A skiing accident that happened seven years ago recently landed Gwyneth Paltrow in court for eight days of testimony. A retired Utah optometrist alleged she ran into him, causing serious injuries that seriously impacted his life and sued her for $300,000. A verdict has now been reached and ruled in the favor of the Oscar-winning actress and Goop business owner.
Paltrow will be awarded the $1 she requested in her countersuit with 76-year-old Terry Sanderson, who claimed that the famed woman ran into her from behind at the Deer Valley Ski Resort in Park City, Utah and left him with a concussion, four broken ribs and brain damage. Sanderson has been determined to be at fault for the crash by the jury, per NBC News.
The incident that occurred on February 26, 2016 had Sanderson calling Gwyneth Paltrow out for being “reckless” on the ski slopes, and he originally sought $3.1 million in damages before he was told $300,000 was the maximum he could ask for. He described it as a “hit and run” type crash that led to various serious injuries that he said impacted his daily life and relationships over the years. News of the suit first came about in 2019.
On Gwyneth Paltrow’s side of things, the actress and Goop owner claimed that the collision was Sanderson's fault, and for a moment felt like a sexual assault. The actress shared that when the incident happened from behind, with his skis going between her legs and groaning. An instructor from that day also said he saw a male skier hit Paltrow. Her kids Moses and Apple Martin also testified that Paltrow was shaken by the incident, and that Sanderson had run into her.
Paltrow’s lawyers also felt that Sanderson’s health claims could be due to preexisting health conditions and aging, with medical experts who took to the stand to back their claims up, Additionally, Paltrow’s team also found that Sanderson is estranged from his daughter in order to dispute claims his personal life had been altered due to the ski accident in particular.
Craig Ramon, who was part of Sanderson’s meetup group that was there that day with him, was the only person who claimed to have witnessed Paltrow running into him. However, as Paltrow pointed out in court, he was 35 feet away and colorblind when it happened, along with claiming he “changed his story.”
Per Paltrow, she had the ski instructor make sure he was okay after the collision before calling it a day and leaving the slopes to have lunch with her children and husband Brad Falchuk (who was her fiancé at the time). At the end of the day, it sounds like Paltrow’s more solid case led the jury to absolve her from fault in the skiing incident.
