aaron
02-09-2006, 12:22 PM
Scott Farris just sent this to me in email. I really thought the totally ridiculous lawsuits were over with and was a thing of the 90's, but apparently not.
Subject: Stella Awards
The Stella Awards--or: "Why our insurance costs go up"...
> It's time once again to review the winners of the Annual "Stella Awards."
> The Stella Awards are named after 81 year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled
> hot coffee on herself and successfully sued McDonald's (in NM). That
> case inspired the Stella awards for the most frivolous, ridiculous,
> successful lawsuits in the United States.
>
> Here are this year's winners:
>
> 5th Place (tie): Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas, was awarded
> $80,000 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 verd! ict, considering the
> misbehaving little toddler was Ms. Robertson's son.
>
> 5th Place (tie): 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 beca! use 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 earlie! r 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 a! nd 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 run away winner was Mrs. Merv Grazinski of
> OklahomaCity, Oklahoma. Mrs. Grazinski purchased a brand new 32-foot
> Winnebago motor home. On her first trip home, (from an OU football
> game), having driven onto the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70
> mph and calmly left the drivers seat to go into the back & make herself
> a sandwich. Not surprisingly, the RV left the freeway, crashed and
> overturned.
>
> Mrs.Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising her in the owner's manual
> that she couldn't actually do this. The jury awarded her $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 around...
Subject: Stella Awards
The Stella Awards--or: "Why our insurance costs go up"...
> It's time once again to review the winners of the Annual "Stella Awards."
> The Stella Awards are named after 81 year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled
> hot coffee on herself and successfully sued McDonald's (in NM). That
> case inspired the Stella awards for the most frivolous, ridiculous,
> successful lawsuits in the United States.
>
> Here are this year's winners:
>
> 5th Place (tie): Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas, was awarded
> $80,000 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 verd! ict, considering the
> misbehaving little toddler was Ms. Robertson's son.
>
> 5th Place (tie): 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 beca! use 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 earlie! r 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 a! nd 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 run away winner was Mrs. Merv Grazinski of
> OklahomaCity, Oklahoma. Mrs. Grazinski purchased a brand new 32-foot
> Winnebago motor home. On her first trip home, (from an OU football
> game), having driven onto the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70
> mph and calmly left the drivers seat to go into the back & make herself
> a sandwich. Not surprisingly, the RV left the freeway, crashed and
> overturned.
>
> Mrs.Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising her in the owner's manual
> that she couldn't actually do this. The jury awarded her $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 around...