Woman takes weatherman to court for predicting sunshine. She won $1,000 because it rained

The weather dictates several aspects of people's lives. From work to leisure, plans are made according to the weather and predictions shared by the MET department. In extreme cases like adventure sports, predictions are crucial. So when things go south, it is natural for people to feel frustrated. A woman from Israel decided to take the weatherman from a local news channel to court for getting the prediction wrong. Surprisingly, she ended up winning as the news channel agreed to fulfil her demands, as per Prezi.com.

Here's how the weatherman lost out

In this case from 1996, the woman from Haifa sued local news station Channel 2 and its weather forecaster Danny Rup for $1,000 in a small claims court. She claimed that Rup had predicted on television that a particular day would be sunny. Kahane Law reported that the woman followed Rup’s forecast and decided to leave home dressed lightly. 

However, the weather on the day turned out to be the opposite of sunny with heavy rains and a storm. The woman claimed that she ended up being inappropriately dressed and ultimately caught the flu. She mentioned that she missed out on four days of work, had to spend $38, and suffered from stress. So she sought $1,000 in damages from the news station and wanted Rup to apologize for sharing a wrong prediction.

While the suit was seemingly frivolous, the woman's demands weren't outrageous. The channel ended up settling the case out of court and paid the woman $1,000. Not only that, she also got an apology from the weatherman. While the case pertains to a common problem for people, it remains a unique one. If today, people start suing weathermen for wrong predictions, channels would run out of money. 

The case was shared in a post on Reddit where people debated its merits. Most people in the comments sided with the weatherman. "I feel like that weatherman got robbed. Legally robbed," wrote one user u/Falsus.

Meanwhile, another user suggested that the case wouldn't last in the U.S. "I don’t know what the law is in Israel... but I’m pretty sure in the US a judge would have tossed this case in a heartbeat," wrote u/farmerarmor. 

Can weathermen be sued for wrong predictions in the US?

The case does make people wonder if the same can be done in the U.S. In a blog post, defense attorney, Lauren J. Morask writes that it may not be possible to replicate in the U.S. The law practitioner wrote that people have tried in the past to sue authorities for damages caused by wrong predictions.

But in the US the cases were brought against the federal government for failing to protect them and warn them about the extreme weather. This is because, as per the Federal Tort Claims Act, the government can be sued for a negligent act or misrepresentation committed by a person representing the government. However, the majority of cases were thrown out by the court, she mentions.