Comedy & Humor - http://maxpages.com/foxyfun/The_Stella

The "Stella" awards rank up there with the Darwin awards. In 1994, a New

Mexico jury awarded $ 2.9 million U.S. in damages to 81-year-old Stella
Liebeck who suffered third-degree burns to her legs, groin and buttocks
after spilling a cup of McDonald's coffee on herself. This case inspired

an annual award - The "Stella" Award - for the most frivolous lawsuit in

the U.S.

The ones listed below are clear candidates. All these cases are verging
on the outright ridiculous and yet (in the good old USA) with the right
attorney you could win anything!

1. January 2000: 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 bastard was Ms. Robertson's son.

22. June 1998: 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. October 1998: A 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. 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 half a million dollars.

4. October 1999: 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 owner's
fenced-in 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. May 2000: 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. The beverage was on the floor because Ms. Carson
threw it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument.

6. December 1997: 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.
And the winner is:
Mr Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City. In November 2000 Mr Grazinski
purchased a brand new 32 foot Winnebago motor home. On his first trip
home, having joined 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 Winnie left the freeway, crashed and
overturned. Mr Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising him in the
handbook that he couldn't actually do this. He was awarded $1,750,000
plus a new Winnie. (Winniebago actually changed their handbooks on the
back of this court case, just in case there are any other complete
morons buying their vehicles.)

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Page Updated Thu May 29, 2003 9:23am EDT