Only in America I hope

[bodgit]

Only in America!!

1. January 2000: Kathleen Robertson of Austin Texas was awarded $780,000.00 by a
jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was
running amuck inside a furniture store. The owners of the store were
understandably surprised at the verdict, considering the misbehaving tike was
Ms. Robertson's son.

2. June 1998: A 19 year old Carl Truman of Los Angeles won $74,000.00 and
medical expenses when his neighbor ran his hand over with a Honda Accord. Mr.
Truman apparently didn't notice that someone was at the wheel of the car whose
hubcap he was trying to steal.

3. October 1998: A Terrence Dickson of Bristol Pennsylvania was exiting a house
he 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 reenter the house because the door connecting the house and garage
locked when he pulled it shut. The family was on vacation, so 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. This upset Mr.Dickson, so he sued the
homeowner's insurance company claiming that the situation caused him undue
mental anguish. The jury agreed to the tune of half a million dollars and
change.

4. October 1999: Jerry Williams of Little Rock Arkansas was awarded $14,500.00
and medical expenses after being bitten on the buttocks by his next door
neighbor's beagle. The beagle was on a chain in it's owner's fenced-in yard, as
was Mr. Williams. The award was less than sought after because the jury felt
that the dog may have been provoked by Mr. Williams who, at the time, was
shooting it repeatedly with a pellet gun.

5. May 2000: A Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber Carson of
Lancaster, Pennsylvania $113,500.00 after she slipped on a spilled soft drink
and broke her coccyx. The beverage was on the floor because Ms.Carson threw it
at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument.

6. 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 $12,000.00 and dental expenses.

And just so you know that cooler heads do occasionally prevail:

7. Kenmore Inc., the makers of Dorothy Johnson's microwave, were found not
liable for the death of Mrs. Johnson's poodle after she gave it a bath and
attempted to dry it by putting the poor creature in her microwave for, "just a
few minutes, on low," The case was quickly dismissed.