I can indeed: they're not true. Here's a report from anti-virus firm  

Trend Micro stating the email to be a hoax <http://threatinfo.trendmicro.com/vinfo/hoaxes/hoaxDetails.asp?HName=Stella+Awards+Hoax

 >, and here's the same email on the anti-junk email site, Break The  

Chain <http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/lawsuits.html>. As you  

will see, the email was probably created in 1994, and has enjoyed a  

long and happy life since then. Several enthusiastic people have  

attempted to debunk the myths surrounding the stories (see here: <http://www.stellaawards.com/bogus.html

 >), and to come up with a real version of the Stella Awards. Whether  

they have succeeded or not is a different question...

Martin

--

Martin George

CSET Lecturer in Property Law

Birmingham Law School

University of Birmingham

Edgbaston

Birmingham

B15 2TT, UK

T: 0121 4142234

E: m.p.george@bham.ac.uk

W: http://www.law.bham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/george.shtml

On 29 Oct 2009, at 15:05, Heather McLeod-Kilmurray wrote:

I don’t know about the others, but the McDonalds case is widely  

misunderstood and actually had a lot of merit, so Stella Liebeck  

should not be the namesake of these Awards!

From: Jones, Michael [mailto:M.A.Jones@liverpool.ac.uk]

Sent: October 29, 2009 10:37

To: obligations@uwo.ca

Subject: The Stella Awards 2009

Could someone please tell me that these stories of Tort cases (below)  

are just fiction, and someone is having a laugh ...

Michael

PS - I know the McDonald's case was real

--------------------------------------

Michael A. Jones

Professor of Common Law

Liverpool Law School

University of Liverpool

Liverpool

L69 3BX

Phone: (0)151 794 2821

Fax:     (0)151 794 2829

--------------------------------------

Subject: Stella Awards

It's time again for the annual 'Stella Awards'! 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. You remember, she took the  

lid off the coffee and put it between her knees while she was  

driving.. Who would ever think one could get burned doing that, right?  

That' S right; these are awards for the most outlandish lawsuits and  

verdicts in the U.S. You know, the kinds of cases that make you  

scratch your head. So keep your head scratcher handy.

Here are the Stellas for 2009

*SEVENTH PLACE*

Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas was awarded $80,000 by a jury of  

her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was  

running inside a furniture store. The store owners were understandably  

surprised by the verdict, considering the running toddler was her own  

son.

Start scratching!

* SIXTH PLACE *

Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles , California won $74,000 plus medical  

expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord.  

Truman apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the  

car when he was trying to steal his neighbor's hubcaps.

Scratch some more...

* FIFTH PLACE *

Terrence Dickson, of Bristol , Pennsylvania , who was leaving a house  

he had just burglarized by way of the garage Unfortunately for  

Dickson, the automatic garage door opener malfunctioned and he could  

not get the garage door to open. Worse, he couldn't re-enter the house  

because the door connecting the garage to the house locked when  

Dickson pulled it shut. Forced to sit for eight, count 'em, EIGHT days  

and survive on a case of Pepsi and a large bag of dry dog food, he  

sued the homeowner's insurance company claiming undue mental Anguish.  

Amazingly, the jury said the insurance company must pay Dickson  

$500,000 for his anguish. We should all have this kind of anguish.  

Keep scratching. There are more....

Double hand scratching after this one...

*FOURTH PLACE*

Jerry Williams, of Little Rock, Arkansas, garnered 4th Place in the  

Stella's when he was awarded $14,500 plus medical expenses after being  

bitten on the butt by his next door neighbor's beagle - even though  

the beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard. Williams did not  

get as much as he asked for because the jury believed the beagle might  

have been provoked at the time of the butt bite because Williams had  

climbed over the fence into the yard and repeatedly shot the dog with  

a pellet gun.

Pick a new spot to scratch, you're getting a bald spot..

* THIRD PLACE *

Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania because a jury ordered a  

Philadelphia restaurant to pay her $113,500 after she slipped on a  

spilled soft drink and broke her tailbone. The reason the soft drink  

was on the floor: Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds  

earlier during an argument. What ever happened to people being  

responsible for their own actions?

Only two more so ease up on the scratching....

*SECOND PLACE*

Kara Walton, of Claymont , Delaware sued the owner of a night club in  

a nearby city because she fell from the bathroom window to the floor,  

knocking out her two front teeth. Even though Ms. Walton was trying to  

sneak through the ladies room window to avoid paying the $3.50 cover  

charge, the jury said the night club had to pay her $12,000....oh,  

yeah, plus dental expenses. Go figure.

Ok. Here we go!!

* FIRST PLACE *

This year's runaway First Place Stella Award winner was: Mrs. Merv  

Grazinski, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, who purchased 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.. Also not surprisingly,  

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, just in case Mrs. Grazinski has any  

relatives who might also buy a motor home....

Are we, as a society, getting more stupid????