Stella's Awards

joec

New member
Gold Site Supporter
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 the 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 f or 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 Stella's for the past 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.

Go ahead, grab your head scratcher.

5th 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, 8, days 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...

4th 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.

Grrrrr. Scratch, scratch.

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. What ever happened to poople being responsible for their own actions?

Scratch, scratch, scratch. Hang in there; there are only two more Stellas to go...

2nd 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.

1st PLACE: (May I have a fanfare played on 50 kazoos, please?)

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, just in case Mrs. Grazinski has any relatives who
might also buy a motor home.

Are we, as a society, getting more stupid...?
 

Mama

Queen of Cornbread
Site Supporter
You really have to wonder what some people are thinking. I don't blame the stupid people who bring the lawsuits as much as the stupid people on the jury who award their stupid behavior.
 

joec

New member
Gold Site Supporter
I have to agree and it makes one wonder how their minds work in general.
 

Calicolady

New member
Why can't I think up something like this? Oh yeah, I'd trip over my brain, and who would I sue?
 
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BamsBBQ

Ni pedo
Site Supporter
1st PLACE: (May I have a fanfare played on 50 kazoos, please?)

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, just in case Mrs. Grazinski has any relatives who
might also buy a motor home.

Are we, as a society, getting more stupid...?

i wonder if Coachman RV's have changed there owners manuals?? i could use a new rv and some cash..lmfao:yum::yum::yum:
 

Mama

Queen of Cornbread
Site Supporter
Why can't I think up something like this? Oh yeah, I'd trip over my brain, and who would I sue?

Apparently you have to get creative....maybe the lady with the RV...if she hadn't gotten so much money, you wouldn't have been trying to think of ways to sue and you never would have tripped over your brain...besides, she may even be sympathetic.
 

Calicolady

New member
I was thinking of the mom tripping over her own kid. Why didn't she also sue for pain and suffering of the kid, He's tramatized for life, no? LOL!
 

Calicolady

New member
I don't know about the rest, but do know the McDonald's one is true, Wart.
What 'cha gotta go and try to burst the bubble for?
 

Wart

Banned
I don't know about the rest, but do know the McDonald's one is true, Wart.

Yes I know Stella is true, if often misrepresented.

The best of "propaganda' contains some truth and fact, it's what bootstraps the fabrication and makes the BS part believable.


What 'cha gotta go and try to burst the bubble for?

What bubble?

.
 

Maverick2272

Stewed Monkey
Super Site Supporter
Ya know, I was laughing as I typed this and accidently caught my nail on the space bar. Now I have to cut the nail so it is even again, so I am suing NCT for $1.75 for a pair of nail clippers since my kids took off with mine. Also $85 for a new keyboard as that is easier than replacing a broken space bar.

Oh, and don't forget the $1.8 million for undue suffering.....



Just kidding.... the keyboard is fine...
 

Maverick2272

Stewed Monkey
Super Site Supporter
You guys should read some of the ones researched there, actually worse than what was listed originally in some cases LOL!
Gotta love the judge nailing those lawyers, though!
 

joec

New member
Gold Site Supporter
I received this in email and though I would simply pass it along without any serious comments from me on it.

At any rate I sure didn't mean to start a fight with this so if one of the moderators wants please remove the whole tread please be my guest. From now on I will double check all facts before posting something even if I intended it as something humorous or to make people question. I will also stop joking with people on here as many have problems with emotions relating to the fact one is joking and are very thinned skinned.
 

Mama

Queen of Cornbread
Site Supporter
I received this in email and though I would simply pass it along without any serious comments from me on it.

At any rate I sure didn't mean to start a fight with this so if one of the moderators wants please remove the whole tread please be my guest. From now on I will double check all facts before posting something even if I intended it as something humorous or to make people question. I will also stop joking with people on here as many have problems with emotions relating to the fact one is joking and are very thinned skinned.

Let's just all have some hot cornbread with butter and honey....
 

Maverick2272

Stewed Monkey
Super Site Supporter
I see no reason to remove it or move it. Common people, ever watch the movie The Darwin Awards?? Who cares if they are real or not, damn funny watching it and imagining someone actually running off and doing it!
It's Chit Chat, not Seriously Speaking, let's lighten up and enjoy our day!
 

PieSusan

Tortes Are Us
Super Site Supporter
Accuracy and truth go hand in hand-- Your blanket disdain for my profession is unfounded in this case and I bet in most others "you have heard about from a friend" or "gotten an email about from a family member". I am not saying all lawyers are great but if you are going to talk about something, at least check out the facts.

If you go here:
http://www.lectlaw.com/files/cur78.htm
and read about the actual case, you will learn Stella was a passenger in the car and her grandson was driving. Also, after appeals the parties entered into a secret settlement agreement. So, besides the two parties and their counsel, no one will really know how that case ended.
 
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homecook

New member
Let's just all agree that it was a humorous post. Whether it was about lawyers, doctors, beauticians, blondes, fat women etc. There are jokes about every profession and type of person.

Maybe we should do without the jokes or chit chat so we don't offend ANYONE...........this is just getting plain ridiculous! I could take alot of things personally but I know it's all in jest. Just don't joke about us Pollacks..ok?
 

PieSusan

Tortes Are Us
Super Site Supporter
That wasn't my point, it was more about fact-checking, Barb. Before I pass on an email these days, I go to snopes and sites like that. Or I do not pass it on.

As for lawyer jokes, I was the first one to post 'em here.
 

sattie

Resident Rocker Lady
It was funny... I got it. Thanks for the laugh Joe! I know you were well intentioned!
 
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