Crazy lawsuits...

Man, I could have been rich. Teachers were always waking me up. :sleep:

 

I remember the lady who sued McDonald's for having hot coffee. I scalded my tongue before her law suit was filed. I should have been the first. At least my law suit would have been half way believeable. Everyone knows you are not supposed to put hot coffee between your legs while driving. Now as a result of her law suit, you see warnings on each cup telling people that the coffee is hot.

 

There is also the man who broke into a warehouse through the skylight, fell and was injured. He sued the warehouse owner for injuries he got while breaking in and WON $250,000! Where are the minds of the ones making those decisions? Rewarding a criminal for his criminal act? Whoever said "Crime doesn't pay" didn't know what he was talking about. Tell that to all the crime bosses and white collar criminals who are living in luxury through their criminal endeavors.

 

Did he win or settle?

 

To me settling for an amount that you didn't earn (or didn't deserve) is a win in my book. The truth is he had no business being on top of the warehouse building. If he hadn't been up there, then he wouldn't have fallen. The fact that he got anything other than a lengthy jail sentence is a win.

 

What's the difference? He got $250,000 reward for breaking into a warehouse simply because he was injured during the commission of a crime.

 

It's cases like these that tie up the courts so that the really important problems aren't dealt with in a timely manner.

We were supposed to testify against the guy who pulled a gun on me, but the courts didn't get around to it for two years. By then he had so many other charges he just pled guilty and we didn't even get to testify.:tonofbricks:

 

I had a similar incident when I was working in a convenience store. A guy came in pulled a gun on me & got over $300.00. He was caught about 2 weeks later. By that time he robbed three other places, but didn't use a gun. The case didn't go to trial until about a year later. The guy was being charged with four counts of 1st degree robbery two of which he pled guilty to. Mine was one of them.

I told the judge that I wanted to tell the man something. I told him had he have tried robbing my store with anything less than a gun, that he would have been a bloodied mess on the ground. I said that I take threats to my well being seriously. When someone steals from the place I work at, even though it isn't mine, they are stealing from the company that puts a roof over my head, clothes on my back, & food on my table. In essence, they are stealing from me.

He & the judge both looked at me like I was crazy, but I got my point across. His excuse was that he was hyped up on crack. The judge gave him 25 years in prison for each count to run concurrently. I believe that the other two counts are still pending. Knowing the system, he'll probably be parolled in about five to ten years.

 

Unfortunately, the few prisons we have are over crowded, and many criminals get out way too early just to commit the same crimes again and again. Prison doesn't generally change anyone--except to maybe make them worse than before. However, as long as someone is in prison, he isn't committing any crimes.