 Jury
awards are sometimes staggeringly large, sometimes unaccountably low and
wildly varying even in similar cases. Such unpredictability leads to
cases settling with claims paid that should have been thrown out, and
undermines society’s commitment to employ the force of government with
reason and consistency.
The following sampling speaks for itself:
Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas was awarded $780,000.00 by a jury of
her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was
running inside a furniture store. The owners of the store were
understandably surprised at the verdict considering the misbehaving
little toddler Was Ms. Robertson's son.
19 year old Karl Truman of Los Angeles won $74,000.00 and medical
expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Mr.
Truman apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the car
when he was trying to steal his neighbor's hub caps.
Terrence Dickson of Bristol, Pennsylvania was leaving a house he had just
finished robbing by way of the garage. He was not able to get the garage
door to go up since the automatic door opener was malfunctioning. He
couldn't re-enter the house because the door connecting the house and
garage locked when he pulled it shut. The family was on vacation And Mr.
Dickson found himself locked in the garage for eight days. He survived on
a case of Pepsi he found and a large bag of dry dog food. He sued the
homeowner's insurance claiming the situation caused him undue mental
anguish. The jury agreed to the tune of $500,000.00.
Jerry Williams of Little Rock, Arkansas, was awarded $14,500.00 and
Medical expenses after being bit on the buttocks by his next door
neighbor's beagle. The beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard.
The Award was less than sought because the jury felt the dog might have
been just a little provoked at the time by Mr. Williams who was shooting
it repeatedly with a pellet gun.
A Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber Carson of Lancaster,
Pennsylvania $113,500.00 after she slipped on a soft drink and broke her
tailbone. The beverage was on the floor because Ms. Carson had thrown it
at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument.Kara Walton of
Claymont, Delaware, successfully sued the owner of a night club in a
neighboring city when she fell from the bathroom Window to the floor and
knocked out her two front teeth. This occurred when Ms. Walton was trying
to sneak through the window in the ladies room to avoid paying the $3.50
cover charge. She was awarded $12,000.00 and dental expenses.
Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma purchased a new 32 foot
Winnebago motor home. On his first trip home, having driven onto the
freeway, he Set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver's
seat to Go into the back and make himself a cup of coffee. Not
surprisingly, the RV left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Mr.
Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising him in the owner's manual that
he couldn't actually do this. The jury awarded him $1,750,000.00 and a
new motor home. The Company actually changed their manuals on the basis
of this suit, just in case there were any other complete morons buying
their recreation vehicles.
Top 10 Highest Jury Verdicts To Individual Plaintiffs in 2003
| 1. |
$254.6 million |
Denied equity from sale of business. |
CA |
| 2. |
$250 million |
Asbestos verdict. |
IL |
| 3. |
$163.8 million |
Tire explosion. |
TX |
| 4. |
$112 million |
Medical malpractice. |
NY |
| 5. |
$104.4 million |
Brain injury sustained from suction of swimming
pool. |
FL |
| 6. |
$100 million |
Brain injury from near drowning. |
FL |
| 7. |
$85.7 million |
Bad faith verdict. |
AZ |
| 8. |
$71 million |
Medical malpractice. |
CA |
| 9. |
$70.4 million |
Breach of contract. |
TX |
| 10. |
$58.6 million |
Diving accident. |
NY |
|
