Frivolous Lawsuits part 2of2

Welcome to part 2 of 2 of my blog about frivolous lawsuits. Lots of people believe they're only a stone's throw from striking it rich. All you need to do is check out the number of pioneers (the 49ers) traveling to California during the gold rush days in search of sudden wealth. Overland it was a dangerous trip that took several months. From Europe or Asia, it was a long ocean voyage. And from Europe, that only got you to the East Coast, there was still the journey all the way across the country to California. The completion of the trans-continental railroad was still twenty years away (1869).

However, the ultimate get-rich-quick scheme has evolved quite a bit since the time of our ancestors. In today's world, frivolous lawsuits might be one of the most popular techniques for gaining a sudden windfall of cash. When the consumer feels wronged, they have the power to fight back. But some take that power too far, and it's led to some pretty ridiculous lawsuits, as evidenced by the 12 examples listed here.

1. Landlord sues non-tenants: An Israeli couple was ready to sign the paperwork on a new rental. At least, that's what the landlord thought when the couple sent him a text that made it seem like they wanted the property. He'd assumed wrong. The landlord removed the property's ad, but it turned out that the couple wasn't as committed as he believed, and they backed out of the deal. The landlord, furious at being misled by the miscommunication, sued for the $2,000 in rent he lost. Surprisingly, the judge ruled in his favor!

2. Grandma sues Universal Studios: Every Halloween, Universal Studios put on an event known as "Horror Nights." Employees dressed up as ghouls, zombies, and serial killers and tried to spook park guests. Apparently it  was scary—just ask Cleanthi Peters. She allegedly sued for $15,000 when a costumed employee got a little too into his monster role and chased her and her granddaughter with a fake chainsaw. The case outcome was not reported.

3. Man sues Foster's: If you've turned on a TV in the past decade or so, you've probably seen a commercials for Foster's beer, complete with Aussie flags, kangaroos, and an accented narrator. A man named Leif Nelson had noticed. Apparently, it turned his world upside down when he learned that Fosters was brewed in Fort Worth, Texas and not in Australia. His life a lie, he sued the beer company for an unknown amount for their dishonesty. As of yet, the suit's result has not been published.

4. Man sues British Airways: In 2014, an American dentist planned a first-class flight on British Airways to the beautiful city of Granada, Spain. But the trip didn't quite go as planned. Nine hours after takeoff, the dentist was dismayed to find he wasn't in Granada, Spain, but the city of Grenada…in the Caribbean. The airline refused to refund his tickets, so he sued for $34,000 in damages. He lost the suit.

5. Woman sues Google Maps: One day, a woman needed walking directions, so she consulted Google Maps. Google suggested a route that had her walking down Utah's Deer Valley Drive. The problem? Deer Valley Drive, aka State Route 224, was not fit for foot traffic. There was nowhere to walk, but she gave it the ol’ college try anyway, which ended horrifically when a car smashed into her. She then sued Google for $100,000, but the court dismissed her claim.

6. Man sues New York City subway: A man decided to take his own life by jumping in front of a moving subway train. The passing train didn't kill him, but it did seriously wound him. His family claimed that the train conductor hadn't slowed down in time. The family sued for $650,000, and surprisingly, they won. Tragically, He jumped in front of another subway train years later. That time, he didn't make it.

7. Hellmann's sues competitor: If you have mayonnaise in your fridge, there's a good chance it's the Hellmann's brand, and the company wants to keep it that way. That's why they sued their competitor, Hampton Creek. Their reasoning, however, was a bit much. Mayonnaise is defined as an "egg-based spread," so when Hampton Creek released their egg-free mayonnaise, Hellmann cried foul. It wasn't actually  mayo, the company claimed, and saying otherwise was false advertising. They eventually dropped the suit.

8. Man sues McDonald's: In 2014, a California man had just finished pounding back a burger, fries, and an ice-cold Coke when he asked a cashier for more napkins. Then, life as he knew it, ended. The cashier allegedly mumbled something, and he took it to be racially discriminatory. He claimed his ensuing emotional distress left him unable to work, so he sued for $1.5 million. Some say he's still searching for a napkin. Either way, the case was unresolved.

9. Woman sues Starbucks: Have you ever ordered an expensive coffee only to find you got less than you ordered? A Chicago woman had, many times, and it frustrated her enough to take legal action. She sued Starbucks for $5 million, claiming the company misrepresented the amount of actual drink in a venti-sized iced coffees. The lawsuit didn't get far. As Starbucks had tweeted out a year earlier, if she wanted less ice, she only had to ask. Because of this, a judge threw out the case.

10. Judge sues dry cleaner: Washington D.C. judge took his pants to the dry cleaner, and because the store had a "Satisfaction Guaranteed" sign hanging in the lobby, he knew his pants were in the right hands. Or were they? The judge never received the correct pair of pants, so naturally, he sued the family-owned dry cleaner for $54 million. He represented himself during the civil case, and, no joke, worked himself into a tearful frenzy during his testimony. He lost his suit (and his pants).

11. Man sues Jack Murphy Stadium and San Diego: While at a Billy Joel Concert at a San Diego arena, the man had to use the bathroom. So, he strolled over to the restroom, went in, and saw something that, evidently, scarred him. He didn't realize the bathrooms at the stadium were unisex, so upon entering the restroom of his choice, he saw a woman peeing in a urinal. Frightened by what he saw, he held his bathroom urge for four hours and sued the stadium and city for $54 million. He lost the suit.

