demon.b Posted March 11, 2007 Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 Just got this in an e-mail, thought I'd share: Hot dog, 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 the coffee. That's right, these are awards for the most outlandish lawsuits and verdicts that happened in the U.S. during 2006. You know, the kinds of cases that make you scratch your head. So keep your head scratcher handy. Here are the "Stellas" for the past year: To kick things off the right way, there was a three-way tie for 5th 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 Ms. Robertson's son. Also in 5th place is Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles , California - you knew California had to be in the list somewhere, right? - who 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. Go ahead, grab your head scratcher. The last of the 5th Place winners was Terrence Dickson, of Bristol , Pennsylvania , who 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 subsist for eight - count 'em, 8! - days 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. Jerry Williams, of Little Rock, Arkansas, garnered 4th Place in the "Stellas" 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 it's 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. Grrrrr scratch, scratch. Third Place went to Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania , because a jury ordered a Philadelphia restaurant to pay her $113,500 after she slipped on soft drink and broke her tailbone (coccyx). The reason the soft drink was on the floor: Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument. Whatever happened to people being responsible for their own actions? Scratch, scratch, scratch. Hang in there, there are only two more Stellas to go. 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. Finally, (may I have a fanfare played on 50 kazoos please) 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, no less - having driven on to the free way, 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. Don't look so incredulous. Remember, we're talking about Oklahoma here. 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............ you are sitting down,right????? $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 buy a motor home. I always knew Winnebago produced duff products! Link to post Share on other sites
otherrandomhero Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 I belive this image best sums up the situation at hand. Link to post Share on other sites
Bengali Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 man your compensation culture sucks royal D**k, no offence you you US guys personally, our law was going that way, until (as the daily mail put it) an outbreak of sensible occurred... a woman attempted to sue the british legion because two years ago the erected a may pole for mayday, after it was taken down the hole was filled in, two years later natural causes had reopened the hole and this woman tripped on the hole and broke her ankle, but in a case everyone predicted was going to go her way the judge decreed she was a greedy cow and basically told her to sod off and watch where shes going in future.... as did the court of appeal however... same paper, a few pages on, a woman has two sons around the ages of 5 to 8ish, one of them has had a life threatening condition basically his whole life, and spent almost two years in hospital having heart surgery after heart surgery, finally the problem is sorted and he is allowed to go home. home at last, the mother decides to take her two sons on a well deserved break for the summer holidays, plans a trip to florida, to disney land. everyone has a great time. when they get back the mother finds out shes being taken to court and stands a good chance of serving jail time because the son who hadn't been ill missed the first couple of days of term.... after reading this to my missus i said i hoped the outbreak of sensible had reached this far and the court found whoever was responsible for this action guilty of wasting the courts time and fines them appropriately, her response... yeah, then the mother can sue them too for unnessisary distress... i see sensible hasn't reached her yet Link to post Share on other sites
Epyon Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 That is hilariously sad stuff there. I just may make it my new life mission to punch every lawyer I meet. Link to post Share on other sites
hitmanNo2 Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 Do they give out certificates to be judges in packets of cerial or something? Link to post Share on other sites
Carrion Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 dont laugh its getting towards that here now as well. juts look at some of the divorce settlemtns which are going on Link to post Share on other sites
iizme Posted March 13, 2007 Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 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 Ms. Robertson's son. So the lady got tripped by her own sun whom she should have been controlling and sued the store she was in, damn thats a bit harsh. A true example of an opportunistic society. Link to post Share on other sites
dannyboy Posted March 13, 2007 Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 Clickety Link to post Share on other sites
alpha54 Posted March 13, 2007 Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 Problem with all of the ones you've listed is that they are fabricated and are not actually Stella Awards. Check http://www.stellaawards.com/bogus.html for more info. Link to post Share on other sites
demon.b Posted March 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 Problem with all of the ones you've listed is that they are fabricated and are not actually Stella Awards. Check http://www.stellaawards.com/bogus.html for more info. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I've always preferred fiction over fact! Link to post Share on other sites
TheRighteousBrothers Posted March 13, 2007 Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 man, I'm dissapointed at my country (i read the ones from the stella awards website). The fake ones were rich Link to post Share on other sites
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