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IRRATIONAL 'JUSTICE:'
The annual Stella Awards
> > The Stella Awards 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 frivolously successful
lawsuits in the United States.
>
> > Here are the 2002
winners:
> >
> > 5th Place (tie): 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 little toddler was Ms. Robertson's son.
> >-----------------------------------------------------------------
> > 5th Place (tie): 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 the hubcaps.
> >----------------------------------------------------------------
> > 5th Place (tie): 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.
> >-----------------------------------------------------------------
> > 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. 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 just a little provoked at the time
by Mr. Williams
> > who had climbed over the fence into the yard and 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, successfully
sued the
> > owner of a night club in a neighboring city when she
fell from the
> > bathroom 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.
> >---------------------------------------------------------------
> > 1st Place: This year's run away winner was Mr. Merv
Grazinski of
> > Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Mr. Grazinski purchased a
brand new 32 foot
> > Winnebago motor home. On his first 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 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 this suit, just
in case there
> > were any other complete morons buying their RVs.
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