Way to Russia Talk Lounge

Paul Holmes · VIP Joined: 12 Apr 2005 Posts: 973

If you are stupid, it is the place to live, because they reward stupidity

Stella Awards: Proof of "entitlement mentality"
> It's time again for the annual "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 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 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 Stellas 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, EIGHT, 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 Stellas 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 people 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.
> > joy greenidge

Crabman · Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:40 pm Post subject:

To answer your question, perhaps because too many people believe everything they read.

http://www.snopes.com/legal/lawsuits.asp

staleek · Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 9:39 am Post subject:

Even so, the need for tort reform in this country is great, no matter what. Yes, the Stella Liebeck case falls under the "sad, but true" category, but there are plenty of real, very similar jury awards out there. (Not necessarily those on the list provided, as snopes points out.)

The problem, IMHO, rests squarely on the judges who are afraid of throwing out frivolous lawsuits, for fear of setting precedents.

Paul Holmes · VIP Joined: 12 Apr 2005 Posts: 973

The failure in the states that the individual rights outweighs the rights of all. 19 out of 20 child molesters will reoffend, but yet we allow them on the streets again. Why? for the rights of the 1-20 we sacrifice our child?

Russia is the opposite. Where individual right can be taken in a second and court system is corrupt.

007India · Frequent Guest Joined: 13 Dec 2007 Posts: 70

In addition to this, a drunken woman complained to police when his just sworn newly wed husband, accidentally made a wound on her lips during bedroom adventures. the jury awarded huge sum to the woman + with a condition, without her permission the hubby can not approach her.

wow, one can simply make billions without doing any work. May be in future, hubbies can even face a divorce notice if they failed to allow her to date with her neighbor and this can be treated as against to freedom of movement.

A land of opportunities.

darthvader · WayToRussified Joined: 09 Dec 2005 Posts: 378

MelissaCato · Lounge Lizard Joined: 27 Dec 2006 Posts: 173

Don't forget the Great Great Prescott Bush back in 1913 ... "we the people" haven't been electing these crooks ... they are appointed.
The 2008 election Media coverage and Black Box voting proved this ...
America is HiJacked. It will take a World War to save us. Sad but True.

bernhard_riemann · Frequent Guest Joined: 15 Sep 2004 Posts: 38

Frivolous lawsuits really aren't so bad. These laws/rulings may not make sense but basically business laws heavily favor the consumer (always). it greases the wheels of commerce. And out of the thousands of lawyers and hundreds of thousands of lawsuits in the U.S.--these are a few rare rulings. This was processed in an organized system where humans made judgement, not computers nor paper forms.
And, the larger the class action lawsuit--usually the larger the company they're all suing. It's a level playing field. I don't know why people would think elsewhere in Russia and Europe it may be better. I would say it is only different.

Miami · WayToRussified Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 332

jo jo 7 · Posted: Mon May 26, 2008 1:25 pm Post subject:

Miami · WayToRussified Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 332

gomer · WayToRussified Joined: 30 Mar 2007 Posts: 438

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D910TUN80&show_article=1

'Half a vote' probably gets a good laugh at United Russia party meetings.

gomer · WayToRussified Joined: 30 Mar 2007 Posts: 438

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/06/04/dead-voters-still-showing-up-on-election-records-puzzling-officials/?ic

Probably voted by absentee ballot.

jo jo 7 · Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 4:09 am Post subject: