08/26/2004: 
Asshat of the Week
Woman who dropped baby from bridge sues bridge owner for stress
from AZCentral
VANCOUVER - Nadia Hama, who dropped her infant daughter from the Capilano Suspension Bridge nearly five years ago, is pressing ahead with a suit against the operators of the privately owned tourist attraction.
Hama cannot hold down a job in Toronto and suffers ongoing emotional stress because of the negative publicity still surrounding her case, her lawyer says.
Hama is seeking general, special and punitive damages against the bridge operators for nervous shock, mental and emotional stress and costs.
Hama blames the operators for causing the 1999 bridge incident that garnered international media attention when North Vancouver police suggested Hama be charged in the case.
She claims she stumbled accidentally and the child slipped from her grasp, tumbling over the narrow footbridge's low railing.
Hama's daughter Kaya, then 17 months old, miraculously survived the plunge after tree branches broke her 150-foot fall into the rocky canyon.
Hama was never charged but the incident was followed by an acrimonious divorce case.
Hama's ex-husband, North Vancouver securities lawyer Kjeld Werbes, has custody of Kaya and their son, Jovan, who was four at the time of the incident.
During the divorce proceedings, Werbes claimed Hama deliberately dropped Kaya, who has Down Syndrome, off the bridge.
Hama, who was not in court, reportedly suffers flashbacks, depression and post traumatic stress disorder. According to court files, she fears the future and the media.
Hama launched a lawsuit against Capilano Suspension Bridge Holdings Ltd. in September 2001.
She claimed it was negligent in failing to warn the public not to carry children across the narrow bridge, that the bridge is "inherently unstable and dangerous" and that signs should be posted warning visitors to watch their step while crossing the bridge, which sways at times. Yes folks, that sound you heard was the death rattle of common sense.
Lawyers for the company on Monday asked the court to have the case - due for jury trial starting Nov. 15 - dismissed on grounds bridge operators were not negligent.
In fact, they argued, it was Hama who was solely responsible for the incident.
The court watched a police video re-enactment of the incident featuring three Japanese students who witnessed the event.
It also heard parts of an affidavit by one of those students, Toshiko Nakano, who said she did not see Hama slip or fall that day, but watched the infant fall "smoothly" from her mother's arms.
Despicable.
