Suing Carnival

[GoinCruisin]

MSSQRL, thank you, but honestly, it just never crossed my mind... it was back before this society became so quick to sue for everything. When they told me what they found, I actually laughed because I couldn't believe it... Looking back on it now, I guess I now know why they were all SO NICE to me!!! LOL! To me, YOU should be commended!! A collapsed lung is nothing to sneeze at and I know that was a difficult time. It just goes to show you that there are alot of people in this world that still believe that people, even doctors, are human and mistakes are made. Granted, there are mistakes that doctors make that cause a lifetime of problems and even death, I do believe that they should have to pay for this... those are the reasons they have malpractice insurance.... the problem is that too many people know this and abuse it!!!!

Don't get me started on the Wendy's lady... the woman needs to do some serious time... I just cannot even imagine living a life full of such greed that I would EVER even let that thought cross my mind!!!!! My ex was an Insurance Fraud PI, and I was AMAZED at some of the cases he ran across... there are some very sick and pathetic people in this world :rolleyes:

[AustinRobi]

For those of you with some time for light reading....

Guidelines for cruise ship medical practitioners/clinics.
[b][url="http://tinyurl.com/a8fql"]http://tinyurl.com/a8fql[/url]

[/b]This article helps clarify what really may be seen in a cruise ship "sick bay."
[b][url="http://www.mersante.com/cruiseshipmed.htm"]http://www.mersante.com/cruiseshipmed.htm[/url]
[/b]
And, finally, what the ICCL itself tells passengers:
[b][url="http://www.iccl.org/faq/cruising.cfm"]http://www.iccl.org/faq/cruising.cfm[/url] [/b](Scroll down to the "here's to your health" section).

Oh, re: The McDonald's case...upon closer look, you may form a different opinion. I know I did.
[b][url="http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A429950"]http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A429950[/url][/b]

Such interesting reading for a Saturday night!
Good grief, we should all be cruising!

AustinRobi

[GoinCruisin]

Actually, after reading a while back about the McDonalds case, I was more convinced than ever... the woman put a hot cup of coffee between her legs....actually:

[b]Liebeck placed the cup between her knees and attempted to remove the plastic lid from the cup. As she removed the lid, the entire contents of the cup spilled into her lap.
[/b]
Sorry, anyone that knows anything about coffee from fast food places knows that the lids are not cemented on. Putting a steaming hot cup of coffee (yes, coffee should be hot :rolleyes: ) between your legs is not the smartest way to put cream and sugar in... At 79 years of age, she should have known better, in my opinion. Sure, the coffee was very hot... however, she should have taken a great deal of the responsibility for this. She was careless... Yes, Mickie D's has the coffee too hot, but it was not as if she was the only person served the hot coffee... I'm not saying MD's had not fault, but I'm sorry... several million dollars for something that could have been prevented if you would have actually let your brain engage in reasonable thinking, is ridiculous... and is one of the reasons suing has become so fashionable :rolleyes:

[AustinRobi]

As I understand it, an original award of $200,000 was reduced to $160,000, because the jury found contributory negligence. She was then awarded $2.7 million, much of that punitive, because McD's ticked off the jury with its attitude. The award was later reduced to $480,000, then McD's settled for an undisclosed amt, no doubt less than that.

Granted, I don't put hot coffee between my knees to doctor it up, but if I [i]did [/i]spill it, I would [i]not [/i]expect to sustain 3rd degree burns requiring hospitalization and surgery. And if I then found out that the seller had been cited some 700 times for burning customers with its beverages....well, getting a lawyer to help pay my medical bills and cool the coffee might seem a fairly reasonable thing to do.

BUT, I'd much rather be cruisin,' and rogue waves and trips to the sick bay aside, I believe it's a very, very nice way to vacation!!! :)

AustinRobi

[GoinCruisin]

Yup, it was reduced as Stella was found to be 20% negligent.... I personally think she was more negligent than that... HOT coffee, first place I want to put it is NOT between my legs! LOL! Nobody will ever know what the final settlement was... Mickie D's was STUPID for not giving her the original 20K she requested... Now, here are some of the Stella Awards, talk about stupid lawsuits!!



It's time once again to consider the candidates for the Stella Awards. The Stella's are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled coffee on herself and successfully sued McDonalds. That case inspired the Stella Awards for the most uniquely successful lawsuits in the United States for last year. Joint awards should be given to the plaintiff attorneys and the flaming idiots on the juries who awarded anything at all to these morons--who deserved NOTHING!!!!

