| Author | Message | ||
     Ted |
It's time once again to review the winners of the Annual Stella Awards. The Stella Awards are named after 81 year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued McDonald's (in New Mexico). That case inspired the Stella awards for the most frivolous, ridiculous, successful lawsuits in the United States. Here are this year's 2005 winners: 5th Place (tie): Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas, was awarded $80,000 by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store. The owners of the store were understandably surprised at the verdict, considering the misbehaving little toddler was Ms.Robertson's son. 5th Place (tie): 19-year-old Carl Truman of Los Angeles won $74,000 and medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Mr. Truman apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal his neighbor's hubcaps. 5th Place (tie):Terrence Dickson of Bristol, Pennsylvania, was leaving a house he had just finished robbing by way of the garage. He was not able to get the garage door to go up since the automatic door opener was malfunctioning. He couldn't re-enter the house because the door connecting the house and garage locked when he pulled it shut. The family was on vacation, and Mr. Dickson found himself locked in the garage for eight days. He subsisted on a case of Pepsi he found, and a large bag of dry dog food. He sued the homeowner's insurance claiming the situation caused him undue mental anguish. The jury agreed to the tune of $500,000. 4th Place: Jerry Williams of Little Rock, Arkansas, was awarded $14,500 and medical expenses after being bitten on the buttocks by his next door neighbor's beagle. The beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard. The award was less than sought because the jury felt the dog might have been just a little provoked at the time by Mr. Williams who had climbed over the fence into the yard and was shooting it repeatedly with a pellet gun. 3rd Place: A Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, $113,500 after she slipped on a soft drink and broke her coccyx (tailbone). The beverage was on the floor because Ms.Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument. 2nd Place:Kara Walton of Claymont, Delaware, successfully sued the owner of a night club in a neighboring city when she fell from the bathroom window to the floor and knocked out her two front teeth. This occurred while Ms.Walton was trying to sneak through the window in the ladies room to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge. She was awarded $12,000 and dental expenses. 1st Place:This year's run away winner was Mrs. Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Mrs. Grazinski purchased a brand new 32-foot Winnebago motor home. On her first trip home, (from an Oklahoma University football game), having driven onto the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the drivers seat to go into the back & make herself a sandwich. Not surprisingly, the RV left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Mrs.Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising her in the owner's manual that she couldn't actually do this. The jury awarded her $1,750,000 plus a new motor home. The company actually changed their manuals on the basis of this suit, just in case there were any other complete morons around. Can't wait for 2006 | ||
| Buellin_ri |
 I love this country, but I hate some of the idiots in it. | ||
| No_rice |
man i gotta think of something completely stupid to do to make my million too. | ||
| Dtx |
If there is anything wrong with this country, the first thing that comes to mind is the fact that we live in a society of FRIVOLOUS lawsuits! I mean this is completely ridiculous. What judge in their right minds would even LISTEN to any of these cases without throwing them out immediately! I blame the judges. | ||
| Geofg |
A lot of these are urban legends. http://www.stellaawards.com/bogus.html And, if you want to read about some real abuses of the US legal system, check out: http://www.stellaawards.com/2005.html #7: Bob Dougherty. A prankster smeared glue on the toilet seat at the Home Depot store in Louisville, Colo., causing Dougherty to stick to it when he sat down. "This is not Home Depot's fault," he proclaimed, yet the store graciously offered him $2,000 anyway. Dougherty complained the offer is "insulting" and filed suit demanding $3 million. The guy who does this puts out another weekly e-newsletter called "This is True". I look forward to reading it every week. -Geof | ||
| Gearhead998 |
IMO there are way to many idiots out there to assemble a jury of peers. I blame the juries for these lawsuits. If the people selected as jurors had any commen sense, these suits would never win. This is why there are so many lawsuits like this, because people know that they can win. It is pathetic. | ||
| Grndskpr |
I blame the judges. You blame the judges in a jury trial Thats whats wrong with this country No disrespect intended R | ||
| Djkaplan |
"A lot of these are urban legends." Thanks for clarifying. I was thinking there is no possible way juries and judges could be that stupid, but then again...! | ||
| Djkaplan |
What bothers me most about this post is the frivolous nature in which outrageous information is stated as fact. | ||
| Davegess |
Hey, it's the internet you're supposed to make stuff up! | ||
| Ted |
The coffee incident is a fact. I've heard the winnebego story as someguy in Alaska but who knows. Also there's a class action against Mickey D's for fat people who made it their 100% diet. Sadly these stories are believable ! | ||
| Davegess |
The coffe suit did happen, the lady did win a big number, and then the story you don't hear, on appeal the amount was scaled way down | ||
| Dtx |
Roger, I guess I am not that familiar with the trial process as I have never had to go through it. Doesn't a judge listen to a claim before it goes to a jury trial??? | ||
| Rubberdown |
I don't second guess juries unless I'm on the jury, an alternate juror, sat through the entire proceeding as an observer or court staff, representing one of the parties, or presiding over the proceeding. All other accounts of the proceeding are incomplete and speculative. It's been my experience that jurors take their responsibilities very seriously. |
