Stella awards

The "Stella" awards rank up there with the Darwin
awards. Stella Liebeck is the 81 year old lady who
spilled coffee on herself and sued McDonalds.

This case inspired an annual award: The "Stella"
Award - for the most frivolous lawsuits in the U. S.




The following are this year's candidates:

1. January 2000: 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 brat was
Ms. Robertson's son.


2. June 1998: 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 hubcaps.


3. October 1998: A 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. 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 half
a million dollars.


4. October 1999: 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-in 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.
(The Beagle is a breed of small to medium-sized dog)



5. May 2000: 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 (commonly referred to as the tailbone,
is the final segment of the human vertebral column)
The beverage was on the floor because Ms. Carson
threw it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during
an argument.


6. December 1997: Kara Alton 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.


And the winner is:
Mr. Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City.
In November 2000 Mr. Grazinski purchased a brand new
32 foot Winnebago motor home. On his first trip home,
having joined 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 Winnie left the freeway,
crashed and overturned. Mr. Grazinski sued
Winnebago for not advising him in the handbook that
he couldn't actually do this.

He was awarded $1,750,000 plus a new Winnie.
(Winnebago actually changed their handbooks on the
back of their court case, just in case there are
any other complete morons buying their vehicles).


more surprises (awards) next year...