The following are this year's candidates:

Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas, was awarded $780,000 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.

A 19-year-old Carl Truman of Los Angeles won $74,000 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 hubcaps.

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 reenter 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 subsisted 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.

Jerry Williams of Little Rock, Arkansas, was awarded $14,500 and medical expenses after being bitten 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 after she slipped on a soft drink and broke her coccyx (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 while 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 and dental expenses.


This year's favorite could easily be Mr. Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Mr. Grazinski purchased a brand 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 drivers 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 plus 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.

[voyagerfl]

[QUOTE]Jerry Williams of Little Rock, Arkansas, was awarded $14,500 and medical expenses after being bitten 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.[/QUOTE]
[size=3]
Messin with a dog........Now That's going to far.......they should have gave the guy the electric chair.[/size]

[GoinCruisin]

LOL, I should say that most of the "Stella Awards" are alleged Urban Legends... but I think we all know that there are lawsuits out there that are as stupid as these, that have been won... I just always get a laugh out of those... :D

[rcsort]

[quote name='GoinCruisin']LOL, I should say that most of the "Stella Awards" are alleged Urban Legends... but I think we all know that there are lawsuits out there that are as stupid as these, that have been won... I just always get a laugh out of those... :D[/QUOTE]

[b][size=3][color=purple]LMBO!! But...this is so true!!![/color][/size][/b]
[b][size=3][color=#800080][/color][/size][/b]
[b][size=3][color=#800080]Lisa[/color][/size][/b]

[GoinCruisin]

Okay, I'm bored trying to stay up to catch a flight... so here are some more, real lawsuits... amazing!!



In 1994, Joe Hindman admitted he stole from parked cars on his way to work, lifted thousands of dollars from the purses of fellow workers in the office and kept a handgun hidden in his briefcase. But when GTE Data Services fired Hindman from his computer programming job two years ago, he sued.

Hindman claimed the firing was illegal discrimination against the disabled, since he argued his behavior was due to a chemical imbalance caused by the anti-depressant Prozac. The case was dismissed in 1995. :rolleyes:

Earlier this year, a Florida jury awarded $5.2-million to the family of a slain Dutch tourist after finding that Alamo Rent-A-Car failed to warn the victim and her husband about a high-crime area near Miami. The death was a tragedy, but the tourists had rented the car across the state in Tampa. :rolleyes:

Ed O'Rourke sued Tampa Electric, along with six bars and stores that sold him alcoholic beverages, over a 1996 incident. He allegedly was hit by 13,000 volts of electricity after breaking into a fenced, gated and locked utility substation and climbing up a transformer in a "drunken stupor." The suit further alleged that local bars and stores negligently served O'Rourke liquor even though he was "unable to control his urge to drink alcoholic beverages."

In the mid-1990s, a blind man was given the gift of a Seeing Eye Dog. But on a maiden voyage to DeSoto Square Mall in Bradenton, the dog allegedly stepped on the foot of a woman. After learning that the blind man had no money, the woman sued the dog's owner, Palmetto-based Southeastern Guide Dogs, for "loss of earning capacity . . . and mental pain and suffering." After being ridiculed in newspapers and on CNN, the plaintiff dropped the lawsuit. And the plaintiff's law firm donated $1,000 to Southeastern Guide Dogs.



Double :rolleyes:

[LegalCat]

[quote name='cruisingator2']No she should not be sued(more than likely she does not have a penny to her name) but if the courts do their job, her butt should be doing some time for quite a while. Someone needs to set an example to keep others from trying the same thing.[/QUOTE]


I agree in this case.... if she did in fact plant that finger, which looks certainly to be the case... I have no doubt in my mind that she did... Wendys should come down on her... they had huge drops in sales etc when this first came out.. she did it intentionally to get money from them... they need to make an example of her... they wont get any money out of her, but she needs to be punished for what she did... I think in this case some thing should happen... maybe she could be required to stand outside of the Wendy's with one of those signs you wear saying "I PLANTED that finger" LOL

[LegalCat]

Heres the other thing... when you have some one with a LEGITIMATE claim.. they could sue for specific performance, not money.. for example... what if a doctor really harmed you.. like some thing really bad that really effected you and was really his stupidity etc..... how about instead of suing for cash, you sue to try to get his license revoked.. etc... everything doesnt have to be about cash.. yes in some situations you may need money to make up for work you may lose in the future or treatments you may need to fix the problem etc... you could sue to force some one to go back to school to get refresher learning or to DO some thing that might some difference.. money doesnt make a difference.. most professionals have liability insurance which will pay.. yes they still will be effected they may have to pay the deductable and their rates will go up etc.. but some people have so much money or so much insurance etc.. they don't care..... but take away their license or force them to go back to school? now that would make more of an impact... and what about other people? A lot of times you could sue a doctor for example, you settle and its confidential... if what happened to you was so bad etc... dont you somehow owe it to the next patient to help them be informed too? Coming to a confidential cash settlement with a BAD doctor leaves him free to do the exact same thing to unsuspecting other people... I dont know...

