Another year is ending, and with the transition comes the inexhaustible procession of lists. For your delectation, I offer a list of the ten most ridiculous lawsuits of 2011.
The list was compiled by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR), which conducted a survey at the website Faces of Lawsuit Abuse.org
Maybe so, but some of these are pretty funny, if in a “sheesh” sort of way.
An Illinois state appeals court has overturned a ruling by a Cook County court judge that damages are not recoverable for injuries sustained from being struck by a dismembered corpse.
The list was compiled by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR), which conducted a survey at the website Faces of Lawsuit Abuse.org
The organization’s president, Lisa Rickard, is quoted as saying:
While these lawsuits vary from the outrageous to the humorous, abusive litigation is hardly a laughing matter. ILR’s annual poll of ridiculous lawsuits helps to remind us that abusive lawsuits affect real people and real businesses, and can have harmful results to lives, jobs, and even our economic growth.
Here, without further ado, is the list along with poll rankings:
9. Woman sues over movie trailer; says not enough driving in ‘Drive’ (read story). (1.7%)
6. Passenger’s lawsuit says cruise ship went too fast and swayed from side to side (read story). (4.23%)
4. Man illegally brings gun into bar, gets injured in a fight, then sues bar for not searching him for a weapon (read story). (8.15%)
3. Young adults sue mother for sending cards without gifts and playing favorites (read story). (8.96%)
Although not in the top 10, here's one that ought to be:
Woman sues dead teen whose severed body parts struck her
An Illinois state appeals court has overturned a ruling by a Cook County court judge that damages are not recoverable for injuries sustained from being struck by a dismembered corpse.
The lawsuit was brought by Gayane Zokhrabov, 58, who suffered a broken wrist in 2008 when she was hit by airborne body parts of a young man killed by a speeding commuter train. The man, Hiroyuki Joho, 18, attempted to make it across the tracks as an Amtrak train bore down on him at 70 miles per hour. He failed, spectacularly.
Not only did he die on impact but in so dramatic a fashion that his body split apart. One large piece flew 100 feet and struck Zokhrabov as she stood on the southbound platform of a nearby station. She sued both the estate of the dead teen for pain and suffering and two railway companies, Metra and Canadian Pacific, accusing them of negligence.
The judge who heard her case ruled that railway companies have no responsibility for warning pedestrians about an “open and obvious danger” such as a moving train. The decision was upheld on appeal.
But the second part of his ruling—his dismissal of Zokhrabov’s claim on the grounds that Joho’s death was an accident—was tossed out by the higher court, which found that “it was reasonably foreseeable” that crossing the tracks in the path of an oncoming train could present a risk to those in the immediate environment.
Zokhrabov’s attorney, Leslie Rosen, argued that Joho’s actions constituted a straightforward case of negligence, albeit with “very peculiar and gory and creepy” overtones. Rosen added, If you do something as stupid as this guy did, you have to be responsible for what comes from it.”
