The Stella Awards

Rich Soby

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I wonder if the people of this country who still believe in accountability can place a class action suit and sue the legal system for allowing this stuff to actually make it into a courtroom?


The Stella Awards



The Stella Awards, named after Stella Leibeck who suffered third degree burns to her legs, groin and buttocks after spilling a cup of McDonald's coffee on herself. She was driving at the time. Celebrate, if you will, America's most frivolous lawsuits:

1. Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas was awarded $780,000 by a jury after breaking her ankle falling over a child who was running inside a furniture store. The store owners were surprised by the verdict, considering that the misbehaving little creep was Mrs Robertson's son.

2. 19 year old Carl Truman of LA won $74,000 and medical expenses when his neighbour ran over his hand in a Honda Accord. Mr.Truman hadn't noticed that there was anyone at the wheel of the vehicle before trying to steal the hub-caps.

3. Terrence ****inson of Bristol, Pennsylvania was leaving a house he has just finished robbing by way of the garage. He was unable to open the garage door from inside, and the door back into the house had locked shut behind him. The house owners were on vacation. Mr ****inson found himself locked in the garage for eight days with just two bottle of Pepsi and a bag of dog biscuits to live on. He sued the homeowner, and received half a million dollars for undue mental anguish.

4. Jerry Williams of Little Rock, Arkansas was awarded $14,500 and medical expenses after being bitten on the buttocks by a beagle. The beagle was chained up in it's owners yard. The award was a little less than first thought, given that the jury agreed that Mr Williams had provoked the dog by shooting it repeatedly with an air gun.

5.A Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber Carson of Lancaster $113,000 after she slipped on a soft drink and broke her coccyx. The beverage was only on the floor because Ms Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument.

6.Kara Walton of Delaware successfully sued the owner of a night club after she fell from the bathroom window and knocked out her two front teeth. This occurred while Ms Walton was trying to sneak out and avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge. She was awarded $12, 000 and dental expenses.

And the winner is: Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma purchased a brand new 32 foot Winnebago motor home. Upon leaving the dealership, he pulled onto the freeway, set the cruise control at 70mph and calmly made his way into the back to make himself a cup of coffee. Not surprisingly, the vehicle left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Mr Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising him in the handbook that he couldn't actually do this. He was awarded $1,750,000 and a new Winnie. Winnebago actually changed their handbooks in case another complete moron decided to buy one of their vehicles.
 
That one has been busted for several years:

http://www.snopes.com/legal/lawsuits.asp

Like it says in the article, even though those these stories are not quite factual, it's easy enough to find plenty of examples that'll make your eyes roll so hard you'll pull a groin muscle. LOML works at a law firm representing an insurance company, and I'm consistently amazed at some of the things people will sue (and sometimes win) about. The ones I like to hear about the most are when someone files a suit or exaggerated insurance claim on false pretenses, declines a generous out of court settlement offered by the insurance company, then gets proven to be a liar in court by one of my wife's co-workers. People will lie and go for a million dollars, turn down an offer for a hundred thousand, then get their chops busted in front of a jury and end up owing thousands in court costs when they lose instead. :D
 
I didnt realize these were not all entirely true. I had heard them years ago and got a laugh at the odacity of these people. It just resurfaced and I thought I would share it.

It seems we are always hearing of cases that make it to court that just make you scratch your head and say Huh?!?!? (I can't put my word of choice here)

And I have first hand seen people sue for their own idiocy...
The Winnabago one is my favorite though.
 
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