[derf5585]

[quote name='LegalCat']but she needs to be punished for what she did... [/QUOTE]

It seems to me in this case the Police Department is working for Wendy's. They still don't know where the finger came from. Just because she has sued before doesn't mean that she they are not true. Look at the MJ trial and the Mother of the accused.

[halos]

[quote name='LegalCat']Heres the other thing... when you have some one with a LEGITIMATE claim.. they could sue for specific performance, not money.. for example... what if a doctor really harmed you.. like some thing really bad that really effected you and was really his stupidity etc..... how about instead of suing for cash, you sue to try to get his license revoked.. etc... everything doesnt have to be about cash.. yes in some situations you may need money to make up for work you may lose in the future or treatments you may need to fix the problem etc... you could sue to force some one to go back to school to get refresher learning or to DO some thing that might some difference.. money doesnt make a difference.. most professionals have liability insurance which will pay.. yes they still will be effected they may have to pay the deductable and their rates will go up etc.. but some people have so much money or so much insurance etc.. they don't care..... but take away their license or force them to go back to school? now that would make more of an impact... and what about other people? A lot of times you could sue a doctor for example, you settle and its confidential... if what happened to you was so bad etc... dont you somehow owe it to the next patient to help them be informed too? Coming to a confidential cash settlement with a BAD doctor leaves him free to do the exact same thing to unsuspecting other people... I dont know...[/QUOTE]

That's a great idea but it sometimes can backfire.
My SIL was messed up in a big way by a surgeon...I won't go into detail but it was plainly negligence on his part. The surgeons lawyer worked a deal with my SIL's lawyer. They wanted to give her $750,000 to drop the case.
This pissed her off because he would have gotten off scott free. She wanted him to stop practicing. So, she declined the offer, took him to court. The jury did not sympathize with her, after his lawyers made mincemeat of her, didn't find the doctor negligent and awarded her only $10,000.
When you live in a very blue collar city...no one in that city who reads about all these frivolous lawsuits, wants anyone to get something for nothing. The jury felt this was what was happening with her. They had no idea that the doctor had offered her $750,000 to just drop it....they weren't privy to that little tidbit of info.
She will never be able to work again, her leg is so twisted that she can barely walk. Her pain is so horribly unbearable that she has tried everything from drastic surgery to kill her nerves all the way to Holistic methods such as Reiki and accupuncture.
You can barely have a conversation with her because she is usually doped up on pain meds, and sees a psychologists regularly as well as a few physicians to try to keep herself sane at this point.
No, the $750,000 that the doctor offered to settle wouldn't have eased any of the pain, but seeing that she will never work again, it would have eased her financial burden more than the $10,000 did. She is now 45 years old. This all happened about 10 years ago.
She wanted that doctors butt and didn't get it. He is still practicing, and saved that $740,000 to keep his 'good' lawyers paid well.
I think because the jury has heard so many frivolous cases...and the doctor had the funds to fight harder, she lost...she lost big.

[GoinCruisin]

[quote name='derf5585']It seems to me in this case the Police Department is working for Wendy's. They still don't know where the finger came from. Just because she has sued before doesn't mean that she they are not true. Look at the MJ trial and the Mother of the accused.[/QUOTE]

Well actually the police are not disclosing anything. They have testimony from several people that do not know one another, where she described what had happened. Keep in mind she was also arrested for a second grand larceny charge where she tried to sell a mobile home that she did not own... so her arrest was not ONLY for the Wendy's incident. The police seem pretty confident in what they have currently, and her history doesn't help the matter. She has done some pretty crappy things in her life to swindle people out of money, she is scum IMHO... I hope she spends a LONG time in prison...

Halos, I am so sorry to hear that.... how horrible!!! I wish there was a way we could all ban together and ruin his life like he did your sis :(

[DocJohnB]

[QUOTE]Earlier this year, a Florida jury awarded $5.2-million to the family of a slain Dutch tourist after finding that Alamo Rent-A-Car failed to warn the victim and her husband about a high-crime area near Miami. The death was a tragedy, but the tourists had rented the car across the state in Tampa. [/QUOTE]

That be true, however, for the rest of the story.