12. Man sues Michael Jordan: Have you ever had someone mistake you for Michael Jordan? Apparently, a man had, and it totally ruined his life so he sued the basketball legend. He sued Jordan for $416 million, an amount he pulled from thin air—it just felt right to him that Jordan should pay big money for "stealing his likeness." He officially filed the suit, but dropped it after a visit from Nike's lawyers. [Unless someone has had plastic surgery to purposely make him or her look like a specific celebrity, I don't see how two unrelated people physically looking alike can be lawsuit material.]

While there's always more to the story than meets the eye, these lawsuits sure seem frivolous! Were they get-rich-quick schemes or truly an instance where someone was wronged? 

Frivolous Lawsuits part 1 of 2

Is the U.S. the most lawsuit-happy country in the world? Am I the only one who is sick and tired of reading/hearing about frivolous lawsuits where people are suing someone (or more often a company that they assume has deep pockets) for something that's the result of their own stupidity or carelessness? Apparently it's easier to sue someone rather than take responsibility for their own actions. Of course, the humor element of the lawsuit content is fun, but the reality of the cost to tax payers and having the court calendar bogged down isn't funny. It just seems to me that in the last few decades frivolous lawsuits have skyrocketed—not only in number, but also in how ludicrous and ridiculous they are. There is the reality that many reports of frivolous lawsuits are nothing more than social media internet hoaxes, but there are as many that are legitimate.

Ever wonder why those weird warnings are sometimes on the packages of items you purchase? Things like telling you not to operate various electrical appliances while in the bathtub. Or not to drink the contents in the ink bottles of the tank printers, something that seems so blatantly obvious that it shouldn't require a special warning. But, obviously the manufacturer was sued at some time by someone who did just that.

And why the warning to tell you that hot coffee is actually hot? Well, that goes back to another lawsuit.

I think my conscious disgust with frivolous lawsuits dates back to the infamous McDonald's hot coffee lawsuit of several years ago. Woman buys a cup of coffee at McDonalds then puts the cup between her legs in her car so she could have both hands free to drive. Well…surprise, surprise…the coffee spilled and she suffered burns. Needless to say, she certainly didn't take any responsibility for what happened. After all, it was McDonald's fault because their hot coffee was actually hot rather than just warm and not the fact that she did something blatantly stupid. So she sued them. And the clincher is that a jury awarded her an obscene amount of money thus rewarding her for her poor decision making and stupid actions.

And here's one I read in a news report. In March 2012, a man died of heart failure while engaged in a threesome with a woman (not his wife) and another man. The dead man's family sued his cardiologist claiming the doctor should have warned him not to become involved in strenuous physical activity. The man had been to the cardiologist the week before with chest pains. The doctor determined he was at high risk of having clogged heart arteries and ordered a nuclear stress test for 8 days later. The threesome and the man's death occurred the day before the scheduled stress test. The jury awarded the man's family $3 million in damages even though the doctor had instructed his patient to "avoid strenuous activity until after the nuclear stress test was completed." Apparently he should have explained the obvious, that avoiding strenuous activity included such stress as participating in a sexual threesome.

And there's the guy who, in 1991, tried to sue Anheuser-Busch for $10,000 because, after drinking large quantities of Bud Light, beautiful women didn't come to life in tropical settings and pursue him like they did in the commercials.

As we all know, staged haunted houses at Halloween are there for the specific purpose of scaring people. But in 2000 a woman sued Universal Studios for $15,000 because their Halloween Horror Nights Haunted House caused her "extreme fear, mental anguish, and emotional distress." Makes you wonder exactly what she thought something called Halloween Horror Nights Haunted House would be.

A woman sued Starbucks for serving her tea that was "unreasonably hot." Makes you wonder which came first…McDonalds or Starbucks?

A woman sued a television station for predicting fair weather. Because of the forecast, she dressed in light clothes but later that day the weather turned cooler and it rained. She ended up sick and had to miss work so she sued for $1000. Bottom line, she sued over an act of nature…and won.

A man living in Minnesota thinks he's a god of some sort. He became upset after seeing David Copperfield and David Blaine perform their magic acts and sued both of them for using his "godly powers." (this is me shaking my head in disbelief)

Two teen girls in Colorado decided to bake some cookies and share them with neighbors. One neighbor woman was so shocked by two 15-year-old girls at her door at 10:30pm that she had an anxiety attack. She sued for medical expenses and won $930 to cover the expense of her trip to the emergency room but was denied money for "pain and suffering."

And here's a truly bizarre one. A woman standing on a train platform was pelted by portions of an unfortunate young man who had just been hit by an oncoming train. She tried to sue the victim but the judge dismissed the suit because the young man had no way of knowing where his body parts were going to land…due to the fact that he was dead.

A fugitive murder suspect kidnapped a couple and claimed he entered into a verbal contract with them where they would hide him from the law in exchange for an unspecified amount of money. The couple turned him in and during the subsequent arrest he was shot. The couple sued the fugitive for $75,000 for trespassing, intrusion, and emotional distress. He countersued for $235,000 claiming the couple violated their verbal contract with him. The judge dismissed the fugitive's counterclaim because the couple could not have entered into that contract as hiding a fugitive was illegal.

And that's just a sampling of the idiocy clogging our legal system. It does make you wonder how any legitimate legal business get resolved.

Check back next week for part 2 of 2 showing frivolous lawsuits.