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The
Stella's are named after
81-year-old Stella Liebeck
who spilled coffee on
herself and successfully
sued McDonalds. 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 door. He was not
able to get the garage
door to go up since the
automatic door opener
was malfunctioning. He
could not reenter 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
8 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 was
awarded $14,500 and medical
expenses after being bitten
on the buttocks by his
next door neighbour's
Beagle dog. 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
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 nightclub 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 crawl in
through the window of
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 new Winnebago motorhome.
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 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 were
any other complete morons
buying their recreation
vehicles.
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