| Author | Message | ||
     M2statz |
Not sure if this is a repost but just received it from a friend. I will file it under things that make you say "WTF!!" Stella Awards ! It's time again for the annual 'Stella Awards'! For those unfamiliar with these awards, they are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued the McDonald's in New Mexico , where she purchased coffee. You remember, she took the lid off the coffee and put it between her knees while she was driving. Who would ever think one could get burned doing that, right? That's right; these are awards for the most outlandish lawsuits and verdicts in the U.S. You know, the kinds of cases that make you scratch your head. So keep your head scratcher handy. Here are the Stellas for the past year: *SEVENTH PLACE* 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 store owners were understandably surprised by the verdict, considering the running toddler was her own son. * SIXTH PLACE * Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles , California won $74,000 plus medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Truman apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal his neighbor's hubcaps. * FIFTH PLACE * Terrence Dickson, of Bristol , Pennsylvania , who was leaving a house he had just burglarized by way of the garage. Unfortunately for Dickson, the automatic garage door opener malfunctioned and he could not get the garage door to open.. Worse, he couldn't re-enter the house because the door connecting the garage to the house locked when Dickson pulled it shut. Forced to sit for eight, count 'em, EIGHT days and survive on a case of Pepsi and a large bag of dry dog food, he sued the homeowner's insurance company claiming undue mental Anguish. Amazingly, the jury said the insurance company must pay Dickson $500,000 for his anguish. We should all have this kind of anguish. Keep scratching. There are more... *FOURTH PLACE* Jerry Williams, of Little Rock, Arkansas, garnered 4th Place in the Stella's when he was awarded $14,500 plus medical expenses after being bitten on the butt by his next door neighbor's beagle - even though the beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard. Williams did not get as much as he asked for because the jury believed the beagle might have been provoked at the time of the butt bite because Williams had climbed over the fence into the yard and repeatedly shot the dog with a pellet gun. * THIRD PLACE * Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania because a jury ordered a Philadelphia restaurant to pay her $113,500 after she slipped on a spilled soft drink and broke her tailbone. The reason the soft drink was on the floor: Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument. What ever happened to people being responsible for their own actions? *SECOND PLACE* Kara Walton, of Claymont , Delaware sued the owner of a night club in a nearby city because she fell from the bathroom window to the floor, knocking out her two front teeth. Even though Ms. Walton was trying to sneak through the ladies room window to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge, the jury said the night club had to pay her $12,000....oh, yeah, plus dental expenses. Go figure. Ok. Here we go!! * FIRST PLACE * This year's runaway First Place Stella Award winner was: Mrs. Merv Grazinski, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, who purchased new 32-foot Winnebago motor home. On her first trip home, from an OU football game, having driven on to the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver's seat to go to the back of the Winnebago to make herself a sandwich. Not surprisingly, the motor home left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Also not surprisingly, Mrs. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not putting in the owner's manual that she couldn't actually leave the driver's seat while the cruise control was set. The Oklahoma jury awarded her, are you sitting down? $1,750,000 PLUS a new motor home. Winnebago actually changed their manuals as a result of this suit, just in case Mrs. Grazinski has any relatives who might also buy a motor home. | ||
| Svh |
Although you never know how true these things are they unfortunately are quite believable. Lawyers wonder why the general public hates them. | ||
| Whatever |
I only got $1000 for the dog bite on my ass, I was in the street walking by and the dog came flying off the porch and bit me in the ass... got stiches too... now I feel ripped off...  | ||
| Roadcouch98 |
Whatever, You need a Piece Prize. | ||
| Xl1200r |
Funny read, but I gotta call BS on just about all of it. they are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued the McDonald's in New Mexico , where she purchased coffee. You remember, she took the lid off the coffee and put it between her knees while she was driving. Case in point, if you read the facts, Stella wasn't driving, and she only sued for medical expenses for the skin grafts she needed from the McD's coffee that was measurably hotter than any other chain (Dunkin Donuts, Burger King, etc). The jury, on their own, awarded her far more than she was asking for. And it was McD's choice to go to court in the first place as they had gotten so many complaints in the past and paid out so much in settlement charges, they decided to try the case to keep anyone from suing for the same thing again. Not saying the case was justified, but when the facts are misrepresented, it kind of kills the rest of the article. Do I get a peace price for explaining all this? | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
I just finished reading this thread..... PEACE PRIZE!! | ||
| Malott442 |
I think..... heck. I must be getting older, I'm just gonna bite my tongue again. | ||
| Spiderman |
Lawyers wonder why the general public hates them. These are all trial by jury cases. You need to hate the 'piers' that were dumb enough to award said damages... | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
All you have to do is run a search for one of these names and you will come up with this: http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/lawsuits.h tml Please stop posting every chain letter you receive. At least google it first to see if it's just an old joke. | ||
| Cityxslicker |
If I was the judge on the McDs case, I would have awarded her the cost for her medical bills.... I would have deducted the amount for the automatic transmission option, deducted the amount for cup holders, and I would have made her pay for court time and expense. And bounced her out of court. The old biddy put coffee between her legs on a STICK shift Ford, when she pushed in the clutch... and squeezed her legs, she popped off the lid. Stupidity should be painful, it should also be expensive for the IDIOT. Because of her, you can no longer get a hot drink through the Wendys drive thru any more. She about WRECKED the Seattle coffee industry with fear of copy cat suits. You notice the lawyers are amazingly silent on Health Care reform... I bet we have to make a new category for that by next year. | ||
| Xl1200r |
The old biddy put coffee between her legs on a STICK shift Ford, when she pushed in the clutch... and squeezed her legs, she popped off the lid. Stupidity should be painful, it should also be expensive for the IDIOT. She wasn't driving the car - her daughter was. | ||
| Ratyson |
That really should be filed under the: *HEADSMACK ... Why don't people search before they forward?* heading... I understand OP... it is easy to get caught up in he hype. Here is a link to the REAL Stella Awards site: http://www.stellaawards.com/ | ||
| Cityxslicker |
Warning; The beverage you are about to enjoy is HOT Warning the person sitting next to you could be an IDIOT. coffee liability was a boon to my small business rider lines, the typical coverage is 250K minimal. |
