Gwyneth Paltrow was in Park City, Utah, on Tuesday for the start of a trial over a retired optometrist’s allegation that the actor and entrepreneur crashed into him on the ski slopes in 2016 and left him with serious injuries.
Both Paltrow and the former doctor, Terry Sanderson, were present in the courtroom as their attorneys laid out conflicting recollections of the incident that occurred at Park City’s Deer Valley Resort.
A central question during the trial, which is expected to last eight days, will be who was uphill and who was downhill during the incident — because Utah law says a downhill skier has the right of way. The jury will have to decide whether Paltrow acted negligently during the encounter.
Sanderson’s lawsuit, originally filed in 2019, alleges Paltrow slammed into him, with one witness using the term “hit and run.” Paltrow, however, has contended the retired doctor became entangled with her from behind and pulled her down into the snow with him.
Sanderson originally sought $3.1 million in damages, but his attorneys said in court Tuesday that they are seeking only around $300,000 in the amended claim being tried.
A month after Sanderson filed his claim, the Oscar-winning “Shakespeare in Love” actor filed a countersuit, doubling down on her version of events and seeking “symbolic damages” of $1, plus legal fees. Any other amount granted would be donated to charity, the countersuit said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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