[BITList] Stella Awards!!!

[franka]

Confirming the law is an ass


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 ever think one could get burned doing that, right?
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 year -- 2011:

*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 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 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 butt 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 butt 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 s econds earlier during an
argument. What ever 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
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.


Ok. Here we go!!


* FIRST PLACE *

This year's runaway First Place Stella Award winner was:
Mrs. Merv Grazinski, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, who
purchased 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.
If you think the court system is out of control, be sure to
pass this one on.

	

	

	


	


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