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Stella awards - can these really be true?
This is that time of the year in the US for reviewing the winners of the
annual Stella Awards - named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck, who
spilled coffee on herself and successfully sued McDonald's.
That case inspired the Stella awards for the most frivolous successful
lawsuits in the United States.
Here are this year's winners from the bottom up:
- Fifth Place (tie): 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.
- Fifth Place (tie): Nineteen-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 failed to notice that there was
someone at the wheel of the car, while he was trying to steal his neighbour's
hubcaps.
- Fifth Place (tie): 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.
- Fourth Place: Jerry Williams of Little Rock, Arkansas, was awarded
$14,500 and medical expenses after being bitten on the rear end by his next door
neighbour's beagle. The beagle was on a chain in it's 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 had climbed over
the fence into the yard and was shooting it repeatedly with a pellet gun.
- Third 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 (tail bone).
The beverage was on the floor because Ms Carson had thrown it at her
boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument.
- Second Place: Kara Walton of Claymont, Delaware, successfully sued the
owner of a night club in a neighbouring 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.
- First Place: This year's runaway winner was Mrs. Merv Grazinski of
Oklahoma City, OK.
Mrs. Grazinski purchased a brand new 32-foot Winnebago motor home.
On her first trip home (from an OU football game), having driven onto
the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the
driver's seat to go into the back & make herself a sandwich.
Not surprisingly, the RV left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Mrs.
Grazinski sued Winnebago for not explaining in the owner's manual that
cruise control isn't automatic pilot. The jury awarded her $1,750,000
plus a new motor home!
annual Stella Awards - named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck, who
spilled coffee on herself and successfully sued McDonald's.
That case inspired the Stella awards for the most frivolous successful
lawsuits in the United States.
Here are this year's winners from the bottom up:
- Fifth Place (tie): 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.
- Fifth Place (tie): Nineteen-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 failed to notice that there was
someone at the wheel of the car, while he was trying to steal his neighbour's
hubcaps.
- Fifth Place (tie): 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.
- Fourth Place: Jerry Williams of Little Rock, Arkansas, was awarded
$14,500 and medical expenses after being bitten on the rear end by his next door
neighbour's beagle. The beagle was on a chain in it's 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 had climbed over
the fence into the yard and was shooting it repeatedly with a pellet gun.
- Third 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 (tail bone).
The beverage was on the floor because Ms Carson had thrown it at her
boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument.
- Second Place: Kara Walton of Claymont, Delaware, successfully sued the
owner of a night club in a neighbouring 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.
- First Place: This year's runaway winner was Mrs. Merv Grazinski of
Oklahoma City, OK.
Mrs. Grazinski purchased a brand new 32-foot Winnebago motor home.
On her first trip home (from an OU football game), having driven onto
the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the
driver's seat to go into the back & make herself a sandwich.
Not surprisingly, the RV left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Mrs.
Grazinski sued Winnebago for not explaining in the owner's manual that
cruise control isn't automatic pilot. The jury awarded her $1,750,000
plus a new motor home!
Can I sue the state telegraph monopoly for inconsiderately sticking the pole in a place (actually at the side of the carriageway) which was a danger to cars? I want £50 for polishing out the damage to the paintwork and £1,000,000 because I was so angry with myself that my blood pressure rose 10 mm, causing a risk of a CVA which may have been fatal and another £1,000,000 for moral tort because of the anguish of having to sue them. 
Or should I sue Honda, equally, because the trajectory I took while reversing hid the pole from either the LH rear-view mirror or throught the rear window? They were negligent in having a blind zone and not fitting a CCTV system to cover it. Also, there was no reversing "bleeper" so that the pole could not hop out of the way while I was backing into it. 
), whichever is the lower. I would guess I've probably driven about 1,250,000 km and I've never lost a penny of no claims bonus or caused an accident involving a third party (other than a couple of parking scrapes).
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