Hold on to your hats ladies and gentlemen. Keep your medical care providers on hold. The following entries are all true verified stories that can cause and may not be limited to; shortness of breathe, light-headedness, and spontaneous bursts of laughter.
1. A 27-year-old Michigan man was involved in a minor rear-end collision. Four years later, he sued the man who rear-ended him, claiming the accident caused a change in his sexuality. He no longer desired his wife and was unable to perform sexually. He claimed that the accident actually changed his entire personality, causing him to leave his wife, move in with his parents, and begin hanging out in gay bars. The worst part of this case? He actually won it! He was awarded $200,000 and his wife was awarded $25,000.
2. A woman hit a man on a snowmobile as he crossed a street. The man died at the scene. The police decided that because the man had cut in front of her without warning, she was free of blame. However, she turned around and sued the man’s widow, claiming that she suffered crippling psychological and emotional pain from watching the man die. As if the widow didn’t have enough to deal with, already trying to cope the untimely death of her husband…
3. A surfer recently sued another surfer after he had supposedly “stolen his wave.” The case was immediately dismissed because no price can be placed on the “pain and suffering” one endures when he watches another surfer ride a wave that was “intended” for him… Maybe I’ve got this a little own something before you attempt a lawsuit over it’s “violation.”
4. While attempting to moon someone out of his 4th story dorm room, an Idaho student lost his balance and fell, injuring himself. He sued the university for “not warning him of the dangers of living on the fourth floor.” Who would have imagined that gravity had such an impact.
5. In Naples, Italy, a young man and his girlfriend were engaging in “amorous activity” in the back of his little car when it was rear-ended by a large car. According to the man, the impact from the collision caused them to momentarily lose control, resulting in pregnancy. The couple sought compensation not only for car repairs, but also for the cost of the wedding that the couple decided to have after discovering his girlfriend was pregnant.
6. A man attempts to kill himself by jumping in front of a subway in New York City. His plan fails, however, and he lives through the incident. When he recovers, he sues the city of New York for $650,000. Why? Because the train hit him.
7. A German bank robber was arrested recently after a teller realized the robber was hard of hearing and tripped an alarm. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the robber is now suing the bank for exploiting his disability.
8. Robert Lee Brock sued himself for $5 million. He claimed that he had violated his own civil rights and religious beliefs by allowing himself to get drunk and commit crimes which landed him in the Indian Creek Correctional Center in Virginia, serving a 23 year sentence for grand larceny and breaking and entering. What could he possibly have to gain by suing himself? Since being in prison prevented him from having an income, he expected the state to pay. This case was thrown out.
9. Richard Overton sued Anheuser-Busch for false and misleading advertising under Michigan State law. The complaint specifically referenced ads involving, among other things, fantasies of beautiful women in tropical settings that came to life for two men driving a Bud Light truck. In addition to two claims of false advertising, Mr. Overton included a third claim in his complaint in which he claimed to have suffered emotional distress, mental injury, and financial loss in excess of $10,0000 due to the misleading Bud Light ads. The court dismissed all claims.
10. Now here we have it the grand winner of them all. A North Carolina man purchased 24 rare and expensive cigars. Because of their value, he decided to insure them…against fire. The man smoked all of his cigars in less than a month and had yet to make a single payment on his fire insurance. He filed a claim against the insurance company, stating that he had lost his cigars in a “series of small fires.” The insurance company obviously refused to pay, believing that he had simply used the cigars as intended. The man won his case against the insurance company because they failed to specify the type of fire the cigars were insured against. Because they failed to define an “unacceptable fire,” the insurance company accepted the ruling against them and paid the man $15,000 for the cigars he had lost in the “fire.” However, the best part of this story is yet to come. Shortly after the man cashed the check, the insurance company countered and had him arrested on 24 counts of arson. The man was sentenced to 24 consecutive 1-year prison sentences.