We all imagine lawsuits to be serious — the stern and stoic attorneys along with their pokerfaced clients facing a daunting judge as the jury stares in awe… you get the picture. There’s nothing wrong in speaking up for your rights and raising your voice against injustice but some people can take lawsuits to a whole new level and will sue companies for the smallest mistakes.
Lawsuits between landlords and tenants are quite common but could you ever imagine suing your landlord for being attacked by a seagull? Well, one woman did! But the madness doesn’t stop here. Here are other preposterous lawsuits that are cringe-worthy and downright hilarious
Looks Can Be Deceiving
Every parent loves their child no matter what they look like. As a parent, the unconditional love transcends the outer appearance and looks, but one father begged to differ. An outraged Chinese man decided to drag his wife to court when he found his newborn baby unattractive, saying there’s no way a handsome person like him could have produced an offspring like that.
The man thought that his now-ex-wife cheated on him with another guy, but DNA test showed that he is indeed the father. However, the woman was hiding a dark secret about her appearance that sent shockwaves in the media.
She confessed to going under the knife in South Korea, a well-known haven for those who seek plastic surgery. The operations reportedly cost $90,000 and completely changed her appearance. Feeling deceived, the husband sued the woman for lying and making him think she was beautiful and actually won the case!
Would You Like a Lawsuit with That?
There was a famous case dubbed the hot coffee lawsuit in 1992 when an elderly woman named Stella Liebeck, an Albuquerque native, and her grandson ordered coffee at the McDonald’s drive-thru.
The beverage came in a Styrofoam cup and had a plastic lid, and as she was trying to remove the lid, the drink spilled on her lap. The plaintiff argued that she was wearing cotton sweatpants at the time of the accident, and the hot coffee ended up scalding her lower extremities.
The woman stayed at the hospital for more than a week and said she underwent medical treatment for two years after the incident. As a result, she sued the food establishment saying the beverage was too hot that it could harm customers more than the coffee served by other establishments. She won the case and received over $2 million.
Fighting Starbucks
Three years ago, a California resident tried to start a class-action lawsuit against coffee giant Starbucks for its iced drinks. He said the company was trying to fool its customers with the amount of the actual beverage in the cup by adding too much ice. Because of this sneaky practice, he explained, the company was literally scamming customers. He demanded that the coffee giant pay up for unjust enrichment, breach of express warranty, and fraud.
He also accused the coffeehouse of violating the unfair competition law in the state of California. However, a judge dumped the case and said that a reasonable customer would not think that an iced drink would not contain ice and instead be just a plain beverage.
Look-Alike
For guys, wouldn’t you be flattered if you were mistaken as NBA star Michael Jordan? Allen Ray Heckard certainly didn’t find it amusing when basketball fans and paparazzi would stalk him everywhere, which is why he sued the basketball player and Nike founder Phil Knight.
The plaintiff, who said he indeed looked like the athlete, claimed he was harassed because of this uncanny resemblance, which brought about the $832-million lawsuit. He eventually withdrew the case.
