From: Ben (ben@machinegod.org)
Date: Thu Aug 01 2002 - 15:36:21 MDT
Haha it's the Darwinian Lottery!
-ben
----- Original Message -----
From: "David McFadzean" <david@lucifer.com>
To: "virus" <virus@lucifer.com>
Sent: Thursday, August 01, 2002 2:50 PM
Subject: virus: Fw: TCList: The Stella's (fwd)
> The Stella Award
>
> In 1994, a New Mexico jury awarded $ 29 million U.S. in
> damages to 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who suffered third-
> degree burns to her legs, groin and buttocks after spilling
> a cup of McDonald's coffee on herself. This case inspired
> an annual award - The "Stella" Award - for the most
> frivolous lawsuit in the U.S. The ones listed below are the
> 2000 Stella Award candidates.
>
> 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 amuck inside
> a furniture store. The owners of the store were
> understandably surprised at the verdict, considering the
> misbehaving little brat was Ms. Robertson's son.
>
> June 1998: 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.
>
> October 1998: 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 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. 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. Mr. Dickson sued
> the homeowner's insurance, claiming the situation caused
> him undue mental anguish. The jury agreed to the tune of
> half a million dollars.
>
> 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 its owner's fenced yard, as was Mr.
> Williams. The award was less than sought because the jury
> felt the dog may have been provoked by Mr. Williams who, at
> the time, was shooting it repeatedly with a pellet gun.
>
> May 2000: A Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay
> Amber C Larson 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 a moment earlier during an argument.
>
> 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.
>
> A man, was stopped by police in Vermont. After running
> his name, it came back that there were warrants for his
> arrest from Florida. Before the police could arrest him, he
> fled into a nearby forest (in the middle of winter). The
> police searched for him, but were unable to find him. Three
> days later, the suspect turns himself in to the police and
> was taken to the hospital with frostbite. He ended up
> having several fingers and toes amputated. He is now suing
> the police. Why? The police didn't look for him hard
> enough!
> He stated in an interview, 'If they had searched harder,
> they would've found me'. He's accusing the police of
> dereliction of duty leading to his loss of limbs.
>
> 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.
> (Winniebago 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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