FW: Winners of the annual "Stella Awards."

[Ben Swann]

Thought this to be of interest even if not much Audi content, though perhaps
similar to the frivolous suit Audi endured due to CBS "60 Minutes  -
Unintended Acceleration fiasco" later retracted as a farce.

 

Subject: Winners of the annual "Stella Awards." 

 

It's time once again to review the winners of the annual "Stella Awards." 

The "Stella Awards" are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled hot
coffee on herself and success-fully sued McDonald's (in New Mexico ) That case
inspired the Stella Awards for the most frivolous and ridiculous, yet
successful, lawsuits in the United States ... 


Here are this year's winners: 

7th Place 
Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas, was awarded $80,000 by a jury of her
peers after breaking her ankle when she tripped over a toddler who was running
inside a furniture store. The owners of the store were understandably
surprised at the verdict, considering that the misbehaving little toddler was
Ms. Robertson's son. 
**************** 

6th Place 
Nineteen-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. 
******************* 

5th Place 
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 because the automatic door opener malfunctioned.  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, so 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 home owners' insurance company, claiming the situation caused him
undue mental anguish. The jury agreed to the tune of $500,000. In my opinion,
this is SO outrageous that it should have been 2nd Place  
******************** 

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 neighbors'
beagle. The beagle was on a chain in its owners' fenced yard.  The award was
less than originally sought, because the jury felt that 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
(tail bone). 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 P lace (drum roll, please) 
This year's runaway winner was Mrs. Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City , Oklahoma
. Mrs. Grazinski purchased a brand-new, 32-foot-long Winnebago motor home. On
her first trip home from an OU football game -- having driven onto the freeway
-- she set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver's seat to
go into the back to make herself a sandwich. Not surprisingly, the RV left the
freeway, crashed and overturned. Mrs.Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising
her in the owner's manual that she couldn't actually do that. The jury awarded
her $1,750,000 plus a new motor home. The company actually changed its manuals
on the basis of this law suit, just in case there were any other complete
morons around. 

P.S. 
I think the jury pool is 'dumbing down'!!!!! 
None of this speaks well for America or its justice system.  May the Good Lord
keep us not only separated from idiots like these but safe from them, as well.