Isn't it just ludicrous?

[Abigailwc]

Stella Awards 2004 - What crooked lawyers and judges and stupid juries

can do for you!

It's once again time to review the winners of the annual Stella Awards.

The Stella's are named after 81 year old Stella Lie who spilled

coffee on herself and successfully sued McDonald's. That case inspired

the Stella Awards for the most frivolous successful lawsuits in the

United States.

THIS YEAR'S AWARDS GO TO:

5th place (Tied). 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 toddler was Ms. Robertson's Son.

5th place (Tied). 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 did not notice there was someone at the

wheel of the car when he was trying to steal the hubcaps.

5th place (Tied). Terrence Dickson of Bristol, Pennsylvania was leaving

a house he had just finished robbing by way of the garage. The automatic

door opener was malfunctioning. He could not 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 8 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 dog. 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 a little provoked at the time as Mr. Williams, who had climbed

over the fence into the yard, 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 sued the owner of a Night

Club in a neighboring city when she fell from the bathroom window to the

floor and knocked out two of her front teeth. This occurred while Ms

Walton was trying to sneak in the window of the Ladies Room to avoid

paying the $3.50 cover charge. She was awarded $12,000 and dental

expenses.

1st Place. This year's runaway winner was Mr. Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma

City, Oklahoma. Mr. Grazinski purchased a brand new Winnebago Motor

home. On his trip home from an OU football game, having driven onto the

freeway, he set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the

driver's seat to go into the back and make himself a cup of coffee. Not

surprisingly the RV left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Mr.

Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising him in the owner's manual that

he could not actually do this. The jury awarded him $1,750,000 plus a

new Winnebago Motor home. The company actually changed their manuals on

the basis of this suit.

[Ovedya]

Lesson learned? Some people are stupid....and some of those people serve as jurors. Who ever said that the Consitutional right to "a jury of your peers" has been eliminated hasn't read any of these cases.

[nebula]

In one way, these are funny . . .

In another way, it makes me angry that people award criminals for getting hurt in their criminal attempts.

What is wrong with these people?

[Constant]

[WayneB]

Are these really true?

I remember some years ago the jokes about the woman who won a lawsuit against McDonalds. She purchased a cup of hot coffee at the drive through and spilled it on her lap resulting in serious burns. Folks spun that like mad!

Later the truth came out in that the woman bought a cup of coffee that was cold. She went back through drive through and complained; then she was given another cup of coffee only this time, the employee purposely overheated the coffee and gave it to the woman. The woman dropped the cup of steaming hot coffee in her lap because the cup was too hot for her hand and the resulting burns were 1st degree. She required multiple surgeries and skin grafts...all because of a vindictive act.

Kind of puts another slant on the lawsuit...and reminds us that there are two sides to most of these stories.

Currently, my plant is fighting a frivolous lawsuit so my tune may change depending on the outcome of the lawsuit.

[nebula]

Later the truth came out in that the woman bought a cup of coffee that was cold.  She went back through drive through and complained; then she was given another cup of coffee only this time, the employee purposely overheated the coffee and gave it to the woman.  The woman dropped the cup of steaming hot coffee in her lap because the cup was too hot for her hand and the resulting burns were 1st degree.  She required multiple surgeries and skin grafts...all because of a vindictive act.

Serious?

Wow! I never heard of that.

So, why the big fuss, then, of having to put a "hot" warning label on the cups (an outcome of the trial as I heard)?

Not questioning your word, just trying to make sense of it all.

[Can Do (Phil 4:13)]

A couple of years ago, I went to Mc D's and had a cup of coffee that burnt my tongue, roof of my mouth and back of my throat. Did I sue? NOPE. It sure did hurt for a week or so, but then again, my life isn't about making money and ripping people off. I should have checked the temp of the coffee first, BEFORE I gulped it down.

Sometimes I wonder at the EQ (emotional quotent) of todays society. I think it's been reducing for quite a while

JMHO

Faithie

Your Sister in Christ

[O'Dannyboy]

Lets hope that the new bill on frivilous law suits helps. Law suits like the one where the lady sues for tripping over her own child is just rediculous. Both she and her lawyer should pay heavy fines for wasting the time of the jury, judge and the plaintifs. Most of those law suits sound pretty petty in the way they are presented. It would be interesting to see the transcripts and court records on these particular cases just to have all the information the juries had. If these judgements were made by a lone judge then our legal system surely is failing. They need to introduce heavy penalties for law suits deemed as a waste of the courts time and increase the number of trials whose verdict is made by jury rather than self righteous judges. Just look at what is going on in California. A lone judge thought the previous verdict of yet another judge was incorrect. These type of judgements are beyond a mere judge, prehaps even a jury, but things as they are, a jury sounds more just than any ex-lawyer.

[Guest NewPilgrim]

Its a dog-eat-dog world, where the big dog can sue the little dog for getting caught in his throat.

[Guest SoulyHis]

I heard this a while ago and I can't remember where but I agree wholeheartedly.

If you file a lawsuit for a certain amount and the verdict doesn't go your way you are now liable to pay that amount to the other party.

I know this would go a long way in curbing these types of lawsuits.

What I can't understand is how these suits get so far in the courts in the first place.