UNLIKELY LAWSUITS
It could only happen in America...
Going to court has become a great American tradition. If a tattoo is spelt wrongly or you fall out of a window while mooning, you can count on Americans to sue. Pat Moore (SUNDAY supplement of the News of the World 5 Nov 2000) reports on the US's unusual lawsuits.
When two suspected drug dealers were shot in what police believe was a gangland war, they did the obvious thing. They sued the Florida hotel which owned the car park they were shot in. Jerry Woods and Eddie Tailey won $1.5 million in damages from the Ramada Inn. The hotel is appealing.
A man who bought a BMW that had been partly repainted to cover acid rain marks was awarded $3 million in damages against the garage. They were cut to $1.5 million on appeal.
A Florida phone sex operator won a workers compensation settlement claiming she suffered repetitive motion injury in both hands after giving herself up to seven orgasms a day while speaking to callers
A drunk restaurant worker who lost an arm when he fell in front of a subway train won $7.5 million from the New York Transport Authority.
A golfer hit a ball which bounced off rail tracks on the course and struck her on the nose. She won $50,000 damages because the club had a "free-drop" (can move to an easier spot) rule for balls that landed near the line, acknowledging they were a hazard.
Canadian tourist Edward Skwarek is suing a New York coffee house after his penis was crushed between the toilet seat and the bowl. He claims that as he leant forward for the toilet paper, the lavatory seat shifted, clamping his penis. Skwarek, 37, is asking for $1 million for "dire and permanent" injuries to his manhood. Hi wife Sherrie wants $500,000 for the deprivation of husbandly services.
A woman in California is suing Disneyland on the grounds that her grandchildren were traumatised when they saw Mickey Mouse taking off his costume backstage.
Babysitter Erica Bailey, 21, sued the parents of four-year-old Connors Scaars when the kid hit her in the throat. She wanted $1.5 million because she couldn't lead a normal life with her new raspy voice.
One surfer sued another surfer for "taking his wave". The case was dismissed as the jury was not able to put a price on "pain and suffering" endured.
Lee Williams, 23, is seeking $22,000 from a tattoo parlour for misspelling the word villain as "villian" on his arm. Neither Williams nor the tattooist knew how to spell the word.
A West Virginia shop worker was awarded nearly $2,750,000 - reduced to $2,150,000, including $150,000 for emotional distress - after injuring her back while opening a pickle jar.
A minister and his wife sued a guidedog school for $150,000 after a blind man with a new dog stepped on the woman's toe.
High school pupil Ricky Higgins, 17, was kicked out of the basketball team when he was caught drunk driving. He is suing his school for $100,000 and demanding reinstatement to the team under the Americans with Disabilities Act. His lawyer claims Ricky is an alcoholic - and that is a recognised disability.
Stewart Gregory of Cincinnati is suing NBC's Tonight Show for $22,000 after being hit in the eye by a free T-shirt fired into the audience with an airgun by the warm-up comic.
A teenager lost two teeth in a basketball net while attempting to slam dunk. The net manufacturers settled out of court for $50,000.
Prisoners are specially litigious. One sued for violation of his civil right as his ice cream melted before he could eat it, another because his prison underpants were too tight. One prisoner filed a $5 million lawsuit against himself, claiming he had violated his own civil rights by getting arrested. His suit was dismissed as frivolous.
A five-year-old boy in Ohio sued his father for bumping into him with the lawnmower. The case was dismissed.
A Death Row murderer claimed $60 million from an author who wrote a book about him. The killer said the book would make it hard for him to find a job. The case was thrown out.
A college student in Idaho fell out of his dormitory window while hanging out to moon at passer-by. He is suing the university for "not warning him of the dangers of living on the fourth floor".
Philip Garner, 10, sued his landlord for $1,000,000 for trauma when the lavatory in his Bronx apartment exploded.
A father sued his son's baseball team when they asked him to stop smoking near the team bench. He claimed his son suffered emotional distress. The judge fined HIM and his lawyer $2,250 for being frivolous.
A man of 27 was crushed to death by a vending machine when it fell as he shook it to get a free, illegal drink. Relatives in New York want $400,000 damages.
A bystander is being sued for $30 by a cop who crippled him in a New York gun fight - the cost of cleaning blood off his uniform. The suit was met with a counter charge of "malicious wounding", and unspecified damages.
A prison inmate who accidentally shot and wounded himself is suing New York prison chiefs for $8 million for allowing him to smuggle the gun into his cell, claiming security checks should have prevented
It could only happen in America... 
