In USA there is an award named Stella Liebeck. The award got its name from 79-year-old woman Stella Liebeck, who spilled a cup of hot coffee on herself in McDonalds and received 4,5 millions dollars compensation because they didn’t warn her the coffee is hot. This award is granted to people who dare to claim record compensation in the court for ridiculous claims. Here’s the list of 5 first places.
5th place (shared between 3 candidates)
Kathleen Robertson (Austin, Texas) claimed $780.000 compensation, because she tripped and broke her ankle over a baby, who was lying on the floor in the furniture store. The owner of the store calmly accepted the verdict although the baby was Kathleen’s son.
19-year-old Carl Truman (Los Angeles, California) claimed $74.000 compensation and medical indemnity, because his neighbour drove through his hand. Truman didn’t see him in the car while he was trying to steal his hubcaps.
Terence Dickson (Bristol, Pennsylvania) tried to escape through the garage of the house he just robbed. He couldn’t open the garage door and the door to the house locked themselves behind him. Dickson had to wait 8 days for the owner to come home from the holiday. He survived eating dog food and drinking Coca-Cola. The court gave him $500.000 compensation for his mental pains. The compensation was paid from owner’s breaking and entering insurance fee.
4th place
Jerry Williams (Little Rock, Arkansas) claimed $14.500 compensation and all his medical expenses returne, because his neighbour’s dog bit him in the ass. The compensation wasn’t to high because the jury thought that Williams didn’t necessary have to climb over the fence and then shoot at the dog with air gun repeatedly.
3rd place
A restaurant in Philadelphia had to pay $113.500 to Amber Carson (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) who slipped on the puddle and broke her rump. The liquid on the floor was the drink that Carson threw into her friend’s face 30 minutes before.
2nd place
Kara Walton (Clymont, Delaware) fell from the window of the bathroom of some discotheque and chipped two front teeth. They paid the expenses for the dentist and compensation of $12.000. She fell attempting to sneak into the place to save the entry fee of $3,50.
1st place
The first place without a doubt goes to Merv Grazinski (Oklahoma City). RV manufacturer Winnebago MotorHomes had to pay for a new RV and a compensation of $1.750.000. On the way home from football game Grazinski set RV’s speed control to 80mph and then left the driver’s seat to go back to the vehicle and make himself a cup of coffee.
The vehicle crashed and turned on the roof. Grazinski explained himself saying that instruction manual didn’t warn him that even if the speed control is on, he can’t leave the driver’s seat. Manufacturer changed the manual expecting these kind of stupid drivers.
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ianrey
These are all fake, you know. The ‘cruise control’ legend is particularly fake, invented by Walter Williams, substitute host of the Rush Limbaugh show, in order to prove we need ‘tort reform’ in the US to protect us from the ‘trial lawyers’ who are destroying society. What’s interesting to me is that people who make this claim have to resort to inventions and urban legends to prove their case. The truth is, there are very few big jury awards out there for such stupid things, and typically the ones people do know about (the McDonald’s coffee one being the most obvious), they don’t know the details and never bother to find out. As for me, I’m all for the “Trial Lawyers” out there protecting people from real, predatory companies that calculate human lives as the cost of doing business, it’s the “Corporate Lawyers” that cause the most harm.