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Thread ID: 128421	2012-12-19 03:27:00	We think our court system is bad!	Cicero (40)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1319104	2012-12-19 03:27:00	Subject: Fwd: FW: STELLA AWARDS It's time again for the annual 'Stella Awards'! For those unfamiliar with these awards, they are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued the McDonald's in New Mexico , where she purchased coffee . You remember, she took the lid off the coffee and put it between her knees while she was driving . Who would ever think one could get burned doing that, right? That's right; these are awards for the most outlandish lawsuits and verdicts in the U . S . You know, the kinds of cases that make you scratch your head . So keep your head scratcher handy . Here are the Stellas for this past year -- *SEVENTH PLACE* Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas was awarded $80,000 by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store . The store owners were understandably surprised by the verdict, considering the running toddler was her own son Start scratching! * SIXTH PLACE * Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles , California won $74,000 plus medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord . Truman apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal his neighbor's hubcaps . Scratch some more . . . * FIFTH PLACE * Terrence Dickson, of Bristol , Pennsylvania , who was leaving a house he had just burglarized by way of the garage . Unfortunately for Dickson, the automatic garage door opener malfunctioned and he could not get the garage door to open . Worse, he couldn't re-enter the house because the door connecting the garage to the house locked when Dickson pulled it shut . Forced to sit for eight, count 'em, EIGHT days and survive on a case of Pepsi and a large bag of dry dog food, he sued the homeowner's insurance company claiming undue mental Anguish . Amazingly, the jury said the insurance company must pay Dickson $500,000 for his anguish . We should all have this kind of anguish Keep scratching . There are more . . . Double hand scratching after this one . . *FOURTH PLACE* Jerry Williams, of Little Rock, Arkansas, garnered 4th Place in the Stella's when he was awarded $14,500 plus medical expenses after being bitten on the butt by his next door neighbor's beagle - even though the beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard . Williams did not get as much as he asked for because the jury believed the beagle might have been provoked at the time of the butt bite because Williams had climbed over the fence into the yard and repeatedly shot the dog with a pellet gun . Pick a new spot to scratch, you're getting a bald spot . . * THIRD PLACE * Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania because a jury ordered a Philadelphia restaurant to pay her $113,500 after she slipped on a spilled soft drink and broke her tailbone . The reason the soft drink was on the floor: Ms . Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument . What ever happened to people being responsible for their own actions? Only two more so ease up on the scratching . . . *SECOND PLACE* Kara Walton, of Claymont , Delaware sued the owner of a night club in a nearby city because she fell from the bathroom window to the floor, knocking out her two front teeth . Even though Ms . Walton was trying to sneak through the ladies room window to avoid paying the $3 . 50 cover charge, the jury said the night club had to pay her $12,000 . . . . oh, yeah, plus dental expenses . Go figure . Ok . Here we go!! * FIRST PLACE * This year's runaway First Place Stella Award winner was: Mrs . Merv Grazinski, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, who purchased new 32-foot Winnebago motor home . On her first trip home, from an OU football game, having driven on to the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver's seat to go to the back of the Winnebago to make herself a sandwich . Not surprisingly, the motor home left the freeway, crashed and overturned . Also not surprisingly, Mrs . Grazinski sued Winnebago for not putting in the owner's manual that she couldn't actually leave the driver's seat while the cruise control was set . The Oklahoma jury awarded her, are you sitting down? $1,750,000 PLUS a new motor home . Winnebago actually changed their manuals as a result of this suit, just in case Mrs . Grazinski has any relatives who might also buy a motor home . If you think the court system is out of control, be sure to pass this one on . . . . __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 7814 (20121218) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus . http://www . eset . com	Cicero (40)
1319105	2012-12-19 03:38:00	It would possibly help your cause to not use fake cases. The only real one there is the case of Stella Liebeck, and her suit was entirely justified - you have several facts wrong. she wasn't driving, the car wasn't even moving, and she got third degree burns requiring skin grafts. It was one of *700* cases of injury, including other cases of third degree burns, from MacDonalds coffee, which was being served too hot. See www.caoc.org As Snopes helpfully points out, there are plenty of real silly cases. We could always move this to the jokes thread :-)	Zara Baxter (16260)
1319106	2012-12-19 03:42:00	I laughed	DeSade (984)
1319107	2012-12-19 03:43:00	^ ditto	Gobe1 (6290)
1319108	2012-12-19 03:44:00	It would possibly help your cause to not use fake cases . Ouch, I think it is Cic that needs water for his Burn! - Pun intended . :D	lordnoddy (3645)
1319109	2012-12-19 03:50:00	Tough luck Cic. It was a good try.	Richard (739)
1319110	2012-12-19 03:54:00	We could always move this to the jokes thread :-) :thumbs:	WalOne (4202)
1319111	2012-12-19 04:07:00	Why oh why does Cic keep doing this sort of thing, when with a bit of Google he would know it is all crap ? pressf1.pcworld.co.nz pressf1.pcworld.co.nz pressf1.pcworld.co.nz pressf1.pcworld.co.nz pressf1.pcworld.co.nz Maybe it is the world as he would like it to be :thumbs:	Terry Porritt (14)
1319112	2012-12-19 05:49:00	I didn't laugh. I sank with dispair. Even if most are fakes, lets not forget that ACC in NZ piad a prisoner handsomly for the injury he sustained while escaping prison. What's even more scandalous than the payout is the fact that it was ever even considered. He should have got a kick in the butt and sent back to his cell. We taxpayers really must be mugs to continue to put up with this nonsense at our own expense.	Paul.Cov (425)
1319113	2012-12-19 06:02:00	I didn't laugh. I sank with dispair. Even if most are fakes, lets not forget that ACC in NZ piad a prisoner handsomly for the injury he sustained while escaping prison. What's even more scandalous than the payout is the fact that it was ever even considered. He should have got a kick in the butt and sent back to his cell. We taxpayers really must be mugs to continue to put up with this nonsense at our own expense. \ You have got into the spirit of this Paul, good to see one with some sensitivity. These people are so literal, so lacking in artistic , what's the word?	Cicero (40)
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