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Lawsuits ?

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3K views 26 replies 22 participants last post by  RKW 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Easy way to make money. What's wrong with people today? Stupid juries!

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 think that one could be burnt doing
That? 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 Stellas for this past 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 , who was leaving a house he had just burgled via 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 bum 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 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. What happened to people being responsible for their own actions?

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 toilet window to the floor, knocking out her two front teeth. Even though Ms Walton was trying to sneak through the window to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge, the jury said the night club had to pay her $12,000…. Plus dental expenses.

Here is the winner!
FIRST PLACE

This year's 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.
 
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#2 ·
I'm like # 1, full of little giggles….
One of these days I'm gonna do something
stupid and maybe I could Winn this lottery.
You know my Toyota pick up has one of
those fancy auto pilots…..

Later I'm off to walmart to buy a portable refrigerator for the back seat of my pick up,
maybe some deli meat and bread too!!!!
 
#5 ·
I swear, I hate seeing this sort of stuff!

"Thinning The Herd" should be legalized;
1) Over population would not be an issue.
2) "Gene Pool" would be a lot "Cleaner"!
3) Less people = Less "Global Warming"
4) Close "Wild Game" hunting, Open "The Most Dangerous Game" TV series!
5) Anything caught on camera makes great "Reality TV".

Just an idea!!!!

Natural Selection IS natural!
 
#6 ·
It is fortunte that we have an appellate system in our courts. I seem to remember that McDonald's appealed the ruling and won, never paying a dime to Stella. Your right the jury system has a great deal of flaws.
 
#7 ·
first place= urban legend

Then the whole falsehood of the Stella's can be found here. Snopes

I am not trying to rain on anyone's parade, but when we talk of thinning the herd maybe we should at the very least do some research.

I know the hot coffee thing gets bandied about on the internets quite a bit but the facts of the case are not carried in the sound bites at five. I have much more faith in our jury system than many I see around the world.
 
#9 ·
I think dedicated jurors, people that would deliberate for a living would be a better idea. Train and test these jurors so stuff like this does not happen. The problem with a jury of your peers is just that, if your a moron, than 12 other morons decide what you get.

Nonetheless I am going outside to trim my hedges with my Honda lawnmower and then sue Honda when I cut my fingers off, that way I can afford that new Winnebago.

@DIYaholic, I'm with you!
 
#11 ·
what is really sad is that this is the tip of the iceberg as most of these type of suits are settled out of court and the insurance company just pays them to go away….why? because it just ups your rates instead of worrying about right and wrong….
tort reform is the only answer….If the losing party in these frivolous suits would be stuck with the legal defense costs far far fewer of these actions would make it to court…and the insurance companies would find it is cheaper to actually fight them then pay them.
 
#12 ·
doughan, what is really sad to me is that the original post is NOT TRUE and yet folks continue to comment on it as if it was true.
People will believe what they want. I know that to be true, but internet hoaxes shouldn't be repeated as fact.

There are two posts above with links to the actual facts, so I will leave this thread alone and let you all continue on.
 
#16 ·
Nobody really believes any of this, do they? I know that it is useful for ginning up outrage and eliciting cries for tort reform but you'd think that who ever pushes this BS could come up with some new fabrications. These fairy tales have been floating around for at least 10 years.
 
#18 · (Edited by Moderator)
As I was reading these, I was thinking that these is too BAD to be true. Searched for the Stella Awards. Found their site. Found out as others have said that they are all FABRICATED. Guess there are still suckers being born every minute.

Oh yea, they stopped issuing Stella Awards in 2007.
 
#19 ·
Well, ask yourself WHY they are fabricated? Who stands to gain?

Next time your local paper lists the top CEO salaries, take a look.
Allstate, State Farm and Blue Cross Blue Shield CEOs are near the top of the list. Why?

Because folks LOVE to hear about the bogus cases. Same reason folks like to watch "professional" wrestling, I suppose.

yikes. Even the most casual look at the supposed cases shows they are obviously bogus. The tiniest research confirms they are deliberate and calculated fabrications.

It amazes me that folks are so gullible. It would be laughable if not so frightening.

I think critical thinking has gone out of style.

On top of it, so many normal seeming people are skeptical of climate change and evolution!

I wish I was in the bridge selling business!
 
#21 ·
I'd like to apologize for posting this.

I usually check out a lot of the emails I receive with "SNOPES" before I forward them to my friends.

But I got a kick out of this, & it made me laugh, so I guess there's know harm in spreading a little laughter!
 
#22 ·
I'm grateful that you realize that the underlying story is in error.

However, I disagree that there is no harm in these lies.

There is plenty of harm in that these things exist not to make folks giggle, but to dilute legitimate claims for wrongs.

These things are promulgated by the opponents of fairness. They are distributed and promoted by those that profit most.

Check out www.hotcoffeethemovie.com I guarantee you will be surprised.

Better yet, watch Hot Coffee, the movie, on HBO for some really stomach turning info on what is really going on in the tort system.

Insurance companies make record, obscene profits, regular folks lose out and safety goes out the window.

It gets my goat that these are effective, but I'm not surprised.

Thanks for not spreading these lies around any more.

After reviewing my previous response, I recognize that it might have been a bit intemperate. I apologize for that. This is a sore spot with me, and I sometimes get a bit worked up.
 
#23 ·
Thank you Dave!

Like I said, I'm still SORRY!
 
#24 · (Edited by Moderator)
Dick&Barb: "I'd like to apologize for posting this. I usually check out a lot of the emails I receive with "SNOPES" before I forward them to my friends. But I got a kick out of this, & it made me laugh, so I guess there's know harm in spreading a little laughter!"

You bring up a very valid issue/concern about fact checking media sources (including emails, Internet, etc.) for accuracy. Just transfer that practice or lack of fact checking to the 2012 election cycle and buckle your seat belt…

'The captain has turned on the No Smoking and Buckle Your Seat Belt sign as we are entering some turbulence until further notice…'

;-)
 
#26 ·
Dick & Barb,

I for one don't see any real harm. I did see the humor after I knew they were false.

I had a fellow employee that was always forwarding emails with dire warnings. I would always check them out and I think every one was a hoax. I would send her an email and she would pass the correction on to everyone that had received the initial email. Eventually she wised up and quit sending them to me. I don't know if she quite sending them on to others. :)

While searching this I discovered that the Stella Awards were started by Randy Cunningham. He has a site called This is True. Is it? Probably. It did make for some interesting reading.
 
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