Every year, the "Stella" awards are given to the most outlandish lawsuits of
the year. The award is named for Stella Liebeck, the Albuquerque, N.M.
woman who became an instant millionaire after spilling a cup of McDonald's
coffee in her lap and winning a judgment against the fast-food chain.Winners:
1. January 2000: 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 amok inside a furniture store. The owners of the store were
understandably surprised at the verdict, considering the misbehaving little
boy was Ms. Robertson's son.
2. June 1998: 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.
3. October 1998: Terrence Dickson 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, because 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. Mr. Dickson 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. Mr.
Dickson sued the homeowner's insurance claiming the situation caused him
undue mental anguish. The jury agreed to the tune of half a million dollars.
4. October 1999: Jerry Williams of Little Rock Arkansas was awarded $14,500
and medical expenses after being bitten on the buttocks by his next door
neighbor's beagle. The beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced-in yard.
The award was less than sought because the jury felt the dog may have been
provoked by Mr. Williams who, at the time, was shooting it repeatedly with a
pellet gun.
5. December 1997: 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.
6. August 2001: Diana Du Bois, an author, who resided in a fourth-floor
rent stabilized apartment in a building which had seven units. Du Bois
claimed that apartment management caused her to have emotional distress for
being unable to live normally in her own home. Du Bois contended that
problems such as noise and dust were unavoidable consequences of
construction on other apartments in the building which was being renovated.
She was offered $50,000 and for her surrender of the apartment. The Du Bois
asked for $930,000. The jury awarded $700,000.
