Gwyneth Paltrow has filed a countersuit alleging that she is the victim in the February 2016 skiing accident that led a Utah doctor to sue her.
The Goop founder filed a countersuit against Terry Sanderson on Wednesday, Feb. 19, denying Sanderson’s claims that she ran into him while skiing at the Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah, instead claiming that it was the 69-year-old who “took her out from behind.”
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In the countersuit, obtained by Us Weekly, the Oscar winner claims that she was “enjoying skiing with her family on vacation” when Sanderson “plowed into her back,” causing her to sustain a full “body blow.”
The suit goes on to allege that Sanderson “apologized” after Paltrow expressed her anger at him for the accident, which left her “shaken and upset, and [she] quit skiing for the day even though it was still morning.”
“She skied slowly to stay behind her children, who were receiving skiing instruction slightly further down the mountain,” the actress alleged in her lawsuit.
Paltrow’s recounting of events stands in stark contrast to Sanderson’s. The Utah doctor having described an “out of control” Paltrow skiing down a beginner run in his own suit, which was filed in Utah on Tuesday, Jan. 29.
“Gwyneth Paltrow skied out of control and hit the back of Terry Sanderson, another skier, who was downhill, knocking him down hard, knocking him out, and causing a brain injury, four broken ribs and other serious injuries,” the retired optometrist alleged in his suit. “Paltrow got up, turned and skied away, leaving Sanderson stunned, lying in the snow, seriously injured.”
Describing the incident as “a hit-and-run ski crash,” Sanderson added that he was knocked out as a result of the collision and suffered a number of injuries, including “a brain injury, four broken ribs and other serious injuries.” He described the brain injury as a “permanent traumatic brain injury.”
Paltrow, however, alleged in her countersuit that Sanderson had told his doctor about one year earlier that he was blind in his right eye” and that “his vision in his left eye was decreasing.”
“After the accident, Plaintiff’s doctor conducted neuropsychological testing that did not demonstrate any deficits in his cognitive functioning,” the suit continues. “Plaintiff’s friend, who was skiing with Plaintiff, said that in his interactions with Plaintiff since the collision, Plaintiff acted the same mentally as before the collision.”
While Sanderson is seeking damages in excess of $3.1 million, Paltrow is seeking “symbolic damages in the amount of $1” as well as attorney’s fees “to defend this meritless claim.”
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