Once the whole story was revealed, many believed that the Stella Liebeck hot coffee lawsuit was not frivolous. She suffered severe burns, requiring skin graft surgery. However, other lawsuits do seem to border on the ridiculous and could qualify as frivolous, or lacking merit.
Proponents of tort reform often cite examples of frivolous lawsuits as a reason to curtail the tort law system. Some of the more unusual examples include:
• A man sued a strip club in Florida, claiming that an exotic dancer’s large breasts gave him whiplash during a lap dance.
• A prisoner in Colorado sued prison officials after he injured himself during an escape attempt. His rationale was that prison officials were negligent in making it too easy for inmates to attempt to escape.
• A judge in New York is suing for more than $1 million dollars he slipped and fell on a courthouse floor.
• An administrative law judge in the District of Columbia sued a dry cleaners for more than $50 million for allegedly losing his clothes.
- What was the McDonald’s hot coffee case?
- Why are punitive damage awards considered controversial?
- What types of damages are most common in tort cases?
- What is the duty to mitigate damages?
- Which states still do have contributory negligence?
- Why is comparative fault considered fairer than contributory negligence?
- Who determines the percentages of fault of the parties?
- What are the different forms of comparative negligence?
- What happens if both parties (plaintiff and defendant) are negligent?
- If you fall on a slippery floor in a store, can you sue for negligence?
- Where does the term good Samaritan come from?
- Can a Good Samaritan be held liable if he or she acts negligently even though they are trying to help?
- What if some unexpected event causes damage to a plaintiff after a defendant’s negligent act?
- Can an employer be held negligent if it retains or hires an employee who is dangerous to the public?
- Can a business be liable for injuries caused to its patrons by third parties?
- What was the case of Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Company concerning proximate causation?
- What are the two types of causation in tort cases?
- What is res ipsa loquitur?
- What is negligence perse?
- Are children held to the same standard of care as adults?
