The Stella Awards
The 'Stellas' are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled
coffee on herself and successfully sued McDonalds. That case inspired
the Stella awards for the most frivolous successful lawsuits in the
United States. Unfortunately, the most recent lawsuit implicating
McDonald's, the teen's who allege that eating at McDonald's 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 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)
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.
5th Place (tie)
Terrence doodle 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, and
Mr. doodle 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 neighbour'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
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.
1st Place
This year's run away 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 R. V. 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 recreation vehicles.
Now, everyone --->
Yeah the American legal system isn't quite what you would call perfect. Other places in the world have better legal systems than the US.
.
). so, i'm choosing betwen Siemens M65 and Sony Ericsson K700i. on the first hand the M65 is very well bulit and is very weather resistant. and i think the color doesn't get peeled of as easy as this happened to my K500i. i'm worried that it will be the same with the K700i. on the other hand the K700i has a radio player, supports mp3 files, has a camera with flash, you can use it as a remote control of your TV etc. i heard both have a poor battery lifetime, but i also heard you can make the battery last longer.
but i'll se tomorrow what the shop near me offers... 
)
