Pags Posted January 16, 2005 Share Posted January 16, 2005 The Annual Stella Awards! Some people are either really stupid or so stupid they are smart..... hard to tell. It's once again time to review the winners of the annual Stella Awards. The Stella's are named after 81 year old Stella Liebeck who spilled coffee on herself and successfully sued McDonald's. That case inspired the 'Stella Awards' for the most frivolous successful lawsuits in the United States. THIS YEAR'S AWARDS GO TO: 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 neighbor 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. He was not able to get the garage door to go up since the automatic door opener was malfunctioning. He could not 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 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 awarded $14,500 and medical expenses after being bitten on the buttocks by his next door neighbor'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 Night Club in a neighboring 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 sneak in 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 brand new Winnebago Motor home. 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 driver's 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 recreational vehicles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-13 Posted January 16, 2005 Share Posted January 16, 2005 LMAO!! These are great! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yyz Posted January 16, 2005 Share Posted January 16, 2005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike Posted January 16, 2005 Share Posted January 16, 2005 I laugh that people are st*pid enough to bring such crazy lawsuits. I cry that the juries are so st*pid they agree with them!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afansince74 Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 QUOTE (Spike @ Jan 16 2005, 06:50 PM)I laugh that people are st*pid enough to bring such crazy lawsuits. I cry that the juries are so st*pid they agree with them!!! ...and I get relly pi**ed at these judges (and lawyers) for allowing it to go to trial in the first place!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steel Rat Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 I heard this a few minutes ago... "If pro is the opposite of con, then isn't congress the opposite of progress?" Reminds me a little about the minds of the jury.... Oh yeah... These were hilarious, Paga! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowdog Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 QUOTE (paganoman @ Jan 16 2005, 06:20 PM) This year's runaway winner was Mr. Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Mr. Grazinski purchased a brand new Winnebago Motor home. 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 driver's 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 recreational vehicles. Hmmm....I've got an idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1-0-0-1-0-0-1 Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 QUOTE (paganoman @ Jan 16 2005, 06:20 PM) 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 could not 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 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. I find it hard to believe he couldn't get out of that garage. There wasn't a single tool in there that he could've used to either break in the interior door or disable the garage door opener? At that point did he really care about damaging anything? It probably took him a minute to break into the house...you mean to tell me eight friggin' days wasn't enough to figure out a way to break out? He's a burglar...that's his thing! Such bullshit! And the lawsuit actually working out in his favor is mindblowing. Are the jurors in this country on crack? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kazzman Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 Wow, remind me to try some of those... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cygnus Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonraker Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 It seems just sickening the kind of things you can get away with. Speaking of which, I accidentally tripped over my shoelaces while running across the highway earlier. I'm gonna sue the state for making highways with uneven roads that cause people to trip and put them in further danger of causing an accident. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RushGuru Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 QUOTE (Moonraker @ Jan 16 2005, 06:48 PM) It seems just sickening the kind of things you can get away with. Speaking of which, I accidentally tripped over my shoelaces while running across the highway earlier. I'm gonna sue the state for making highways with uneven roads that cause people to trip and put them in further danger of causing an accident. Or sue the shoelace company. They shouldnt make shoelaces that come undone! What injustice! What is our world coming to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Notorious B.S.G. Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 Ok, ok, ok! I admit it! I'm sometimes just a contrarian. Sure, lawsuits are often out of control, and this bit is pretty funny, but I defer to the good folks and conscientious research of Snopes.com, THE source for Urban Legends, true or false. They have established a sterling reputation and are an invaluable source for me nearly every day I open my inbox. Here's the link. I recommend the site to everyone. http://www.snopes.com/legal/lawsuits.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1-0-0-1-0-0-1 Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 QUOTE (BSG @ Jan 17 2005, 12:26 AM)Ok, ok, ok! I admit it! I'm sometimes just a contrarian. Sure, lawsuits are often out of control, and this bit is pretty funny, but I defer to the good folks and conscientious research of Snopes.com, THE source for Urban Legends, true or false. They have established a sterling reputation and are an invaluable source for me nearly every day I open my inbox. Here's the link. I recommend the site to everyone. http://www.snopes.com/legal/lawsuits.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sodoff Baldrick Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 Stellllllllllllllaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfuentes Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 I've seen those before. Pretty funny. There's a book full of stuff like that, The Darwin Awards, I think it's called. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.