posted
this is our justice system, folks. . . It's time once again to review the winners of the annual "Stella Awards". The Stella's are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled coffee on herself and successfully sued McDonalds. That case started the "Stella Awards" for the most frivolous successful lawsuits in the United States. Unfortunately, the most recent lawsuit implicating McDonalds, (the teens who allege that eating at McDonalds has made them fat), was filed after the 2002 award voting was closed. This suit, if successful, will top the 2003 list without question.
Here are this year's winners:
5th Place (tie): 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 toddler was Ms. Robertson's own son.
5th Place (tie): 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.
5th Place (tie): 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. The family was on vacation, and 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 $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. 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 just a little provoked at the time by Mr. Williams who had climbed over the fence into the yard and 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, successfully sued the owner of a night club in a neighboring 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 cover charge. She was awarded $12,000 and dental expenses.
1st Place: This year's runaway winner was Mr. Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City. Mr. Grazinski purchased a brand new, 32-foot Winnebago motor home. On his first trip home (from an OU football game), having driven onto 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 R.V. left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Mr. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising him in the owner's manual that he couldn't actually do this. The jury awarded him $1,750,000 plus a new motor home. The company actually changed their manuals on the basis of this suit,just in case there were any other complete morons buying their recreation vehicles.
[ 13. November 2003, 08:38 AM: Message edited by: Mark F98-0050 ]
Posts: 143 | From: Port Arthur, Texas, USA | Registered: Feb 2000
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posted
Small wonder other countries think we are legal morons in this country. This kind of stupid stuff irratates the heck out of me. The juries must have been stoned or complete idiots.
Oh well, they were funny though.
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Kevin Villier, 2002 SS #186 - 6M with Hurst and "short-stick", TT, navy blue, chrome SS wheels, Bilstein suspension, SS grill, BMR STB, BMR chrome-moly panhard rod, SLP loudmouth, Direct-Flo lid with Holley Power Shot filter, mallory polished MAF ends, 4.10 gears, PPC LT's. 336 rwhp, 345 rwtq
posted
Actually having been a juror on a similar suit (not nearly as ridiculous as these) I saw how it happens.
1. A lot of pertinent facts are kept from the jury. For instance it's entirely possible the lawyers kept the jurys from knowing:
The boy was her son The man was stealing the hubcaps The man had broken into the house The man was shooting at the dog etc.
2. The sympathy play. Several jurors on the case I was on felt sorry for the injured. Giving them money makes them feel better. "At least we can do something to help the poor soul."
3. Deep Pockets. "Besides these companies have lots of money, they won't miss a few million... It won't even hurt the company the insurance will pay..."
Anyway in my case there were enough rational logical jurors that we eventually convinced the emotional jurors the guy deserved nothing for his foolishness.
-------------------- '98 SS #0050 Navy Blue Metallic T-Top, Auto, K&N, Whisper Lid, GMS MAF, Ported TB, LS6 Intake, MTI C1, FLP LT, Vig. 3200, Transgo, Moser 12 bolt, BMR STB LCA APHR TA, QA1 Shocks & Springs, Eradispeed/Hawk, GMMG Chambered, ATM, Power Ant, Billet Grille w 4th gen SS, Clear Corners, 200 mph speedo & Z06 rims, AQ9 seats w Katzkin & embroidery. Posts: 143 | From: Port Arthur, Texas, USA | Registered: Feb 2000
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FireChicken
11 Secret Herbs & Spices
Member # 2067
posted
quote:Originally posted by HTWLSS: It's all in good humor. Don't believe everything you read.
You know, if you read on this link, they have some real cases that have been filed, and dismissed by courts. Personally, I think we have a serious shortage of personal responsibility in this country, as most of the "stupid" warning labels that you see on appliances were placed there as a result of, or out of fear of unbelievably poor judgement choices by consumers.
However, nothing comes close to the "We are suing McDonalds cause their food made us fat" debacle. <sigh>
Posts: 686 | From: Texas: Hullabaloo, Caneck! Caneck! | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
You mean that I cant take my hands off the wheel of the SS and drink my Mcdonalds Coffee
-------------------- SLP#3579 LE#1533 A pair of 35th Anny drinking chairs. Every thing else is just "Fluff" Rio Grande "Swim" Coach Posts: 3091 | From: Canton Mi. | Registered: Oct 2002
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