Lawsuits and the STELLA Awards

[Sir Taliesin]

Most of the country has heard of the Darwin Awards given annually to the individuals who do the most for mankind by removing themselves from the gene pool.

Now, we have the Stella Awards given to the individuals who win the most frivolous lawsuits ever. The Stella Awards are named in honor of 81 year-old Stella Liebeck, the woman who won $2.9 million for spilling a cup of McDonald's coffee on herself. The following are candidates for the award:

1.) January, 2000: 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 amuck inside a furniture store. The owners of the store were understandably surprised at the verdict, considering that the misbehaving little fellow was Ms. Robertson's son.

2.) June, 1998: 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.

3.) October, 1998: Terrence Dickson of Bristol, Pa., 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, because the automatic door opener was malfunctioning. He couldn't re-enter the house because the door connecting the house and garage locked when he pulled it shut. The family was on vacation. Mr. Dickson found himself locked in the garage for eight days. He subsisted on a case of Pepsi he found in the garage and a large bag of dry dog food. Mr. Dickson sued the homeowner's insurance claiming the situation caused him undue mental anguish. The jury agreed to the tune of a half million dollars.

4.) October, 1999: 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 dog was on a chain in its owner's fenced-in yard at the time. Mr. Williams was also in the fenced-in yard. The award was less than sought, because the jury felt the dog might have been provoked by Mr.Williams who, at the time, was repeatedly shooting it with a pellet gun.

5.) December, 1997: A Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pa., $113,500 after she slipped on a soft drink and broke her coccyx. The beverage was on the floor because Ms. Carson threw it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument.

6.) December, 1997: Kara Walton of Claymont, DE, successfully sued the owner of a night club when she fell from the bathroom window to the floor and 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.

And now, something that might make it into this list:

7.) January, 2002: Police in Vermont stopped a man. After running his name, it came back that there were warrants for his arrest from Florida. Before the police could arrest him, he fled into a nearby forest (in the middle of winter). The police searched for him, but were unable to find him. Three days later, the suspect turns himself in to police and was taken to the hospital with frostbite. He ended up having several fingers and toes amputated. He is now suing the police. Why? The police didn't look for him hard enough! He stated in an interview, 'If they had searched harder, they would've found me'. He's accusing the police of dereliction of duty leading to his loss of limbs. Go figure.

Tell me again why we should not kill all the Lawyers??????????????

[Sazerac]

Why kill the lawyers? Kill the ridiculous jurors who award such outrageous suits. [img]graemlins/madhell.gif[/img]

-Saz

[Talthyr Malkaviel]

Well, I'm hoping to become a lawyer, but if those are the ones you're after, I'm all to ready to help.
*sees Saz's post* Yeah, the lawyers shouldn't fight stupid cases, but the judges are just as bad, worse even for giving the stupid settlements.

[ 05-09-2002, 01:57 PM: Message edited by: Talthyr Malkaviel ]

[Ar-Cunin]

I think that we can reach a consensus here

Kill the judge, jury, lawyers and plaintiffs

[Azred]

This is why so many people fight for revamping the laws to prevent lawsuit abuse. It is almost to the point where I could sue someone because they gave me a "threatening" look, which led to emotional distress and caused me to lose my job, etc. [img]graemlins/dontknowaboutyou.gif[/img]

[Ar-Cunin]

It also the amounts of money that totally baffles me

In Denmark we'll have the first case with a smoker vs. a tobacco firm

He is asking the supreme court to award damages of $80.000 - which is a good indication of the general level of compensations.

[Epona]

Bloody ridiculous, isn't it? It would be funny if it wasn't so f*cked-up!

do they just make up those bloody figures? over here, it partially depends on the means of the person paying the fine

[khazadman]

i wonder if any of these settlements were later lowered or reversed?i seem to remember that happening with stella liebeck's case.