The Stella Awards
The "Stella" awards rank up there with the Darwin awards. In 1994, a New Mexico jury
awarded $2.9 million in damages to an 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who suffered 3rd 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 U.S.
The cases listed below are clear candidates. They are verging on the outright ridiculous and yet
(in the good old USA) with the right attorney you could win anything.
1.) 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 snot was Mrs. Robertson's son.
2.) June 1998: A 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.
3.) October 1998: Terrence Dickson of Bristol, Pennsylvania was leaving a house he had just robbed
by way of the garage. He was unable to get the garage door open since the automatic door opener was
malfunctioning. He couldn't re-enter the house because the door connecting the house and the garage
locked when he pulled it shut. 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 bag of 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.
This gives me a warm fuzzy feeling that this guy was inspired by the hot coffee bs.
That story really aggravated me.
The "Stella" awards rank up there with the Darwin awards. In 1994, a New Mexico jury
awarded $2.9 million in damages to an 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who suffered 3rd 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 U.S.
The cases listed below are clear candidates. They are verging on the outright ridiculous and yet
(in the good old USA) with the right attorney you could win anything.
1.) 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 snot was Mrs. Robertson's son.
2.) June 1998: A 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.
3.) October 1998: Terrence Dickson of Bristol, Pennsylvania was leaving a house he had just robbed
by way of the garage. He was unable to get the garage door open since the automatic door opener was
malfunctioning. He couldn't re-enter the house because the door connecting the house and the garage
locked when he pulled it shut. 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 bag of 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.
This gives me a warm fuzzy feeling that this guy was inspired by the hot coffee bs.
That story really aggravated me.
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