When this tragedy occurred, rental cars in Florida were easily identifiable by the license plate. Because of this and other such cases that is no longer the case.

Actually this case and other similar cases at that time put the tourist industry in Florida in a real hurt.

I am not sure that I would have agreed with Alamo's liability in this case though.

[EastTex]

[quote name='GoinCruisin']
The following are this year's candidates:

Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas, was awarded $780,000 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.

A 19-year-old Carl Truman of Los Angeles won $74,000 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 hubcaps.

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 reenter 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 subsisted 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.

Jerry Williams of Little Rock, Arkansas, was awarded $14,500 and medical expenses after being bitten 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 after she slipped on a soft drink and broke her coccyx (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 while 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 and dental expenses.


This year's favorite could easily be Mr. Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Mr. Grazinski purchased a brand 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 drivers 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 plus 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.[/QUOTE]


The world wide web provides all of us the ability to gather vast amounts of information simply with a few clicks of our mice. As a Computer Scientist and Network Administrator, I continue to be amazed at the growth of Information Technology and its impact on our daily lives. I say this as I sit with my laptop, in my favorite chair or anywhere else in my home, connected through a wireless router to the world.

With those seemingly endless sources of information also comes disinformation, vague and unprovable stories and outright lies. Unfortunately, very good and trusting folks are often the vehicles for continuing the spread of these types of information. I hope I'm preaching to the choir with most of you if I caution you to be skeptical about what you read through forums, e-mails and such.

I've attached a link to Snopes.com, a very good source, but not the only one, for confirming information you believe to be suspect. This one deals at length with some of the lawsuits that have been referred to in this forum.

[url="http://www.snopes.com/legal/lawsuits.asp"]http://www.snopes.com/legal/lawsuits.asp[/url]

I'll get off my soapbox now.

And by the way, the Bluebonnets are out. If you've never been to East Texas and seen them, you're missing out on one of our state's most beautiful assets.

[GoinCruisin]

LOL, did you READ my post???? I do believe I stated that they were Urban Legends...

[gwe21]

LOL :D

I am enjoying this thread........ it is great entertainment.... especially when I know I should be helping the hubby remodel the bathroom....!

[MERVYN BREMMER]

[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=teal][/color][/size][/font][font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=teal]Well now that I have read this entire thread I have come to a finale conclusion that I know I'll need one of the "Hot Shot" lawyers on this thread for. My wife is only 5' tall.....what has that got to do with anything well last winter she slipped on our sidewalk in front of the our house which caused her to fall on her backside. The result of this tumble was that she had to vigorusly rub her backside for 30-45 seconds. I now realize that we should be able to sue the City for building the sidewalks too close to her backside in the first place.[/color][/size][/font]

[EastTex]

[quote name='GoinCruisin']LOL, did you READ my post???? I do believe I stated that they were Urban Legends...[/QUOTE]

Sorry, used your post only as an example for my point, nothing more....can I buy you a beer?

[GoinCruisin]

[quote name='EastTex']Sorry, used your post only as an example for my point, nothing more....can I buy you a beer?[/QUOTE]

Why certainly! :D

No problem... I am edgy today! I am stuck in a "compound" (hotel) in the middle of freaking nowhere and I'm losing my mind! LOL!!!!!

[derf5585]

[quote name='gwe21']LOL :D
I am enjoying this thread........ it is great entertainment.... especially when I know I should be helping the hubby remodel the bathroom....![/QUOTE]

So can he sue CriticCritic for your Desertion

Common reasons that cause people to think about or want to get a divorce:
from
[url]http://www.marketing-seek.com/content/article746.php[/url]

[MERVYN BREMMER]

[quote name='GoinCruisin']Why certainly! :D

No problem... I am edgy today! I am stuck in a "compound" (hotel) in the middle of freaking nowhere and I'm losing my mind! LOL!!!!![/QUOTE]
[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=teal][/color][/size][/font]
[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=#008080]Losing????? Hmmmmm;) :D [/color][/size][/font]

[GoinCruisin]

[quote name='MERVYN BREMMER']
[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=#008080]Losing????? Hmmmmm;) :D [/color][/size][/font][/QUOTE]

Hardy har har Merv :p Can I say KMA still? ;)

[derf5585]

[quote name='GoinCruisin'] Can I say KMA still? ;)[/QUOTE]

as are acronyms for a series of vulgar words.
from
[url]http://www.cruisecritic.com/community/guide.cfm#7[/url]