Stace Zimmerman

>

> 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 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 Stellas for this past year — 2009:

>

>

> *SEVENTH 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 store owners were understandably surprised by

> the verdict, considering the running toddler was her own son.

>

> Start scratching!

>

>

> * SIXTH 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.

>

> Scratch some more…

>

>

> * FIFTH PLACE *

>

> Terrence Dickson, of Bristol , Pennsylvania , who 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 and survive 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. Keep scratching. There are more…

>

> Double hand scratching after this one..

>

>

> *FOURTH 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.

>

> Pick a new spot to scratch, you’re getting a bald spot..

>

>

> * THIRD PLACE *

>

> Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania because a jury ordered a

> Philadelphia restaurant to pay her $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. What ever happened to people being responsible for their own

> actions?

>

> Only two more so ease up on the scratching….

>

>

> *SECOND PLACE*

>

> Kara Walton, of Claymont , Delaware sued the owner of a night club 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 night club had to pay her $12,000….oh, yeah, plus dental expenses. Go

> figure.

>

>

> Ok. Here we go!!

>

>

> * FIRST PLACE *

>

> This year’s runaway First Place Stella Award winner was: Mrs. Merv

> Grazinski, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, who purchased 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.

>

>

> Are we, as a society, getting more stupid….

> or are more members of Congress serving on juries these days?

>

Share on Facebook