An Open Letter of Personal Perspective to the Diving Industry by NetDoc

[danvolker]

And on another level....
People that know me on SB may have expected me to answer you that GUE could be the model..the way an Agency can create the perfect Instructor....I could point to a Bob Sherwood from GUE as an example of an "off the chart good instructor"....but the thing is, while skills are high for dive skills, all GUE instructors will NOT have what it takes to be the off the chart, rainman type intuitive instructor.

And I could point to a guy like Jeff Nelson of Force E , Riviera Beach....Jeff is a Padi instructor...so the Agency is not going to have set the bar high for him--BUT.....Jeff Nelson is among the best Instructors I have ever seen in my life, for OW students.. He is off the chart, just way better than 99% of the other instructors you see teaching at the BHB Marine park, by a huge margin...

Maybe compare Jeff to the Horse Whisperer...Jeff looks at the student, and he sees the issues - almost magically, and he figures out how to connect with them, and how to best impart the knowledge and skills they need.
No Agency could train him to do what he does....He is a curve breaker

 

[tursiops]

As long as the industry standard is mediocre instruction, and we demand mediocre agencies, we shall have what we demand.

PADI has for years had a section in the Underwater Journal ( which you've probably not seen since you say you never read it ) taht publishes letters of praise from students of excellent instructors, and that instructor gets a certificate and a thank-you letter from PADI; the problem is they don't publish as many compliments as they get.... Good Karma, but not handled well.
At least they have something. Do other agencies do this?

They now have the Elite Instructor program, which is misnamed and unfortunate because it is based on how many certs you give. Bad Karma.
I hope other agencies do NOT do this!

 

[The Chairman]

If PADI were to settle for $800K, why would they demand to stay named in the case to help the plaintiff win a larger settlement against an instructor and shop insured by PADI?

First, if the remaining defense lawyer(s) are trying to throw PADI under the bus in order to protect their client, then why wouldn't they want to remain on the case? Put yourself in their fins. Wouldn't you want to be a part of any litigation that could be used by someone like say, Carney, in order to cast you in the worst possible light? It's got nothing to do with the case and everything to do with protecting their name. Do you think it wrong of any entity to protect their name? I certainly don't.

Second, what evidence, other than Carney's rant, exists that implicates PADI in helping the plaintiffs? This is what really baffles me. So many people regurgitate this nonsense without having a shred of information to back it up. The closest would be the incident report, at least until they clawed that back. Other than that, there's nothing, nada and squat that's been shown to me that indicates this is true. Do you have any tangible, real and verifiable evidence to prove differently?

Oh, I get that these kind of conspiracy theories are all hot and sexy. But they are usually nothing but a fabrication designed to draw attention away from the truth. That appears to be the case here, and I'm sure that Snopes would have a field day poking holes in this urban myth.

On a side note, Pete, my latest comments were not directed to you personally. I only named you as a response to your observation that some people have not been as active lately.

I was simply commenting on a point made by Wookie. You're def not a seagull poster.

 

[Wookie]

PADI has for years had a section in the Underwater Journal ( which you've probably not seen since you say you never read it ) taht publishes letters of praise from students of excellent instructors, and that instructor gets a certificate and a thank-you letter from PADI; the problem is they don't publish as many compliments as they get.... Good Karma, but not handled well.
At least they have something. Do other agencies do this?

They now have the Elite Instructor program, which is misnamed and unfortunate because it is based on how many certs you give. Bad Karma.
I hope other agencies do NOT do this!

20 years ago, when I first became an instructor (and I was a good one) I used to read the UJ. I would state that an OW student wouldn't know what a good instructor is, only an instructor they get along with. Part of the problem is that an OW student wouldn't know a good instructor from a bad one until much later...

 

[Zippsy]

OK, I'll try to boil this down to zero

Again, these are only my observations and strictly my non professional opinion


Scenario 1

PADI Instructor - PADI sponsored insurance

If PADI were to settle for $800K, why would they demand to stay named in the case to help the plaintiff win a larger settlement against an instructor and shop insured by PADI?

Helping to win a larger settlement in this scenario would be ridiculous because it would harm the PADI publishing company and the Private Equity Firm (and shareholders).

