One Utah doctor’s run-in with Gwyneth Paltrow years ago on a ski slope in Park City, Utah, has become a legal matter for the Hollywood star. Paltrow will stand trial in Park City starting on Tuesday after Terry Sanderson accused her of injuring him while skiing and then leaving the scene.
Sanderson’s lawsuit alleges that Paltrow was skiing down a beginner run at Deer Valley Resort on February 26, 2016, when she “skied out of control” and ran into him, leaving him with a brain injury, a concussion, four broken ribs, and other injuries, per The Salt Lake Tribune.
The retired optometrist claims he followed the instructions of large “slow down” signs on the slope and then heard a “hysterical scream” before getting hit from behind.
According to the Tribune, Sanderson’s lawsuit originally sought $3.1 million in damages but now seeks an “amount to be proven at trial.”
Sanderson filed the suit in January 2019, and Paltrow responded with a counterclaim the following month, seeking “symbolic damages” of $1, plus legal fees.
Paltrow alleged in the counterclaim that it was Sanderson who was initially higher on the slope and that it was he who hit her. She was angry about the crash, and he apologized, she said. In her counterclaim, Paltrow accused Sanderson of trying to “exploit her celebrity and wealth,” the Tribune adds.
“She did not knock him down,” Paltrow’s counterclaim asserted, according to People. “He knocked her down. He was not knocked out. Ms. Paltrow was skiing carefully. She skied slowly to stay behind her children, who were receiving skiing instruction slightly further down the mountain,”
Furthermore, Paltrow claimed that ski instructor Eric Christensen, who is a co-defendant in the complaint, checked on Sanderson after the incident, and Sanderson said he was OK, per the Tribune. She also said Christensen prepared a report on the crash stating Sanderson was responsible for the accident, but Sanderson claimed in his suit that Christensen’s report was false and that the ski instructor didn’t see the crash.
A Park City District Court spokesperson told the Tribune that Paltrow’s civil trial is scheduled to begin Tuesday morning and to last eight days.