Found someone posted this on another site.....
Scarily enough I could see alot of these cases being won in court with the way things suck so badly in the US......
Oh well here is the info:
The Stella Awards - America at its very best!
The Stella awards rank up there with the Darwin awards.
In 1994, a New Mexico jury awarded $2.9 million in damages to
81-year-old Stella Tieback who suffered third-degree burns to her
legs, groin and buttocks after spilling a cup of McDonald's coffee on
herself.
This case inspired an annual award - The Stella Award -
for the most frivolous lawsuit in the US. The ones listed below are
clear candidates. All these cases are verging on the outright ridiculous
and yet, in the good old USA, with the right attorney you could win
anything !
January 2000:
Kathleen Robertson of Austin Texas was awarded $780,000 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 bastard was Ms. Robertson's own son.
June 1998:
19 year old Carl Truman of Los Angeles won $74,000 and
medical expenses when his neighbour 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 neighbour's hubcaps.
October 1998:
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.
As the family was on vacation, 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
half a
million dollars.
October 1999:
Jerry Williams of Little Rock, Arkansas was awarded $14,500
and medical expenses after being bitten on the buttocks by his next
door neighbour's beagle. The beagle was on a chain in its owners
fenced-in
yard.
The award was less than Mr. Williams was seeking because the jury felt the
dog
might have been just a little provoked by Mr. Williams shooting it
repeatedly
with a pellet gun.
May 2000:
A Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber Carson of
Lancaster, Pennsylvania $113,500 after she slipped on a spilled soft drink
and broke her coccyx. The beverage was on the floor in the
first place because Ms Carson threw it at her boyfriend 30 seconds
before the accident.
December 1997:
Kara Walton of Claymont, Delaware successfully sued the owner of a
night club in a neighbouring 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 entrance charge. She was awarded $12,000 and dental
expenses.
And the winner is:
Mr. Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City.
In November 2000, Mr. Grazinski purchased a brand new 32-foot Winnebago
motor home. On his first trip home, having joined the freeway, he set the
cruise
control at 70 mph and calmly left the drivers seat to go into the back and
make
himself a cup of coffee. Not surprisingly the Winnebago 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 plus a new Winnebago.
(Winnebago actually changed their handbooks on the back of this court
case, just in case there are any other complete morons buying their
vehicles!)
Scarily enough I could see alot of these cases being won in court with the way things suck so badly in the US......
Oh well here is the info:
The Stella Awards - America at its very best!
The Stella awards rank up there with the Darwin awards.
In 1994, a New Mexico jury awarded $2.9 million in damages to
81-year-old Stella Tieback who suffered third-degree burns to her
legs, groin and buttocks after spilling a cup of McDonald's coffee on
herself.
This case inspired an annual award - The Stella Award -
for the most frivolous lawsuit in the US. The ones listed below are
clear candidates. All these cases are verging on the outright ridiculous
and yet, in the good old USA, with the right attorney you could win
anything !
January 2000:
Kathleen Robertson of Austin Texas was awarded $780,000 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 bastard was Ms. Robertson's own son.
June 1998:
19 year old Carl Truman of Los Angeles won $74,000 and
medical expenses when his neighbour 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 neighbour's hubcaps.
October 1998:
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.
As the family was on vacation, 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
half a
million dollars.
October 1999:
Jerry Williams of Little Rock, Arkansas was awarded $14,500
and medical expenses after being bitten on the buttocks by his next
door neighbour's beagle. The beagle was on a chain in its owners
fenced-in
yard.
The award was less than Mr. Williams was seeking because the jury felt the
dog
might have been just a little provoked by Mr. Williams shooting it
repeatedly
with a pellet gun.
May 2000:
A Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber Carson of
Lancaster, Pennsylvania $113,500 after she slipped on a spilled soft drink
and broke her coccyx. The beverage was on the floor in the
first place because Ms Carson threw it at her boyfriend 30 seconds
before the accident.
December 1997:
Kara Walton of Claymont, Delaware successfully sued the owner of a
night club in a neighbouring 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 entrance charge. She was awarded $12,000 and dental
expenses.
And the winner is:
Mr. Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City.
In November 2000, Mr. Grazinski purchased a brand new 32-foot Winnebago
motor home. On his first trip home, having joined the freeway, he set the
cruise
control at 70 mph and calmly left the drivers seat to go into the back and
make
himself a cup of coffee. Not surprisingly the Winnebago 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 plus a new Winnebago.
(Winnebago actually changed their handbooks on the back of this court
case, just in case there are any other complete morons buying their
vehicles!)
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