The Stella Awards
> The "Stella" awards rank up there with the Darwin
> awards. Stella Liebeck is the 81 year old lady who spilled
> coffee on herself and sued McDonalds. This case inspired
> an annual award - The "Stella" Award - for the most frivolous
> lawsuit in the U.S. The following are this year's candidates:
>
> 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 devil was Ms. Robertson's son.
>
> 2. 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 reenter 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.
>
> 7. 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.
> (Winnebago 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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