Top 10 Stupid Lawsuits

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sandman67
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Top 10 Stupid Lawsuits

Post by sandman67 »

From todays Times

1) During the 1990s Budweiser ran a series of adverts where two beautiful women appeared in front of two truck drivers drinking the brew.

Michigan man Richard Overton promptly bought a case of the beer, drank it and waited -- but no hot babes appeared. Cue lawsuit. Overton cited emotional distress and mental injury due to false advertising and wanted over $10,000 in damages.

Thankfully, the court realised it would take a hell of a lot more than a case of Budweiser to get this loser a date and they decided to dismiss the case.

2) When all else fails, sue yourself - In 1995 Robert Lee Brock, a prison inmate in Virginia, claimed the crime he committed while drunk had violated his civil liberties and religious beliefs.

The penniless prisoner sued himself for $5m in the hope the state would be forced to pay on his behalf. The case was dismissed and proved prisoners serving 23-year-sentences have far too much time on their hands.

3) The $65m pants - When Roy Pearson's neighbourhood dry cleaner misplaced his trousers he demanded compensation -- $65m worth to be exact.

He not only claimed "mental suffering, inconvenience and discomfort" but that the Satisfaction Guaranteed and Same Day Service signs in the dry cleaners represented fraud. Luckily Pearson, himself a judge, was not presiding over his own case and not only lost his pants and the case, but, eventually, his job as a judge.

4) Batman sues Batman - The mayor of Batman, a city in Turkey, is currently trying to sue Warner Brothers claiming the makers of the latest Caped Crusader movie The Dark Knight used his city's name without permission.

Mayor Huseyin Kalkan is also blaming the moviemakers for a number of unsolved murders and a high female suicide rate, which he claims are due to the psychological impact the film's success has had on the city's inhabitants.

5)
The playboy pensioner - German playboy pensioner Rolf Eden (77) tried to sue 19-year-old Katharina Weiss in 2007 after she refused to sleep with him. His problem? Ageism. Eden claimed the teenager told him he was too old for her when the two arrived back in his place after a night out on the tiles.

6) Hit and sue - Spanish businessman Tomas Delgado tried to take the family of the 17-year-old boy he had killed when driving his Audi to court in 2004 over the dents left on his car. Even though speeding, Delgado was not prosecuted because the victim had been cycling at night without reflectors. Public pressure eventually forced him to drop the case.

7) You're too famous! Michael Jordan lookalike Allen Heckard tried to sue Nike for $832m for making Jordan so recognisable it caused him permanent injury, emotional pain and suffering. CBS called the legal action "so outrageous that it actually gives frivolous lawsuits a bad name".

8) Natural born suers - In 1996 the parents of Patsy Ann Byers sued Oliver Stone, claiming his movie Natural Born Killers resulted in the shooting of their daughter.

Byers was left paralysed after two thugs went on a crime spree after watching the movie. Their case was eventually shot to pieces by Stone's lawyers and dismissed in 2001.

9) Give me my kidney back! - Richard Batista decided enough was enough when his cheating wife presented him with divorce papers.

He promptly decided to force her to return the kidney he had given her eight years previously to save her life or pay $1.5m. She had ripped out his heart and now he wanted her to rip out his kidney.

10) The sound of silence

Music publishers for the late avant-garde composer John Cage sued Mike Batt for plagiarism in 2002. They claimed Batt's song, 'A Minute's Silence,' ripped off Cage's '4'33,' which also contained absolutely no music or vocals.

Even though copyrighting silence would seem to be impossible, Batt agreed to settle the case out of court by paying a six-figure amount. Silence, it seems, is not only golden but it is also potentially worth millions.
my personal favorite is not in there.....

the case where a terminally stupid american bought a Winebago and while driving it down the highway noticed the "cruise control", which he duly engaged. He then stood up and walked into the back of said Winebago and made a cup of coffee, leaving the wheel unattended. Obviously this resulted in a rather large multi vehilce crash on the highway.

This prat sued the makers, saying he thought that cruise control was some form of auto-pilot for the truck that allowed the driver to leave the wheel.

The sick part....he won the case.

utter madness :cheers:
"Science flew men to the moon. Religion flew men into buildings."

"To sin by silence makes cowards of men."
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chelsea
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Post by chelsea »

Sandman, that guy with the motor home won what was called the Stella Awards which is an annual awards in the states for the most bizarre case of suing.
Here is the extract from that year 2005

"The "winner" every year: In November, Mr. Grazinski purchased a brand new 32 foot Winnebago motor home. On his first trip home, having joined 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 Winnie left the freeway, crashed and overturned.
Mr. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising him in the handbook that he could not actually do this. He was awarded $1,750,000 plus a new Winnebago.

Here is a link to the originating site.
http://www.stellaawards.com/2005.html
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Post by hhfarang »

I heard of a case years ago, also in the U.S. which is the lawsuit capital of the world imo, but haven't found any confirmation of it.

A woman tried to commit suicide by lying on a train track to let the train run over her. It did, but only cut her legs off and she survived as a double amputee. She sued the railway company for millions and won!

... and then there's the very famous McDonalds hot coffee lawsuit. A woman bought a cup of coffee at a McDonalds drive-up window and proceeded to spill it in her lap. It caused severe burns on her legs and she sued, saying the coffee was too hot, and won.
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