Radio Candy Stunt Not So Sweet (Woman sues when "100 Grand" prize turns out to be chocolate bar)

The Smoking Gun ^ | 06-23-05 | The Smoking Gun

[rawhide]

JUNE 23--A Kentucky woman who thought she won $100,000 in a radio station giveaway is suing for breach of contract after learning that her prize was actually a Nestle's 100 Grand candy bar. According to the below June 22 Circuit Court complaint, Norreasha Gill, 28, claims that she was listening to Lexington's WLTO-FM on the evening of May 25 when host DJ Slick announced that he would award "100 Grand" to the tenth caller. When Gill, the pregnant mother of three children, was that tenth caller, the radio host told her she could pick up her prize the following day at WLTO's studio. She subsequently learned that the contest was a "joke," according to her lawsuit, which names the radio station's parent company, Cumulus Media, as a defendant. Gill's lawsuit seeks the $100,000 prize and additional punitive damages. The 22-year-old DJ Slick, whose real name is Jason Hamman, is no longer working for WLTO, a departure apparently hastened by the May stunt. Hamman, pictured at left, declined to speak about the "100 Grand" incident when contacted by phone today. In a May 25 blog posting promoting that night's giveaway, Hamman wrote that he would be presenting "our loyal listeners with a chance to Win 100 GRAND!!!! It's sitting in a bag to my left ready for someone to take off with just like the Runaway bride!" The tenth caller, he added, would be "100 GRAND RICHER!!! No joke."

[adam_az]

She should win, the DJ should be fired.

[hosepipe]

Hope she WINS the suit....
Making Liberals/RINOS re-think their logic has such a beauty to it..
Punitive charges should also be added..

[Publius6961]

Greed trumps the humor gene...

[Gefreiter]

I remember that. That was Opie and Anthony on WAAF like 10 years ago, nu?

[frgoff]

Yeah, it's funny because you aren't the butt of the joke. Practical jokes always laugh at somebody else's expense, and the sole purpose of jokes like this is to make somebody else look stupid and foolish so we can all laugh at them.

I hope the woman wins.

[Alberta's Child]

Don't be so sure about this.

Since on-air radio contests are very strictly regulated by the FCC and perhaps by individual states themselves (hence the lengthy disclaimers you always hear on these stations whenever they run a contest that involves large prizes), my guess is that she's going to win -- and rightfully so.

[boojumsnark]

Except of course, for the one third that will go to her lawyer and the additional percent that the IRS will reap.

Please note that the IRS will tax the entire $100,000, not just the $66,666.66 she will see. So subtract another $25,000 or so from her award.

[Phantom Lord]

Except of course, for the one third that will go to her lawyer and the additional percent that the IRS will reap.

And if I remember correctly, income taxes are paid on the FULL award, not net after lawyers get their cut. So at the end of the day, she is looking at having about $30K of the $100K.

[politicket]

...and rightfully so

Not to be blunt, but this sounds like it was written by a former Canadian who has no idea about American jurisprudence. Have you ever read Blackwell's Commentaries? If not, then do it and see if you still have the same opinion.

[Phantom Lord]

Sort of reminds me of an eBay auction a few years back. When XBox first came out a lady was having great trouble getting one for her son in her area. So she bid on one on eBay. The auction was for an XBox box.

Thats right, the box the XBox came in. She paid top dollar for it. She should have read the auction description better.

[reagan_fanatic]

If she wins the suit, does she have to give up the candy bar?

[politicket]

Yeah, it's funny because you aren't the butt of the joke. Practical jokes always laugh at somebody else's expense, and the sole purpose of jokes like this is to make somebody else look stupid and foolish so we can all laugh at them.

Do you realize how many practical jokes that I have had played on me in my life? If you can't laugh at good humor then you really have issues.

This woman should have hung up the phone and IMMEDIATELY began planning a couter-offensive joke against this radio show host. After all, it's not the quality of the joke that's played on you - it's the quality of your rebuttal...

[Rokurota]

Yeah, she could have had Mounds of money, but all she heard were the Snickers of the Goobers at the radio station. Looks like she'll just get Zero.

[stuartcr]

Better than no K$ and a candy bar.....

[Alberta's Child]

1. What does my background have to do with anything (and no, I'm not a "former Canadian")?

2. What do Blackwell's Commentaries on the Law (of England) have to do with American jurisprudence?

3. What is the legal distinction between an "on-air radio joke" and outright fraud (i.e., if a radio station promoted a contest with a cash prize but then refused to pay the winner)?

[lOKKI]

$30 K when you had $0K before isn't bad....

I think that she'll prevail. This kind of thing goes way back and seems to usually go in favor of the duped.

There was a famous case about a car dealer advertising a car for 2,500 banana's or something and somebody showed up with a pick-up truck full of bananas.. Courts held that the advertisement had to be honored

[savedbygrace]

The only time I received a court award, resulting from a vehicle collision case, I discovered the amount was not taxable. Where did you get your information that it's taxable?

If she had actually received $100,000 from the radio station's contest, that would certainly be taxable income, but I don't think a court awarded amount is.

But I could be wrong, I suppose.

[Alberta's Child]

This woman should have hung up the phone and IMMEDIATELY began planning a couter-offensive joke against this radio show host.

I'll bet the radio station would have filed charges against her if she crashed their server by sending 500 million e-mails, or depleted the ink in their fax machine by faxing them a black sheet of paper a couple of hundred times.

[Alberta's Child]

When you win a civil case for damages, the award is not taxable because it is compensating you for something that you "lost." If this woman wins a case against the radio station, she'll be receiving a cash prize instead of an injury/damages settlement.

[Publius6961]

The only time I received a court award, resulting from a vehicle collision case, I discovered the amount was not taxable. Where did you get your information that it's taxable?

A little learning is a dangerous thing...

Damage awards and contest prizes are treated differently.