[JohnN]

It's time for the annual " Stella Awards"! For those unfamiliar, 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. Here are the Stella's for this year:

7th 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.

6th 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.

5th PLACE - Terrence Dickson, of Bristol, CT, 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.

4th PLACE - Jerry Williams, of Little Rock, Arkansas, 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

3rd 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.

2nd PLACE - Kara Walton, of Claymont, Delaware sued the owner of a night club in a nearby city when 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.

1st PLACE - This year's runaway First Place Stella Award winner was: Mrs. Merv Grazinski, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, who purchased a 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, in case Mrs. Grazinski has any relatives who might also buy a motor home.
-------
In closing, I was both surprised and disappointed that no Villagers made the Stella's Top 10. C'mon gang, dig deep and try harder.

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by JohnN

It's time for the annual " Stella Awards"! For those unfamiliar, 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. Here are the Stella's for this year:

7th 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.

6th 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.

5th PLACE - Terrence Dickson, of Bristol, CT, 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.

4th PLACE - Jerry Williams, of Little Rock, Arkansas, 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

3rd 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.

2nd PLACE - Kara Walton, of Claymont, Delaware sued the owner of a night club in a nearby city when 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.

1st PLACE - This year's runaway First Place Stella Award winner was: Mrs. Merv Grazinski, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, who purchased a 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, in case Mrs. Grazinski has any relatives who might also buy a motor home.
-------
In closing, I was both surprised and disappointed that no Villagers made the Stella's Top 10. C'mon gang, dig deep and try harder.

Hope these are posted as comedy as they are fictional as far as I can tell.

Just a moment...

[Chi-Town]

The Stella Awards were from 2020. Fun but....

Just a moment...

[Caymus]

I thought this thread was about beer

[Stu from NYC]

No matter still funny

[Chi-Town]

Originally Posted by Caymus

I thought this thread was about beer

I was there for this in 2007. Stella Artois sponsored it. It was crazy.

Best "Stella!" Yell Wins Round-Trip Airfare & More At Metropolis' "Stella! Contest" - Theatre News - Theatre In Chicago

[manaboutown]

Stella Award - The Top Frivolous Lawsuits

[Polarlys]

Yes they do generate a chuckle but they've been popping up on the internet for many years. Yes, the same ones. But then we all know if they are on the internet they MUST be true. Makes for humorous reading in these very troubled times so ENJOY

[JohnN]

Originally Posted by Taltarzac725

Hope these are posted as comedy as they are fictional as far as I can tell.

Just a moment...

Well, Tal, the thread is under "just for fun" so you may guess how I think about it.
Though you know, if it's on the internet, it must be true.

[hypart]

In the Liebeck v McDonald's case, she did not win that money. It was punitive damages. Punitive damages are awarded to the government and state.

The reason the jury awarded punitive damages is because other older consumers had also burned themselves by spilling hot coffee leading to severe injury.

The reason McDonald's lost punitive damages is due to the fact their coffee was 10 degrees hotter than any other coffee in the industry. They knew that when people were spilling coffee it was leading to severe burns. They didn't care. And older consumers are more vulnerable than others since they have much softer skin leading to severe injury.

This case is often ridiculed for being frivolous. But once you consider the facts that were presented in the trial, it is not. You may not agree with the jury, but the conclusion was within reason.

[sloanst]

We truly are a country of idiots. How do these people get into the jury pool?

[deborahcme]

We are all too savvy now to be taken in by the "Stella awards" which seem to perennially pop up on the web. From the headline, I, too, thought it was going to be about beer or possibly A Streetcar Name Desire. Har, har! Fun to read with the AM coffee tho!

[phojo]

I don’t blame these idiots, instead the blame goes to the scumbag lawyers who won (and shared) these outlandish awards.

[Transplant]

You should probably Google what really happened with the McDonald's coffee. The health inspector cited them prior to this about their coffee was too hot. Yup. They were ordered to turn it down but ignored it. That person underwent 2 or 3 skin graphs.

[The Chipster]

Sadly, many Villagers reading these awards will think they are true.