It's time again for the annual 'Stella Awards'! For those unfamiliar
with these awards, they are named after 79-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 , Pennsylvania , 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...
4THPLACE
Jerry 20 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.
3RDPLACE :
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. Whatever
happened to people being responsible for their own actions?
Scratch, scratch, scratch. Hang in there; there are only two more
Stellas to go...
2NDPLACE :
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.
1STPLACE
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 foot ball 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.
Are we, as a society, getting more stupid? Ya think??!?
with these awards, they are named after 79-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 , Pennsylvania , 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...
4THPLACE
Jerry 20 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.
3RDPLACE :
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. Whatever
happened to people being responsible for their own actions?
Scratch, scratch, scratch. Hang in there; there are only two more
Stellas to go...
2NDPLACE :
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.
1STPLACE
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 foot ball 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.
Are we, as a society, getting more stupid? Ya think??!?
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