It's time once again to consider the candidates for the annual Stella
> Awards!
> The Stella's are named after 81-year-old Stella Lieback who spilled coffee
> on herself and successfully sued McDonalds. That case inspired the Stella
> Awards for the most frivolous lawsuits in the United States.
> The following are this year's candidates:
> 1. Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas was awarder $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.
> 2. A 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 didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the car
> when he was trying to steal his neighbor's hubcaps.
> 3. 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
> 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, and 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. He sued the
> homeowner's insurance claiming the situation caused him undue mental
> anguish. The jury agreed to the tune of $500,000.
> 4. 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. The Beagle was on a chain in it's owners fenced back
> yard. The award was less than sought because the jury felt the dog might
> have been just a little provoked at the time by Mr. Williams who was
> shooting it repeatedly with a pellet gun.
> 5. 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.
> 6. Kara Walton of Claymont, Delaware successfully sued the owner of a
> nightclub when she fell from a 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 and dental expenses.
> 7. This year's favorite could easily be Mr. Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma
> City, Oklahoma. Mr. Grazinski purchased a brand new 32-foot Winnebago
> motor home. On his first trip home, 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 couldn't actually do this. The
> jury awarded him $1,750,000 plus a new motor home. The company actually
> changed their manuals on the basis of the suit, just in case there were
> any other complete morons buying their recreation vehicles.
>
> It's no wonder our insurance rates have become so outrageously big
>
> Bakes

Number one gets my vote!

Funny, but not true.

Rumors

Regards,

Terry

Sure would be amusing to spend an afternoon in the same bar as the man that makes up those stories.

T.Carr is right. Snopes also has traced these cases and found them not to be based in fact.

Mort Canard

[ 09-23-2003, 23:27: Message edited by: Mort Canard ]

While they may not be true, would it actually surprise anyone if they were, given the utter breakdown we've seen in our legal system?

I worked in that system (defending construction company) for many years.

I have seen many awards, and settlements, more egregious than these!!

Makes me ILL!!

Glad I'm retired. And don't take the newspaper!

Awwww shit Terry don't spoil it for me

Bakes