The annual “Stella Awards” have recently been announced. 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 coffee. She took the lid off the coffee and put it between her knees while she was driving and burned herself. The Stella Awards are the most outlandish lawsuits and verdicts in the U.S. this past year.
The first place 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. 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.
If you are ever in need of an experienced person injury attorney for a true personal injury claim, keep the Law Offices of Robert D. Ahearn, P.C. in mind. We have over 27 years of experience handling serious personal injury claims.
