt when justified.
Great example:
The Exxon Valdez was captained by Joe Hazelwood, a man with a known history of alcohol abuse. When, due to his negligence - and Exxon’s negligent continued employment of him- the tanker ran “hard aground” on Bligh Reef and spilled 11 million gallons of oil in Prince William Sound. Exxon then negligently failed to respond in a timely and appropriate manner to manage the spill in the earliest hours of the accident, allowing it to go bigger and further than it may have otherwise. The word used by the judge to describe the negligence was “egregious” (def:extraordinary in some bad way; glaring; flagrant).
In 1994 punitive damages were awarded to the tune of 5 billion dollars. That is a mighty assload of money. Broken down, some fishermen were looking at close to a cool mil award. Still a mighty assload of money.
But the important thing is what it means to the defendant. For the company that posts the highest profits in the history of history, on the order of $25 billion a year, $5 billion a year will hurt them, and hurt them bad. Good. Maybe it will make them look more closely at the processes they use to hire captains and plan for accidents. They have kept it in appeals for more than 12 years, arguing that the punitive damages should be limited to $25 million.
Will that punish them?
The point here is that the huge awards cited in these big lawsuits are nearly always the punitive damages, and they are simply not intended as a compensation to the injured. They are awarded to the injured, yes, but they are not intended to address the injury. They are intended as a punishment to the guilty, much like a fine, and seen in that light maybe they would appear to be a little less excessive.
Oh, and the McDonalds coffee case? $3 million dollars? Ronald didn’t even feel a pinch.
precisely. many states, however, limit the amount that can be awarded as punitive damages in any lawsuit (regardless of how many gazillions of dollars the party at fault makes). in New Mexico (where the case was filed) there is a statutory limitation on punitive damages at $3million. fair?..not always. but that’s the power of insurance companies and their lobbies.