2015 Stella Awards

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 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.  So keep your head scratcher  handy. 
      
    Here are the Stella's for 2015  !!!! 



  * SEVENTH 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. 
    
    Start scratching! 
    
    * SIXTH PLACE * 
    
    
   Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles, California won $74,000 plus 
   medical expenses when his neighbour 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 neighbour's hubcaps. 
    
    Scratch some more... 
  
  
   
    * FIFTH 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, 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.  
      


   Keep scratching. There are more... 
  
   Double hand scratching after this one.. 
    
    
    * FOURTH 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 neighbour'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. 
    
    
    Pick a new spot to scratch, you're getting a bald spot.. 
     
  
  
    * THIRD 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 dink 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. 
     
    Only two more so ease up on the scratching... 
   
   
*SECOND 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. 
     
    Ok. Here we go!! 
    
    
    * FIRST PLACE * ~ absolutely brilliant! 
    

    This year's runaway First Place Stella Award winner was: Mrs. Merv  
    Grazinski, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, who purchased  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 over turned.  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.

craigb
So, what I'm getting from all this, is that the Cakewalk forums need a "Beware of Beagle!" warning sign, ya? 

yorolpal
So I'm sure you looked up all these on Snopes before posting...right?

craigb
So, what I'm getting from all this, is that the Cakewalk forums need a "Beware of Beagle!" warning sign, ya? 

Ham N Egz
 
The author does have a book/blog  on REAL travesties of justice, however.. 

bitflipper
Who do I sue for making me fritter away an hour a day on this forum? I coulda been a contender! I coulda been somebody!