Pat Sajak's leap spurs suit by contestant
 |
Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post
Oct. 17, 2003 04:30 PM
WASHINGTON - Contestant Will Wright had just
won $48,400 and the "Wheel of Fortune" audience was cheering with abandon in a
District of Columbia auditorium where the show was being taped. Suddenly, Wright
says, host Pat Sajak leapt at his body and wrapped his arms and legs around
him.
Sajak's mid-air bear hug that October 2000 night at Constitution Hall was edited out of the broadcast for television viewers at home, Wright says. But Wright, who is no longer in the market for a vowel, remembers it well. This week, the 38-year-old puzzle-guessing champion from Lorton, Va., filed a $2 million lawsuit against the show's producers over the back injuries he says he suffered from Sajak's moment of unbridled enthusiasm.
"I stick out my hand thinking he's going to shake it," Wright recalls. "Instead he jumps onto me, with his legs and arms ... All I remember thinking was: 'This is Pat Sajak. Don't drop Pat Sajak.' "
Wright, 5 feet 7 inches tall and 153 pounds, said he nearly buckled under Sajak's full-weight embrace. And, having won nearly a year's salary by solving three word puzzles and receiving a warm embrace from letter-turner Vanna White, Wright said he began to feel sharp pains in his back within minutes after the show wrapped.
Since then, the father of two and computer circuit designer says he has had back surgery and months of pain and rehabilitation, which he contends the producers of "Wheel of Fortune," Sony Pictures Entertainment, should be forced to pay for.
The incident took place during a road trip the game show made for a special "Washington Week."
(begin optional trim)
Wright won $13,000 for guessing the phrase "You've Got Everything Going for You," $17,400 for "Caught in the Act of Congress", and $18,000 for "Foreign Dignitaries." He lost the bonus round, "Toboggan." He only had three letters and 10 seconds left to guess that one, he said Friday.
(end optional trim)
"They say I signed a release ... but that was for things like if you hurt yourself spinning the wheel," Wright said. "It doesn't cover the host jumping on a contestant. If it did, Pat Sajak could pretty much do whatever he wants to you."
A spokesperson for Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. declined Friday to comment on behalf of the show. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court here.
Sajak declined through a spokesperson to comment.
(optional add end)
Wright said Sajak "didn't act with malice. He just didn't think." In his legal papers, Wright's lawyer accuses Sajak, as an agent of Sony, of "reckless disregard. ... and reckless and negligent conduct."
Gregory Lattimer, Wright's attorney, said his client first approached the company, with $6.7 billion in annual sales, about providing a five- to six-figure medical settlement when a neurosurgeon told Wright in January 2001 he needed surgery for herniated disc damage. But Sony was "adamant" that it wasn't responsible for Wright's injuries.
"They just kind of blew me off," Wright said of Sony's legal offices. "I wondered if Pat was even aware that I had been injured. "
Wright said he and his wife Casandra continue to watch the show regularly. But they notice Sajak keeps his distance now from contestants who show the slightest signs of excitement.
"My wife said that all those years we watched, Pat Sajak never jumped on any contestants," he said. "She asked me: Why you?"
AP-NY-10-17-03 1920EDT
Sajak's mid-air bear hug that October 2000 night at Constitution Hall was edited out of the broadcast for television viewers at home, Wright says. But Wright, who is no longer in the market for a vowel, remembers it well. This week, the 38-year-old puzzle-guessing champion from Lorton, Va., filed a $2 million lawsuit against the show's producers over the back injuries he says he suffered from Sajak's moment of unbridled enthusiasm.
"I stick out my hand thinking he's going to shake it," Wright recalls. "Instead he jumps onto me, with his legs and arms ... All I remember thinking was: 'This is Pat Sajak. Don't drop Pat Sajak.' "
Wright, 5 feet 7 inches tall and 153 pounds, said he nearly buckled under Sajak's full-weight embrace. And, having won nearly a year's salary by solving three word puzzles and receiving a warm embrace from letter-turner Vanna White, Wright said he began to feel sharp pains in his back within minutes after the show wrapped.
Since then, the father of two and computer circuit designer says he has had back surgery and months of pain and rehabilitation, which he contends the producers of "Wheel of Fortune," Sony Pictures Entertainment, should be forced to pay for.
The incident took place during a road trip the game show made for a special "Washington Week."
(begin optional trim)
Wright won $13,000 for guessing the phrase "You've Got Everything Going for You," $17,400 for "Caught in the Act of Congress", and $18,000 for "Foreign Dignitaries." He lost the bonus round, "Toboggan." He only had three letters and 10 seconds left to guess that one, he said Friday.
(end optional trim)
"They say I signed a release ... but that was for things like if you hurt yourself spinning the wheel," Wright said. "It doesn't cover the host jumping on a contestant. If it did, Pat Sajak could pretty much do whatever he wants to you."
A spokesperson for Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. declined Friday to comment on behalf of the show. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court here.
Sajak declined through a spokesperson to comment.
(optional add end)
Wright said Sajak "didn't act with malice. He just didn't think." In his legal papers, Wright's lawyer accuses Sajak, as an agent of Sony, of "reckless disregard. ... and reckless and negligent conduct."
Gregory Lattimer, Wright's attorney, said his client first approached the company, with $6.7 billion in annual sales, about providing a five- to six-figure medical settlement when a neurosurgeon told Wright in January 2001 he needed surgery for herniated disc damage. But Sony was "adamant" that it wasn't responsible for Wright's injuries.
"They just kind of blew me off," Wright said of Sony's legal offices. "I wondered if Pat was even aware that I had been injured. "
Wright said he and his wife Casandra continue to watch the show regularly. But they notice Sajak keeps his distance now from contestants who show the slightest signs of excitement.
"My wife said that all those years we watched, Pat Sajak never jumped on any contestants," he said. "She asked me: Why you?"
AP-NY-10-17-03 1920EDT
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