From hot coffee to celebrity look-a-likes to unwanted record holding distinctions, the courts are jammed with what many consider to be unorthodox lawsuits.
Posted on 05/26/2009 4:06:37 PM PDT by JoeProBono
After hearing the Guinness Book of World Records planned to name him the most litigious man, one federal prisoner did what he does best -- he sued. From hot coffee to celebrity look-a-likes to unwanted record holding distinctions, the courts are jammed with what many consider to be unorthodox lawsuits.
Jonathan Lee Riches' rambling lawsuit against the record-holding institution and several others is just the latest in his growing stash of outrageous court filings against everyone from New England Patriot's coach Bill Belichick to Martha Stewart. But Riches is not alone in trying up the legal system. Sometimes the coffee is just too hot. Or the the dry cleaners lost a favorite pair of pants. Sometimes, like one Colorado inmate who hurt himself rappelling down a jail wall claimed, sheriff's officials made escaping a little too easy. Hundreds of lawsuits are filed every day in the United States, for claims ranging from legitimate to ridiculous.
A survey of 34 state court systems found 433,000 new tort cases in 2006, down from 547,000 in 1997, according to the National Center for State Courts. A woman famously sued McDonald's in the early 1990s after she spilled scalding coffee on her legs. A jury awarded her more than $2 million, which was reduced by a judge. A Michael Jordan look-alike sued Nike and Jordan for $862 million because he found it distressing to be mistaken for the basketball star. He dropped his suit after a wave of negative news articles.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
From hot coffee to celebrity look-a-likes to unwanted record holding distinctions, the courts are jammed with what many consider to be unorthodox lawsuits.
Oh FUN! I was specifically named in a lawsuit by this guy as well as several other employees, and the company I worked for at the time. Blast from the past.
Oh yea and he lost that one too.
Some people have way too much free time.
Someone needs to strangle that overly-litigious freak and save the system a lot of money and headaches.
Sound crass? I don’t care.
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