The Stellas are 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.
THIS YEAR'S AWARDS GO TO:
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 neighbor 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, PA 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 could not 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 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 awarded
$14,500 and medical expenses after being bitten on the buttocks by his
next door neighbor'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
Night Club in a neighboring 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 sneak in 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 Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma
City, OK. Mr. Grazinski purchased a brand 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
driver's 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 Motorhome. The company actually changed their
manuals on the basis of this suit just in case there were any other
complete morons buying their recreational vehicles.
D