Scenario 2

PADI Instructor - Willis Insurance (PADI competitor)

By settling for $800K and staying named in the case to help win a larger settlement against the shop and instructor, PADI is able to potentially serve a devastating blow to an insurance competitor in the process. ( and send a strong message )

This scenario is the most self serving to the Private Equity Firm and Shareholders that own the PADI publishing company.

Again, just a question, not a challenge: PADI or their owners no not own the insurance company that covers most of their instructors, do they? I could be wrong but I don't think they do. If either insurer loses money, it may mean higher premiums for instructors in the respective program the following year but that's about it.

I understand that when PADI expelled the instructor, it most likely helped the plaintiff win it's case against the instructor but my opinion is that they had to expel him because of the standards violations that, arguably, lead to a fatality. I don't know of any other way that "PADI helped the plaintiff". That "help" could certainly make a verdict against the instructor easier but I'm not convinced that it would lead to a larger settlement against him. Again, just my opinion.

 

[Wookie]

OK, I'll try to boil this down to zero

Again, these are only my observations and strictly my non professional opinion


Scenario 1

PADI Instructor - PADI sponsored insurance


If PADI were to settle for $800K, why would they demand to stay named in the case to help the plaintiff win a larger settlement against an instructor and shop insured by PADI?

Helping to win a larger settlement in this scenario would be ridiculous because it would harm the PADI publishing company and the Private Equity Firm (and shareholders).



Scenario 2

PADI Instructor - Willis Insurance (PADI competitor)

By settling for $800K and staying named in the case to help win a larger settlement against the shop and instructor, PADI is able to potentially serve a devastating blow to an insurance competitor in the process. ( and send a strong message )


This scenario is the most self serving to the Private Equity Firm and Shareholders that own the PADI publishing company.


-------------------


On a side note, Pete, my latest comments were not directed to you personally. I only named you as a response to your observation that some people have not been as active lately.

Scenario 1. PADI did not demand to stay in the case, they asked to get back in. Once settled, they are out. They did something I don't understand to get sanctioned, and I think it has to do with helping the plaintiffs somehow, but I don't understand it. They asked to get back in to protect their name and their standards. They are allowed back in. They have no further liability in the case, but if their standards were found to be at fault, this will affect a number of lawsuits waiting in the wings.

scenario 2. V&B insurance is significantly more expensive than Willis. If I were willing to get V&B, I would pay almost 50% more than I paid for Willis. V&B was very interested in getting Willis out of the dive program. They succeeded.

 

[Zippsy]

Scenario 1. PADI did not demand to stay in the case, they asked to get back in. They did something I don't understand to get sanctioned, and I think it has to do with helping the plaintiffs somehow, but I don't understand it.

i am sure a lawyer will correct me if I am wrong but I understand that PADI's lawyer, rather than PADI itself, was ordered to pay $2,000 to the instructor's (?) lawyer for the extra work that lawyer had to do because PADI's lawyer did not give him notice of the settlement quickly enough.

 

[Wookie]

i am sure a lawyer will correct me if I am wrong but I understand that PADI's lawyer, rather than PADI itself, was ordered to pay $2,000 to the instructor's (?) lawyer for the extra work that lawyer had to do because PADI's lawyer did not give him notice of the settlement quickly enough.

Yes, sorry, PADIs lawyer was sanctioned and paid a fine. I don't understand what they did.

 

[Omisson]

Yes, sorry, PADIs lawyer was sanctioned and paid a fine. I don't understand what they did.

Under the local rules:
If parties to a lawsuit reach a settlement they are obligated to inform the court and other parties no less than 30 days before trial- or as soon as necessary to prevent unnecessary additional litigation.

The third party complaints having been Amended and cross claims made- the PADI attorneys failed to disclose the settlement before answers to the amended complaint, third party cross claims and answers were submitted.

This caused the third party cross claims and answers to have been submitted but they were moot because of the settlement. They therefore did work which was legally unnecessary - had the settlement been disclosed.

So the court sanctioned PADI attorneys the cost incurred by the defendant to review, respond and file answers to an amended complaint -that should not have been necessary because of the settlement.

In effect the court said that they wasted the time of defendants counsel and that defendant could recoup that cost.

 

[Scubagolf]

The court sanctioned plaintiffs attorneys and PADI's attorneys $2,000 to compensate defendants Blue Water, Corbett, and Lowell for unnecessary expenses incurred by them.