STELLA LIEBECK AWARD

To the eternal fame of 81-year-old Stella Liebeck, who spilled a cup of coffee on herself at McDonalds and was subsequently awarded $4.5 million in damages for failing to point out that the coffee was hot, the STELLA-LIEBECK PRIZE is now awarded annually to those who, with ingenious audacity, sought and received damages in court in the respective past year.

The 5th place award is shared by three candidates:

Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas, was awarded $780,000 in damages by a jury for breaking her ankle in a furniture store after tripping and falling over an infant crawling on the floor.

The store owners took note of the verdict composedly but incredulously, since the infant was the plaintiff's son.

Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles, was awarded $74,000 in damages for pain and suffering and reimbursement for medical expenses because a neighbor ran over his hand with his Honda Accord. Mr. Truman apparently had overlooked the neighbor behind the wheel of the car when he tried to steal his hubcaps.

Terence Dickson of Bristol, Pennsylvania attempted to exit the house he had just robbed through the garage.

However, he was unable to open the garage door.

He was also unable to get into the house because the connecting door to the garage had fallen into lock.

Mr. Dickson had to stay in the garage for 8 days because the owners of the house were on vacation.

He subsisted on a case of Pepsi-Cola and a large bag of dog food.

The court awarded him $500,000 in damages for the mental anguish he suffered, payable by the homeowner's burglary-theft insurance company.


4th place

Jerry Williams of Little Rock, Arkansas, was awarded $14,500 in pain and suffering and medical expenses because his neighbor's beagle bit him on the butt.

The award did not quite reach the required amount because the jury surprisingly concluded that Mr. Williams should not have climbed over the fence and shot the dog several times with his air pistol.


3rd place

A Philadelphia restaurant had to pay Ms. Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania $113,500 in damages for slipping on a puddle of drinks in the restaurant and breaking her tailbone.

The drink was on the floor because Ms. Carson had thrown it in her boyfriend's face 30 seconds earlier.


2nd Place

Kara Walton of Clymont/Delaware fell out of the restroom window of a nightclub and knocked out two front teeth.

She was awarded dental expenses and $12,000 in pain and suffering.

She had fallen while trying to cheat her way into the discotheque through the restroom window and save $3.50 on admission.


1st place (unanimous)


The undisputed winner of the Stella Award competition is: Mr. Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City.

The mobile home manufacturer Winnebago MotorHomes not only had to provide him with a new mobile home, but also pay him $1,750,000 in pain and suffering.

On his way home from a football game, Mr. Grazinski set his companion's cruise control to 110 mph and then left the driver's seat to make himself a cup of coffee in the back of the motorhome.

The RV promptly went off the road and overturned.

Mr. Grazinski based his claim on the fact that the motorhome's owner's manual did not indicate that one should not leave the driver's seat even with the cruise control on.

The manufacturer - in anticipation of more fools - has since changed the operating instructions.