When courts and lawsuits are mentioned, most people imagine very serious matters. TV show, ‘’Suits,’’ is among the most popular shows of its kind and it features serious corporate cases that are taken to court. However, real-life lawyers, judges, and juries deal with less serious lawsuits from time to time because, sometimes, people try to look for any excuse to blame their mistakes, problems or minor shortcomings on large companies or the government.
1. A couple sued because of text emojis
While emojis have become an essential part of texting, it would be a good idea to be careful when using them to discuss serious matters.
An Israeli couple learned it the hard way. They were sued because of the emojis they used in a text. No, seriously. The couple was looking for an apartment and found a landlord online.
While negotiating and texting the landlord, the Israeli couple used various smiley faces and other emojis like a peace sign and a champagne bottle. This led the landlord to think they were sincerely interested, so he took his property off the market. However, the couple backed out so the landlord decided to sue them for the month’s rent he lost. He took them to court and the verdict was in his favor; the couple had to pay more than $2,000 for an apartment they never rented.
2. Sperm theft
In 1998, Peter Wallis, a man from Albuquerque, filed a Lawsuit against his former girlfriend.
He accused Kellie Smith of impregnating herself without his consent. He claimed she intentionally acquired and misused his sperm. The two seemed to have a deal that Smith would use the pill. However, she intentionally stopped taking it without telling her partner. Wallis became the father of a child without his knowledge or consent.
His plea for money was based on the grounds that he would have to pay the expenses to support a child whom he did not want. Smith’s lawyers claimed she could not have ‘’stolen’’ the sperm because it was transferred during a voluntary act. Therefore, it should be legally classified as a gift and Wallis no longer had any right of possession.
Smith declined Wallis’ proposal to get an abortion and she won the case.
3. False weather prediction
It has probably happened to many. Their day off has been forecast to be sunny, they make plans and dress lightly, and then it rains. Most people just move on with their day, but an Israeli woman didn’t want to do that, she filed a lawsuit instead. She sued the TV weatherman, Danny Rup, for malpractice.
After hearing his forecast for a sunny day, she dressed lightly but ended up being caught in a storm. She went down with the flu, missed four days of work and paid $38 for medical expenses. She sued for $1,000 for added stress and demanded an apology from Rup. The TV station settled out of court, paying $1,000, and Danny Rup apologized.
4. McDonalds’s sued over hot coffee
On February 27, 1992, Stella Liebeck, a 79-year-old widow, was in the passenger seat of her grandson’s Ford Probe ordering a Value Meal at the drive-through window of an Albuquerque, New Mexico, McDonald’s. Since there were no cup holders in the Probe and the interior surfaces were sloped, her grandson, Christopher Tiano, pulled into a parking spot after they got their order.
As she removed the lid to add sugar and cream, the entire cup of coffee spilled on her lap. She was wearing cotton sweatpants; they absorbed the coffee and held it against her skin, scalding her thighs, buttocks, and groin. Hospitalized for eight days while she underwent skin grafting, followed by two years of medical treatment she sued the fast food giant claiming it was too hot and more likely to cause serious injury than coffee served at any other establishment.
The jury damages included $160,000 to cover medical expenses and compensatory damages and $2.7 million in punitive damages. The trial judge reduced the final verdict to $640,000, and the parties settled for a confidential amount before an appeal was decided.
