CossieRich

iTrader: (1)

SOME UNBELIEVABLE LAWSUITS - IT CAN ONLY HAPPEN IN THE USA!!

It's once again time to review the winners of the annual Stella Awards.

The Stellas 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.

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 neighbour 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 were 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 house owner'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 bitten on the buttocks by his next door neighbours Beagle dog. The Beagle was on a chain in its owners fenced yard. The award was less than sought because the jury felt the 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 neighbouring 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 out of the window in 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 drivers 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 that 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 was any other complete morons buying their recreation vehicles.

AlexF

soooo funny!


alex

benporter

iTrader: (1)

saff_cossie

Hows the winnebago loser! Well winner really! Surely you would have a device that cut the cruise control once the weight had been lifted from the seat, like a seat belt light that tells you when you are not wearing it.

Smit

iTrader: (5)

Winnebagos are bad arse

bigal1978

that fookin funny

Mike Rainbird

iTrader: (3)

Some of that beggers belief, but is just SO funny . Only SWT Americans can be so brainless .

northerner

Only in America

Porkie

iTrader: (1)

andyhardy

Some very funny stories there - I heard about the burglar stuck in the garage case last year on the radio.

We seem to be following in America's footsteps with this kind of crap though - why can't we learn from their mistakes rather than just follow them blindly?

Anonymous

our courts dont hand over anything like the amounts in compensation that they do in the states thankfully, but certainly the number of claims is rising due to all these "no win no fee" type outfits

CossieRich

iTrader: (1)

if i had a motor home and could get 1 3/4 million from sueing the company becuase i got out of the drivers seat like a twat when cruise control is on i would do it

Anonymous

There was a case in america a few years ago where a woman opened the door of her fridge and stood on it to reach something up high, she wobbled, the door moved, shell fell off, she managed to sue the fridge manufacturers because they didnt write in the instructions not to use the fridge like that.

If i was the judge i would have told her to sue her parents instead for raising such a fucking stupid person in the first place.

AD-RS1600i

It's very funny but also really sad, to think these cases actually won!!!

.....they say everything America does we follow, so will this be us lot in a few years...scary

SeanT

An old one of these goes like this...

A guy bought a case of 12 very expensive cigars and insured them for a great deal of money. He then smoked them and claimed the insurance explaining that the cigars were destroyed in a series of small fires.

The insurers payed out and then filed a law suit against the man for 12 counts of arson.

smudgerz

Fookin quality!! God bless America.......

tracktoy

how do they get away with it???????

Fastmaul

most are true, some I think are made up! Goes to show why everybody comes here...it's the land of opportunity(did I even spell that right?? I'm sueing my teachers!) I think they are passing a law on frivolous lawsuits! shit, how am I going to get rich now!
Mike, is SWT (Stupid White Trash)?

Mike Rainbird

iTrader: (3)

Erik - got it in one .

darren.cudd

thats mad