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The
Stella's are named after
81-year-old Stella Liebeck
who spilled coffee on herself
and successfully sued McDonalds.
That case inspired the Stella
Awards for the most frivolous
successful lawsuits in the
United States.
5th
place (Tied)
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 toddler
was Ms.Robertson's Son.
5th
place (Tied)
19-year-old Carl Truman
of Los Angeles won $74,000
and medical expenses when
his neighbour ran over his
hand with a Honda Accord.
Mr. Truman apparently did
not notice there was someone
at the wheel of the car
when he was trying to steal
the hubcaps.
5th
place (Tied)
Terrence Dickson of Bristol,
Pennsylvania was leaving
a house he had just finished
robbing by way of the garage
door. He was not able to
get the garage door to go
up since the automatic door
opener was malfunctioning.
He could not reenter the
house because the door connecting
the house and garage locked
when he pulled it shut.
The family was on vacation
and Mr. Dickson found himself
locked in the garage for
8 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 $500,000.
4th
Place
Jerry Williams of Little
Rock, Arkansas was was awarded
$14,500 and medical expenses
after being bitten on the
buttocks by his next door
neighbour's Beagle dog.
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 a little provoked at
the time as Mr. Williams,
who had climbed over the
fence into the yard, 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
(tailbone). 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 sued the owner
of a nightclub in a neighbouring
city when she fell from
the bathroom window to the
floor and knocked out two
of her front teeth. This
occurred whilst Ms.Walton
was trying to crawl in through
the window of the Ladies
Room to avoid paying the
$3.50 cover charge. She
was awarded $12,000 and
dental expenses.
1st
Place
This year's runaway winner
was Mr. Merv Grazinski of
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Mr. Grazinski purchased
a new Winnebago motorhome.
On his trip home from an
OU football game, having
driven onto 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 RV left the freeway,
crashed and overturned.
Mr. Grazinski sued Winnebago
for not advising him in
the owner's manual that
he could not actually do
this. The jury awarded him
$1,750,000 plus a new Winnebago
Motor Home. The company
actually changed their manuals
on the basis of this suit
just in case there were
any other complete morons
buying their recreation
vehicles.
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