Woman Awarded $90,000 for Jurassic Park Ride Injury

A Northridge woman who hurt her neck when the then-new Jurassic Park ride at Universal Studios Hollywood malfunctioned, jerking her back and forth in her seat, was awarded $90,000 in damages by a jury Monday.

Marcy Mintz, 45, had taken more than half a dozen relatives visiting from out of town to the park in July 1996, a month after the $110-million ride made its much-ballyhooed debut.

The park had raised a number of defenses, including that the mishap was an “unavoidable accident.”

“They got up early because it was a new ride, and it had been publicized quite a lot,” said Mintz’s attorney, William Koontz.

Near the end of Mintz’s ride, the boat stopped on a steep incline and jerked back and forth about a dozen times, Koontz said. He said Mintz felt a crick in her neck the rest of the day, and the pain did not go away until she had corrective surgery this year.

Eliot Sekuler, director of publicity for Universal Studios Hollywood, said the park does not discuss litigation and declined comment on this case specifically.

In court papers, the theme park cited among its defenses that Mintz took the ride at her own risk and that she was injured by her own carelessness.

Koontz said Universal lawyers had argued during the weeklong trial that Mintz had hurt her neck in some other way.

“They admitted that the ride malfunctioned and it was their fault, but they argued that this malfunction couldn’t have caused this injury,” Koontz said.

The jury disagreed.

In a 9-3 vote, jurors found the park at fault and awarded Mintz $50,000 for her medical bills and $40,000 for what is commonly known as pain and suffering, according to Koontz and a court clerk.

The Jurassic Park ride had a rocky start in the summer of 1996. It had mechanical problems from its first day open, prompting the park to shut it temporarily. Less than two weeks later, it malfunctioned again, spraying hydraulic fluid on more than 100 riders, four of whom were treated for injuries at a local hospital.

Sekuler, the Universal spokesman, said the problems have been corrected.

“The safety of our guests is our No. 1 priority,” he said.