Luna
24-01-2007, 19:21
It's time once again to review the winners of the Annual "Stella
>Awards." The Stella Awards are named after 81 year-old Stella Liebeck
>who spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued McDonald's (in
>NM). That case inspired the Stella awards for the most frivolous,
>ridiculous, successful lawsuits in the United States.
>
>Here are this year's winners:
>
>5th Place (tie): 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 owners of the
>store were understandably surprised at the verdict, considering the
>misbehaving little toddler was Ms. Robertson's son.
>
>5th Place (tie): 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.
>
>5th Place (tie):
>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 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, and
>Mr. Dickson found himself locked in the garage for eight 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 bitten on the buttocks by his next door neighbor's
>beagle. 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 just
>a little provoked at the time by Mr. Williams who had climbed over the
>fence into the yard and 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, successfully sued the owner of a
>night club in a neighboring city 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.
>
>1st Place:
>This year's run away winner was Mrs. Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City,
>Oklahoma. Mrs. Grazinski purchased a brand new 32-foot Winnebago motor
>home. On her first trip home, (from an OU football game), having driven
>onto the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left
>the drivers seat to go into the back & make herself a sandwich. Not
>surprisingly, the RV left the freeway, crashed and overturned.
>Mrs.Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising her in the owner's manual
>that she couldn't actually do this. The jury awarded her $1,750,000 plus
>a new motor home. The company actually changed their manuals on the
>basis of this suit, just in case there were any other complete morons
>around.
>Awards." The Stella Awards are named after 81 year-old Stella Liebeck
>who spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued McDonald's (in
>NM). That case inspired the Stella awards for the most frivolous,
>ridiculous, successful lawsuits in the United States.
>
>Here are this year's winners:
>
>5th Place (tie): 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 owners of the
>store were understandably surprised at the verdict, considering the
>misbehaving little toddler was Ms. Robertson's son.
>
>5th Place (tie): 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.
>
>5th Place (tie):
>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 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, and
>Mr. Dickson found himself locked in the garage for eight 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 bitten on the buttocks by his next door neighbor's
>beagle. 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 just
>a little provoked at the time by Mr. Williams who had climbed over the
>fence into the yard and 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, successfully sued the owner of a
>night club in a neighboring city 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.
>
>1st Place:
>This year's run away winner was Mrs. Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City,
>Oklahoma. Mrs. Grazinski purchased a brand new 32-foot Winnebago motor
>home. On her first trip home, (from an OU football game), having driven
>onto the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left
>the drivers seat to go into the back & make herself a sandwich. Not
>surprisingly, the RV left the freeway, crashed and overturned.
>Mrs.Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising her in the owner's manual
>that she couldn't actually do this. The jury awarded her $1,750,000 plus
>a new motor home. The company actually changed their manuals on the
>basis of this suit, just in case there were any other complete morons
>around.