I can't believe this

[korgul]

Talk about you seriously frivolous lawsuits.


1.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 toddler was Ms. Robertson's son.

2.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 hub caps.

3.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 re-enter 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
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 $500,000.

4.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. 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.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.

6.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.This year's favorite could easily be Mr. Merv
Grazinski of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Mr. Grazinski
purchased a brand new 32-foot Winnebago motor
home. On his first trip home, 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 R.V. left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Mr.
Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising him in the
owner's manual that he couldn't actually do this. The
jury awarded him $1,750,000 plus a new 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.

Originally posted by korgul
7.This year's favorite could easily be Mr. Merv
Grazinski of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Yep, that's my favourite alright!!

How on earth does the legal system allow these kinds of verdicts? No reality checks in the judicial system??

Maybe I should try to rob a bank in the US and shoot myself in the foot. I could then sue the gun manufacturers for more money than I would have got for the hold up.

Cheers
Mick

[Thud]

I can't believe this

You shouldn't:

http://www.snopes.com/legal/lawsuits.htm

[Theophylact]

Thank you, Thud.

It's always worthwhile checking Snopes and other Urban Legend sites before posting an "outrage" (c.f. "Bonsai Kittens").

[kjg]

Although Theo may have proven these to be false, no one who reads them thinks that they couldnt happen. The cases of burglars getting injured while in the act of theft from your house and getting damages are well documented.
The law may be flawed to allow these people to get away with this, but I personnally believe it to be the fault of the person suing and the people supporting him, ie the lawyer.
They should be taken out and neutered to protect the gene pool. I really hate that kind of attitude and it is becoming all to popular.

[Theophylact]

kjg, give Thud the credit.

The fact that "no one who reads them thinks that they couldn't happen" is feeble. You should always argue from fact, not common belief or prejudice.

Don't get me wrong; I can come up with a lot of true stupid court cases. What people tend to ignore in citing them, though, is that lost of the verdict were overturned or the awards greatly slashed upon appeal.

And a lot of cases that appear stupid on first sight -- for instance, the McDonald's Coffee Case -- turn out to be quite different on closer inspection.

[korgul]

Thanks Thud

When you read things like these you start to think is this possible. If a woman can sue the tobacco companies and get billions of dollars claiming that she did not know that she could get cancer even though the two have been linked for years, anything is possible.
It just shows the kind of things that people might have tried or might try to get away with. The society that we live in now is very lazy, we all want something for nothing.

[vass0922]

cripes
There's even an email out there from a 'trained sniper'
http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/sniper.htm

Never walk straight to a door more than 20 feet away. Zig zag and walk at angles. The shooter is setting up on doorways/ entrances and waiting for victims to line up on entrance. The hardest shot for a sniper is a target traversing laterally to his/her position.

what a schmuck

[originel]

sounds like someone's been playin a little too much CS. a friend of mine is in the marines, and although it is harder to shoot someone moving laterally, all you have to do is adjust (quote from one of his DI's, originated before FMJ "if you're ever shooting at women and children, just don't lead them so much")

[Epidemic]

Theo. I am sorry there is no way to justify the hubcap one.

the one about the motor home. 100 % drivers fault.

the garage one is just as insane.

Sorry if you die in someones house while breaking in you assumed the risk.

I do not have to warn you of safety hazzards in my own home.

Sorry even the coffee one is completely 100% the womans fault. I mean the burners on stoves have to be below 120 degrees so that you cant burn yourself on them.

Hot coffee is HOT. You assume the risk when you handle it. Just like the stove top is hot and you do not place your hands on it while hot. This woman has ruined coffee for the drinkers who like it piping hot for their long commute. The temperature was one of its selling points. Her burns were horrible. I am sorry for her error in judgement. To avoid burning herself she should have not been moving when adding creamer or she should have parked and placed the cup in a safe place.

Personal responsibility is something that america is loosing.

The hubcap thing may have been a mistake on the drivers part for not checking behind the car before moving. This failing is negated by the fact that this moron was stealing his hubcaps. Had he not partaken of the activity of theft then he would not have been hurt.

I get so mad at people who defend this crap. My god stop it.

I twisted my ankle on a lawn of a campus running to my car. There was a chuckhole and I tore up my leg because of it. I did not sue because I should have looked were I was going. Today I could have sued because but chose not to because it would be wrong.