Mandelon
01-20-2005, 05:12 PM
It's once again time 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 McDonald's. That case inspired the 'Stella
Awards' for the most frivolous successful lawsuits in the United States.
THIS YEAR'S AWARDS GO TO:
5th Place (Tied) 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 toddler
was Ms. Robertson's son.
5th Place (Tied)
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
did not notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying
to steal the hubcaps.
5th Place (Tied) 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 could not 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 8 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 bit on the buttocks by his next door neighbor's
Beagle dog. 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 a little
provoked at the time as Mr. Williams, who had climbed over the fence into
the yard, 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 sued the owner of a Night Club
in a neighboring city when she fell from the bathroom window to the floor
and knocked out two of her front teeth. This occurred whilst Ms. Walton was
trying to sneak in the window of 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,
Oklahoma. Mr. Grazinski purchased a brand new Winnebago Motor home. On his
trip home from an OU football game, having driven onto the freeway, he set
the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver's seat to go into
the back and make himself a cup of coffee. Not surprisingly the RV left the
freeway, crashed and overturned. Mr. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not
advising him in the owner's manual that he could not actually do this. The
jury awarded him $1,750,000 plus a new Winnebago 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 recreational vehicles.
I dont' know if these are really true, but if so, its a sad state of affairs. ;)
Stella's are named after 81 year old Stella Liebeck who spilled coffee on
herself and Successfully sued McDonald's. That case inspired the 'Stella
Awards' for the most frivolous successful lawsuits in the United States.
THIS YEAR'S AWARDS GO TO:
5th Place (Tied) 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 toddler
was Ms. Robertson's son.
5th Place (Tied)
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
did not notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying
to steal the hubcaps.
5th Place (Tied) 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 could not 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 8 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 bit on the buttocks by his next door neighbor's
Beagle dog. 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 a little
provoked at the time as Mr. Williams, who had climbed over the fence into
the yard, 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 sued the owner of a Night Club
in a neighboring city when she fell from the bathroom window to the floor
and knocked out two of her front teeth. This occurred whilst Ms. Walton was
trying to sneak in the window of 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,
Oklahoma. Mr. Grazinski purchased a brand new Winnebago Motor home. On his
trip home from an OU football game, having driven onto the freeway, he set
the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver's seat to go into
the back and make himself a cup of coffee. Not surprisingly the RV left the
freeway, crashed and overturned. Mr. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not
advising him in the owner's manual that he could not actually do this. The
jury awarded him $1,750,000 plus a new Winnebago 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 recreational vehicles.
I dont' know if these are really true, but if so, its a sad state of affairs. ;)