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Author Topic: Believe it or not  (Read 2934 times)

Offline Dare

Believe it or not
« on: July 28, 2018, 11:41:03 PM »
not sure how old this is but it's still almost funny



 


   It's time again for the annual " Stella Awards"! For those unfamiliar with these awards, they are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued the McDonald's in New Mexico, where she purchased coffee. You remember, she took the lid off the coffee and put it between her knees while she was driving. Who would ever think one could get burned doing that, right?

That's right; these are awards for the most outlandish lawsuits and verdicts in the U.S. You know, the kinds of cases that make you scratch your head. So keep your head scratcher handy.

Here are the Stella's for this year:
·         SEVENTH PLACE

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 store owners were understandably surprised by the verdict, considering the running toddler was her own son.


Start scratching!
·         SIXTH PLACE *

Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles, California won $74,000 plus medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Truman apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal his neighbor's hubcaps.


Scratch some more...
·          FIFTH PLACE *

Terrence Dickson, of Bristol, Pennsylvania, was leaving a house he had just burglarized by way of the garage. Unfortunately for Dickson, the automatic garage door opener malfunctioned and he could not get the garage door to open. Worse, he couldn't re-enter the house because the door connecting the garage to the house locked when Dickson pulled it shut. Forced to sit for eight, count 'em, EIGHT days and survive on a case of Pepsi and a large bag of dry dog food, he sued the homeowner's insurance company claiming undue mental Anguish. Amazingly, the jury said the insurance company must pay Dickson $500,000 for his anguish. We should all have this kind of anguish Keep scratching. There are more...


Double hand scratching after this one..
·         FOURTH PLACE *

Jerry Williams, of Little Rock, Arkansas, garnered 4th Place in the Stella's when he was awarded $14,500 plus medical expenses after being bitten on the butt by his next door neighbor's beagle - even though the beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard. Williams did not get as much as he asked for because the jury believed the beagle might have been provoked at the time of the butt bite because Williams had climbed over the fence into the yard and repeatedly shot the dog with a pellet gun


Pick a new spot to scratch, you're getting a bald spot.
·         THIRD PLACE *

Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania because a jury ordered a Philadelphia restaurant to pay her $113,500 after she slipped on a spilled soft drink and broke her tailbone The reason the soft drink was on the floor: Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument.


Only two more so ease up on the scratching..


*SECOND PLACE*


Kara Walton, of Claymont, Delaware sued the owner of a night club in a nearby city because she fell from the bathroom window to the floor, knocking out her two front teeth. Even though Ms. Walton was trying to sneak through the ladies room window to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge, the jury said the night club had to pay her $12,000....oh, yeah, plus dental expenses. Go figure


Ok. Here we go!!
·         FIRST PLACE *

This year's runaway First Place Stella Award winner was: Mrs. Merv Grazinski, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, who purchased a new 32-foot Winnebago motor home. On her first trip home, from an OU football game, having driven on to the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver's seat to go to the back of the Winnebago to make herself a sandwich. Not surprisingly, the motor home left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Also not surprisingly, Mrs. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not putting in the owner's manual that she couldn't actually leave the driver's seat while the cruise control was set The Oklahoma jury awarded her, are you sitting down?

$1,750,000.

PLUS a new motor home. Winnebago actually changed their manuals as a result of this suit, just in case Mrs. Grazinski has any relatives who might also buy a motor home.

If you think the USA court system is out of control, be sure to pass this one on.


Mark Twain once opined, "it's easier to con someone than to convince them they've been conned."

Offline lkjohnson1950

Re: Believe it or not
« Reply #1 on: July 29, 2018, 12:18:59 AM »
When I was injured in an accident, totally and unequivocally not my fault, I barely got enough from Allstate to cover my medical bills. Nothing for loss of income or pain, they even forced me to end physical therapy before my therapist felt was wise. The lawyers were extremely reluctant to go to court.   |-(
Lonny

Offline Dare

Re: Believe it or not
« Reply #2 on: July 29, 2018, 03:24:48 AM »
When I was injured in an accident, totally and unequivocally not my fault, I barely got enough from Allstate to cover my medical bills. Nothing for loss of income or pain, they even forced me to end physical therapy before my therapist felt was wise. The lawyers were extremely reluctant to go to court.   |-(


24 years ago I fell and broke my leg in 7 places and
shattered my ankle. Good ol workers compensation
cut off my benifits and I couldn't walk. Seems like in
the US the cheaters are treated better thsn the honest.
Mark Twain once opined, "it's easier to con someone than to convince them they've been conned."

Offline John S

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Re: Believe it or not
« Reply #3 on: July 29, 2018, 12:34:42 PM »
Very amusing post, Dare.  :good:

Seems like you and Lonny have been using the wrong Lawyers.  :D
Racing is Life - everything else is just....waiting. (Steve McQueen)

Offline Alianora La Canta

Re: Believe it or not
« Reply #4 on: August 12, 2018, 10:55:05 PM »
The lawyers involved must be incredible - and be incredibly pricey.

As it happens, I think #1 would have succeeded in the UK, albeit the payout would likely have been just enough to replace the vehicle plus a court order to have the manual revamped. (This is because there's a law that requires anything resembling cruise control to have a warning that it is not a substitute for due driver care, attention and preparedness; that it is only an extra tool).

#2 would have definitely failed in the UK. #3 would purely because 30 seconds would not have been deemed a reasonable amount of time to clear the mess (had it been thrown 15 minutes earlier, the fact the thrower was the one who slipped on it would not likely be a defence).

#4 would have been successful in the UK also unless there was some sort of warning about the dog on the front gate and the plaintiff was demonstrably an adult. Shooting the dog would, however, have resulted in a legitimate counter-suit for animal cruelty, alongside the more obvious charges of breaking and entering.

#5 would have been laughed out of court, with perhaps a wry comment from the judge concerning karmic justice (unless it could be proven that the homeowner knew of the crook's "imprisonment" and still did not help - it would be assumed that assistance method A would be "call the police and ask them to extricate the burglar for them, followed by a quick trip to a police cell").

#6 would have failed and generated a counter-suit for damage to the car (even if the hubcap theft failed, they'd surely need a repaint?)

#7 would be rejected, even if the toddler had been a complete stranger, because shops are not legally required or expected to supervise children unless they advertise otherwise.
Percussus resurgio
@lacanta (Twitter)
http://alianoralacanta.tumblr.com (Blog/Tumblr)

Offline lkjohnson1950

Re: Believe it or not
« Reply #5 on: August 13, 2018, 01:40:17 AM »
Most Americans hate insurance companies, so if you can get your case in front of a jury you can get a good award. The risk of course is that if the jury understands the award will result in higher premiums they might not give you anything.
Lonny

Offline Dare

Re: Believe it or not
« Reply #6 on: August 13, 2018, 05:00:26 AM »
Most Americans hate insurance companies, so if you can get your case in front of a jury you can get a good award. The risk of course is that if the jury understands the award will result in higher premiums they might not give you anything.



And if you have a lawsuit against the city you live in many times the jurors
think your getting their money
Mark Twain once opined, "it's easier to con someone than to convince them they've been conned."

 


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