TIME FOR STELLA AWARDS By alleyoop (Read 534 times)

[alleyoop]

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 duckson, of Bristol , Pennsylvania , who was leaving a house he had just burglarized by way of the garage. Unfortunately for duckson, 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 duckson 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 duckson $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 seconds 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.

GREAT COURT SYSTEM WE HAVE
Alleyoop

[richardthescooter3]

unfortunately people are sue happy, what ever happened in taking responsibilities for your on actions

[JR]

So, what about the infamous McDonald’s coffee case – the one that kicked it all off? We all know that coffee is hot, that’s not in question. What most people don’t know is that McDonald’s was serving their coffee at about 180-190 degrees, hot enough to cause third degree burns in mere seconds. After 700 claims for serious injuries caused by their coffee, they continued to serve it at that temperature. 79-year-old, Stella Lieback suffered third degree burns, was in the hospital for eight days, had multiple surgeries and skin grafts. All she asked of McDonald’s was to pay her medical bills. They refused, prompting her and her family to take them to court. Contrary to popular belief, Stella did not walk away with millions.

Sued after getting stuck on the house he was robbing
In October 1998, A Terrence Dickson of Bristol Pennsylvania was exiting a house he 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, so 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. This upset Mr. Dickson, so he sued the homeowner's insurance claiming the situation caused him undue mental anguish. The jury agreed to the tune of half a million dollars and change.


Sued after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler
In January 2000, Kathleen Robertson of Austin Texas was awarded $780,000.00 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 the misbehaving tyke was Ms. Robertson's son


Sued a restaurant after she slipped on a spilled drink
In May 2000, a Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania $113,500.00 after she slipped on a spilled 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.

Sued a nightclub after she fell while sneaking out
In December 1997, 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 $12,000.00 and dental expenses.

[terrilee]

& i feel disgusted im on S.S.

[mauiboy]

I propose, with the deepest of respect, that what this country (and I have the upmost respect for America) needs is a "Bill of Responsibilities" to go with the Bill of Rights. I have the right to free speach, but I have the responsibility to use it properly. Should I insult someone on the street for no reason, exercising my right free speech, I should expect to be thumped with no recourse. I agree entirely with the Constitution and the related amendments, but unless people understand they come with responsibilities people believe they have no culpability, and this is reflected in the law courts.
This story for instance,
.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/03/19/state/n171041D69.DTL" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/03/19/state/n171041D69.DTL
The crus was two climbers fell to the deaths on a dangerous trail. Part of the danger was due to the weather. There was a sign at the start of the trail (which was also the start of another trail) which warned of the dangers but the position of the sign apparently left some doubt as to whether it applied to both signs. At the risk of appearing like a smart arse, if I was there and there was a sign that said beware this place is freakin crazy you are highly likely to die, and the heavens were opening, I would take care or turn around. Apparently it is the states fault. I honestly cannot see how. If people choose to go on a walk in poor conditions that is THEIR decision. It was a tragic ACCIDENT and in other countries would have been rules as death by misadventure. However, it appears that here someone has to be to blame and money has to be paid.
The net result was that a family was paid $15 million which would have taken a huge chunk out of the $27m required to stop us using damaging sewerage injection wells and switch to a sustainable waste reclamation system. The very first thing people should be taught is that they are responsible for their own actions. All your mistakes cannot be blamed on someone else to make you feel better.

[wolfhound]

Stupid is as stupid does evidently applies to both juries and plaintiffs.
And dont forget that the lawyers get a nice chunk of the awards too.
Makes me wonder if the plaintiffs should sue the lawyers for overcharging.
Mauiboy has got it right!!!!!

[bobf]

For years now there has been an effort to put responsibility into the court system. I believe they have tried to set it up to where the one whining and asking for court support would be responsible for the cost if the evidence fails to bring victory for the complainants. It is an attempt to reduce the number of false complaints, most notably against doctors.

Mauiboy, you are so right. I guess at first it was considered that the people would be honest and fair. But there have been times when laws have been written to make people think responsibly. Do not yell fire in a closed area when there is none. You go to jail. But today with so many thinking they can just do anything and claim it to be one of their freedoms, there may have to be another set of rules or fairness and responsibility added to the Constitution. This country is going out of control with these anarchist types of thinking. The 'takers' want everything they demand and also expect the government to protect them from broken responsibility actions.
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[Bong]

How much of the dollars awarded went to the Attorneys and court fees. I doubt any of these folks saw life changing amounts of cash after paying for the years of being tied up in the court system.... I hope I'm Not wrong. Sad either way.

Maybe there is hope for a Darwin Award Tie in......

BTW JR- my Carpel Tunnel/ Arthritis and a bit of Tennis Elbow is kicking in so, should I sue you or Proboards for making me type so much?? (joking of course) I'd go after Microsoft for making me play all those damn video games. They have more cash to settle with anyway.... (still joking!!!) I'm sure someone has tried though.

What ever happend to working hard for what you want and taking responsibility for your actions?? I guess there is a new American Dream........ Oh well

[ccprof]

I'm with Bong. Some of these clowns are pushing for Darwin Awards.

[belen1705]

I have one that resulted in true justice. A young man ( a policeman) that I know lost his wife because a hospital did not treat her properly, actually it was gross negligence. His wife's parents wanted to sue the hospital but the young man would not have any part in it because he did not believe in law suits (even though this one was legit).

So the parents sued anyway, they even claimed the young man should have done more to save his wife putting him through a really rough time. Anyway, the jury awarded 3 million but gave it all the the young man even though he did not file the suit or want anything to do with it. The parents got nothing!

Now I call that guided justice!