obiefan
03-10-2008, 09:31 AM
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 the 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 Stella's for the past year:
7TH 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.
6TH 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.
Go ahead, grab your head scratcher.
5TH PLACE :
Terrence Dickson, of Bristol, P ennsylvania , 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 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...
4TH 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.
Grrrrr . Scratch, scratch.
3RD 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?
Scratch, scratch, scratch. Hang in there; there are only two more
Stellas to go...
2ND 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
$350 cover charge, the jury said the night club had to pay her
$12,000....oh, yeah,
plus dental expenses. Go figure.
1ST PLACE : (May I have a fanfare played on 50 kazoos please)
This year's runaway
First Place Stella Award winner was Mrs. Merv Grazinski, of Oklahoma
City , Oklahoma , who purchased a 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 incase Mrs. Grazinski has any relatives
who might also buy a motor home.
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 the 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 Stella's for the past year:
7TH 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.
6TH 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.
Go ahead, grab your head scratcher.
5TH PLACE :
Terrence Dickson, of Bristol, P ennsylvania , 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 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...
4TH 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.
Grrrrr . Scratch, scratch.
3RD 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?
Scratch, scratch, scratch. Hang in there; there are only two more
Stellas to go...
2ND 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
$350 cover charge, the jury said the night club had to pay her
$12,000....oh, yeah,
plus dental expenses. Go figure.
1ST PLACE : (May I have a fanfare played on 50 kazoos please)
This year's runaway
First Place Stella Award winner was Mrs. Merv Grazinski, of Oklahoma
City , Oklahoma , who purchased a 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 incase Mrs. Grazinski has any relatives
who might also buy a motor home.