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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 the 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 Stella's for the past year:
7TH 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 storeowners were understandably surprised by
the verdict, considering the running toddler was her own son.
6TH 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.
5TH PLACE:
Terrence Dickson, of Bristol, Pennsylvania, 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 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.
4TH 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.
3RD PLACE:
A jury ordered a Philadelphia restaurant to pay Amber Carson of Lancaster,
Pennsylvania $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. Whatever
happened to people being responsible for their own actions?
Hang in there. There are only two more Stella's to go.
2ND PLACE
Kara Walton of Claymont, Delaware, sued the owner of a nightclub 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 nightclub had to pay her $12,000, oh, yeah, plus dental expenses.
1ST PLACE:
This year's runaway First Place Stella Award winner was Mrs. Merv Grazinski
of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, who purchased a 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.
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 the 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 Stella's for the past year:
7TH 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 storeowners were understandably surprised by
the verdict, considering the running toddler was her own son.
6TH 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.
5TH PLACE:
Terrence Dickson, of Bristol, Pennsylvania, 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 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.
4TH 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.
3RD PLACE:
A jury ordered a Philadelphia restaurant to pay Amber Carson of Lancaster,
Pennsylvania $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. Whatever
happened to people being responsible for their own actions?
Hang in there. There are only two more Stella's to go.
2ND PLACE
Kara Walton of Claymont, Delaware, sued the owner of a nightclub 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 nightclub had to pay her $12,000, oh, yeah, plus dental expenses.
1ST PLACE:
This year's runaway First Place Stella Award winner was Mrs. Merv Grazinski
of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, who purchased a 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.