> It's time once again to review the winners of the
> annual "Stella Awards." The Stella's are named after
> 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who
> spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued
> McDonalds. That case inspired the Stella awards for
> the most frivolous, but successful
> lawsuits in the United States.
>
> Unfortunately, the most recent lawsuit implicating
> McDonalds b the teens who allege that eating at
> McDonalds has made them fat - was filed after the
> 2002 award voting was closed. This suit will top the
> 2003 list without question.
>
> Here are this year's winners:
>
> 5th 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
> amok 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.
>
> 5th Place tie:
>
> 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 that there was someone at the
> wheel of the car when he was trying to steal his
> neighbor's hubcaps.
>
> 5th 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 reenter 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.
>
> 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. 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 had
> climbed over the fence into the yard and 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 successfully sued
> the owner of a nightclub 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.
>
> 1st Place:
>
> This year's runaway winner was Mr. Merv Grazinski of
> Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Mr. Grazinski purchased a
> brand new 32-foot Winnebago motor
> home. On his first trip home, (from an OU football
> game), 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 RV 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
> recreational vehicles.
> annual "Stella Awards." The Stella's are named after
> 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who
> spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued
> McDonalds. That case inspired the Stella awards for
> the most frivolous, but successful
> lawsuits in the United States.
>
> Unfortunately, the most recent lawsuit implicating
> McDonalds b the teens who allege that eating at
> McDonalds has made them fat - was filed after the
> 2002 award voting was closed. This suit will top the
> 2003 list without question.
>
> Here are this year's winners:
>
> 5th 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
> amok 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.
>
> 5th Place tie:
>
> 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 that there was someone at the
> wheel of the car when he was trying to steal his
> neighbor's hubcaps.
>
> 5th 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 reenter 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.
>
> 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. 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 had
> climbed over the fence into the yard and 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 successfully sued
> the owner of a nightclub 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.
>
> 1st Place:
>
> This year's runaway winner was Mr. Merv Grazinski of
> Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Mr. Grazinski purchased a
> brand new 32-foot Winnebago motor
> home. On his first trip home, (from an OU football
> game), 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 RV 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
> recreational vehicles.
on a couple of those...
