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Fantasy stories and fairy tales often have characters that have harm done to them or even death. One great example is in the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy’s house falls on the Wicked Witch of the East, killing her. Imagine how this case would be heard in a wrongful death lawsuit.
The sister of the Wicked Witch of the East, the Wicked Witch of the West has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Dorothy, the State of Kansas and Munchkin Land in the death of her sister. The complaint reads that the Wicked Witch of the West is seeking damages for the loss of companionship and guidance from her sister. Furthermore, damages are sought for the pain and suffering the Wicked Witch of the West went through seeing her sister’s legs curl up under Dorothy’s house. This vision has caused depression and insomnia. The damages sought from Dorothy are 20 million dollars for occupying a spinning house without concern for others welfare. Damages sought from the State of Kansas are 5 million dollars for building code violations that would have secured Dorothy’s house to the land if they had been followed. And damages sought from Munchkin Land are for 10 million dollars for having a faulty tornado alert system and the emotional pain brought about due to the cheerful signing of the Munchkins following the death of her beloved sister.
The testimony by the Wicked Witch of the West was emotional and compelling. She produced evidence of the building codes of Kansas which clearly show Kansas did not perform the required inspections to ensure the stability of Dorothy’s home on the land. She also had evidence of a proposed tornado alert system that Munchkin Land never got around to building. And she had medical bills from her psychiatrist showing the emotional trauma she has endured since hearing that terrible song, “Ding, Dong the witch is dead”. The only comment she had with Dorothy was that Dorothy and her little dog had no business landing on her sister.
After hearing the testimony, the judge came to a conclusion that Dorothy and her little dog had not acted with negligence or malice in landing on The Wicked Witch of the East. They had no control over the direction of the house. The case against Dorothy was dismissed. Kansas was found to be at fault for not following their own building codes and had to pay the 5 million dollars. Munchkin Land was found partially responsible. They were found not at fault because of having no tornado warning system; it was a matter of cost and they couldn’t afford the contractor. The judge did find them responsible for causing distress over their singing. He lowered the award from Munchkin Land to 5 million, however because their contribution to the plaintiff’s emotional state was a small one.