Awards For Frivolous Lawsuits
Funny and unfortunately true examples of our legal system.
DEBORAH WHISTLER
EDITOR
I got an email from a trucker friend, Bennie Foy, a few days before Christmas. It included nominations for the "Stella Awards." The awards are named after Stella Liebeck, then 79 years old, who spilled coffee on herself and successfully sued McDonalds for making the coffee too hot.
That lawsuit always got me, because I personally suffered a similar grievous injury.
Several years ago, another truck editor and I were visiting a truckstop. I grabbed myself a steaming cup o' joe to go. I placed the cup between my legs as I belted myself into the seat of his pickup.
I'm sure you know where this is going: The top popped, the coffee spilled, I was very scorched on a very vulnerable body part. We had to stop several times on the way home to pick up fresh cans of cold soda. Not to drink, mind you, but to stick on my whatsit. The cold cans kept the pain somewhat at bay.
The ride home was mostly silent, except of the occasional snicker my companion was unable to suppress. I laughed too, through the tears (it hurt like hell).
You know, it never even occurred to me to blame anyone else for that stupid stunt. As a matter of fact, I swore my friend to secrecy, which he has honored (I think) to this day.
Imagine my amazement when Stella hit the press with her McDonalds suit. When she won $2.9 million from the fast food chain I was in shock. As were plenty of other folks.
So was born The Stella Awards, a project of This is True. The commentary on the cases comes from Colorado humorist Randy Cassingham (edited by me for space). Following are some of the most bizarre examples of truly frivolous lawsuits:
• Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas: Awarded $780,000 by a jury after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store. Why is this verdict surprising? The tot was none other than Robertson's own son.
• 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. Truman was attempting to steal the car's hubcaps at the time.
• Terrence Dickson of Bristol, Pa., was leaving a house he had just finished burglarizing by way of the garage. He couldn't get out because the automatic door-opener was malfunctioning. and 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 Dickson was locked in the garage for eight days. He survived on a case of Pepsi, and a large bag of dry dog food. He sued the homeowner's insurance for undue mental anguish. He won $500,000.
• Jerry Williams of Little Rock, Ark., 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 provoked. Williams had shot it repeatedly with a pellet gun.
• A Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pa., $113,500 after she slipped on a soft drink and broke her tailbone. How did the beverage happen to be on the floor? Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend during an argument.
• Kara Walton of Claymont, Del., successfully sued the owner of a nightclub when she fell from the bathroom window to the floor, knocking out her two front teeth. Walton was trying to sneak through the ladies room window to avoid paying a $3.50 cover charge. She was awarded $12,000 and dental expenses.
• Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City, Okla., purchased a brand new 32-foot Winnebago. Driving the motorhome onto the freeway, Grazinski set the cruise control at 70 mph, calmly left the drivers seat and walked to the back of the coach to make himself a cup of coffee. The R.V. left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Mr. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not warning him in the owner's manual that he couldn't do this. A jury awarded him $1,750,000 plus a new motor home. Winnebago has since changed their owner's manuals to warn users that cruise control can't actually drive the vehicle for them.
These cases are funny. They're also scary. Publishing and circulating them may help push forward the case for tort reform. You can get free subscriptions to The True Stella Awards by logging onto the Internet at www.stellaawards.com.
