I got this as an email from a friend and found it hilarious! Read on;

Candidates for the annual "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 frivolous successful lawsuits in the United States. The following are this year's 7 Stella Award Winners candidates…

• 1. 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…
  
• 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 hub caps…
  
• 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 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 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. 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 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 out without paying her check, awarded $12,000 and dental expenses…
  
• 7. Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 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 R.V. left the road. The owner's manual did not say 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 recreation vehicles…

Only in America. :lol:

OH, THE INSANITY! :lol:

Why am I not suprised..?

That's the good ol' U.S of A for ya.

Some bloke at my school sued the council and won $500,000 for stepping and tripping on a cracked up road. He broke his hip but the stupid thing is he could see the road was stuffed and didn't have to step in that particular spot.

Heh. You hear stories like that all the time (Cigars lost in fires, Arsen, anyone?), but I've always wondered whether or not they're true - they seem to always come in through emails or forums rather than news websites.

I'm more curious as to how massive settlements are made and cases are won based upon such stupid behaviour.

The one I heard in relation to a cigar, was the guy insured his cigars for fire damage, then smoked them and claimed the insurance.

Seriously though, the fact that those guys got the payouts after such ludicrous situations really shows how fucked up this world is becoming.

No wonder people are so hesitant to knock out a stranger in their house, make tiny incisions all over their bodies and rub them down with rock salt.

Has the world gone INSANE!!

Nup, just America and some dodgy coutry beginning with "I".

I wouldn't go that far. the Brits have the same problem and so do we with somethings..

...Imerica??

Yep.

So true. The fact that these people get payouts just goes to show what a farce the judicial system is and how it gets abused. I think they should fire judges who let those sort of cases even go to trial.

Edit: had to fix the quote.

:huh:

Honestly, who are these people?! And who the hell lets them get away with it?! Damn, it's a messed up world we live in if people can sue for reasons like this.

*gets out pump-action shotgun* Anyone care to help me make the world a better place? :thumbsup:

I didn't find them funny at all, instead I found them abhorrent. The way money is thrown around whilst people starve is beyond me. A person twist thier ankle tripping over thier OWN son and they get $780,000 whilst people starve and live on they streets. Why can't they sue?

Two things - firstly I got that email sometime last year - so they are pretty old.

Secondly there is obviously a huge lack of information about those cases. I imagine the court case doesn't run with the plantif saying.

"I tripped over my son and hurt myself, please give me lots of money"
then the judge or jury finds in their favour. I refuse to form opinions on court cases considering how much information is given at the case and how little is given in those paragraphs.

Do yourself a favour and laugh occassionally. It's actually good for you. Honest.

Am I the only one who is saddened by such events?

Sure they're hilarious, but it's really, really scary that such things can happen to begin with and people are starting to less and less rely on common sense.

*starts building fort around house* :P

It does disturb me Aerenel. The legal system, in America at least, is a farce and its a sad day when a burglar can break into someones house then sue for being hurt by the owner...

Where will it end?

Heheh, and I thought I was the forum pessimist...

*walks into fort wall* :blink: *clutches foot in pain* Ouch! I'm gonna be rich! :P

:lol: :lol: :lol:
who cares that the sun is gonna explode in a billion years or that we'll probably have a nuclear war within the next 100 years, when i see these sorts of things i realise how stupid the majority of humanity really is :( :P

Zing!

I walked into that one :P

OMG!

I fell off my chair laughing and bruised my head! You're going down, bitch! :lol:

I don't know if this is supposed to be funny or not - I don't think so. Cases like that are as pathetic as watching an Australia's Funniest Home Video marathon. How people can harp on about how messed up the States are (I've got my eye on you, Moore) and miss this is beyond me.

I think the boming of Iraq is a little more worthy of crap-giving, then some dickheads who are looking for easy money.

exactly - the difference between what Michael Moore comments on and that list - is that people actually die on the topics Michael investigates. There have now been over 10,000 civillian deaths in Iraq since the beginning of the war. That concerns me a lot more than 8 greedy people.

True - a somewhat revelant thingy Moore investigated was that if an employee died the company would collect the life insurance instead of the dead 'un's family.