14 Unbelievable Lawsuits that actually happened
Best Laid Plans
A man attempts to kill himself by jumping in front of a subway in New York City. His plan fails, however, and he lives through the incident. When he recovers, he sues the city of New York for $650,000. Why? Because the train hit him.
.
Man Sues Himself
In 1995, a prisoner by the name of Robert Lee Brock sued himself for $5 million. He claimed he was entitled to sue himself because he had violated his own civil rights, as well as his religious beliefs, when he allowed himself to get drunk and commit crimes of grand larceny. At the time of this lawsuit, he was serving a 23-year sentence for his crimes. Brock claimed that because he was a ward of the state and was therefore prevented from earning an income, the state should have to pay the $5 million he owed himself. This case was immediately thrown out. Just more proof that prisoners have WAY too much time on their hands…
.
Oops
In Naples, Italy, a young man and his girlfriend were engaging in *ahem* “amorous activity” in the back of his little car when it was rear-ended by a large car. According to the man, the impact from the collision caused them to momentarily lose control, resulting in pregnancy. The couple sought compensation not only for car repairs, but also for the cost of the wedding that the couple decided to have after discovering his girlfriend was pregnant.
.
Be Careful Who You Marry
A woman sued her fiance when he broke off their seven-week engagement. A jury awared her a total of $150,000 in damages; $83,000 was for “pain and suffering,” $60,000 for loss of income while she pursued this case, and $7,000 for psychiatric counseling. That’s pretty bad, but think about how much he’d be paying if he actually married her…
.
Beer = Beautiful Women?
In 1991, a Michigan man sued Anheuser-Busch for false and misleading advertising. He also claimed that he suffered personal injury as a result of the false advertisement. In his complaint, he referenced a Bud Light commercial in which two beautiful women come to life for a couple of Budweiser truck drivers. Because this didn’t happen to him when he drank the beer, he claimed that these false advertisements caused him emotional distress, mental injury, and financial loss. He sued in excess of $10,000. The court dismissed all his claims.
.
Nebraska Senator Sues God
Nebraska State Senator, Ernie Chambers, filed a lawsuit against God last year, claiming he made terroristic threats against the occupants of Omaha. He also said that God inspired fear while causing “wide spread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of Earth’s inhabitants.” Douglas County District Court
Judge, Marlon Polk, ruled that the plaintiff must have access to the defendant in order for the lawsuit to hold. Considering the circumstances, that proved to be a little difficult. Senator Chambers, however, claimed that because God is a recognized figure in the courts and is omniscent, he is already aware of the lawsuit against him and is therefore subject to the rulings like anyone else
.
Turned gay after rear-end collision
A 27-year-old Michigan man was involved in a minor rear-end collision. Four years later, he sued the man who rear-ended him, claiming the accident caused a change in his sexuality. He no longer desired his wife and was unable to perform sexually. He claimed that the accident actually changed his entire personality, causing him to leave his wife, move in with his parents, and begin hanging out in gay bars. The worst part of this case? He actually won it! He was awarded $200,000 and his wife was awarded $25,000.
.
Michael Jordan Look-A-Like
In 2006, a man sued Michael Jordan as well as the founder of Nike, Phil Knight, for $832 million. He claimed that because he was often mistaken for the basketball star, he had suffered permanent damage, including defamation of character and emotional pain and suffering. He later dropped the lawsuit.
.
Haunted Houses Aren’t Supposed to be Scary, Right?
In 2000, a woman sued Universal Studios for $15,000, claiming that the studio’s Halloween Horror Nights haunted house caused her “extreme fear, mental anguish and emotional distress.” This poor woman. I mean, she had absolutely no idea what she was getting into, right? Who’d have thought…
.
Never Trust the Weatherman
A woman in Israel sued a tv station and it’s weatherman for $1,000 when the weatherman predicted a sunny day and it rained. She said that, because the forecast was clear, she left home underdressed. She then caught the flu, missed 4 days of work, spent $38 on medications and “suffered stress” as a result of a badly forecasted day.
.
The King Lives?
A Fort Worth man sued Elvis Presley Enterprises, claiming that Elvis was not actually dead. He contends that the King faked his death and ran off to live a normal life. How does he know this? He has frequent phone conversations with him.
.
Is It Supposed to Do That?
A convicted bank robber on parole walked into a bank, stated he had a bomb, and demanded the teller to give him all of the money. As trained, the teller obeyed, also slipping an anti-theft device into the bag with the money. The device released teargas, as intended, and the bank robber sued the bank for damages.
.
One Jackass Sues Another
A Montana man is suing Viacom, the media giant who produced the TV show “Jackass.” He claims the show, and later the movie, released in 2002, plagiarized his name, infringed on trademark, and defamed his good name. That name? Jack Ass. He had it legally changed from Bob Craft to Jack Ass in 1997 in order to “raise awareness about the dangers of drunken driving.” (How? Don’t ask me…) Jack Ass, the person, not the show, says he changed his name after his brother and a friend were killed in a car accident as the result of drunken driving. He’s seeking a minimum of $10 million in damages.
.
Burn, Baby, Burn
A North Carolina man purchased 24 rare and expensive cigars. Because of their value, he decided to insure them…against fire. The man smoked all of his cigars in less than a month and had yet to make a single payment on his fire insurance. He filed a claim against the insurance company, stating that he had lost his cigars in a “series of small fires.” The insurance company obviously refused to pay, believing that he had simply used the cigars as intended. The man won his case against the insurance company because they failed to specify the type of fire the cigars were insured against. Because they failed to define an “unacceptable fire,” the insurance company accepted the ruling against them and paid the man $15,000 for the cigars he had lost in the “fire.” However, the best part of this story is yet to come. Shortly after the man cashed the check, the insurance company countered and had him arrested on 24 counts of arson. The man was sentenced to 24 consecutive 1-year prison sentences.
OBS: This story apparently is an “urban legend”. This legend began its Internet life after it was posted to the newsgroup alt.smokers.cigars in early 1996, and it has continued to circulate as a “true story” in newsgroups and e-mail
Related posts:
|
|
|||||
|
