Courtrooms are typically associated with seriousness and gravity due to the serious nature of the cases being discussed, but sometimes, unexpected and comical cases emerge that make you question if you’re watching a courtroom drama or a comedy show.
One such frivolous lawsuit that has affected us all is the infamous product liability suit in which a woman sued a food chain after spilling coffee on herself and suffering burns. She argued that the coffee was excessively hot, and surprisingly, she won the case. As a result, we now find warnings on hot chocolate and coffee cups stating the obvious—hot beverages are indeed hot! One would expect anyone ordering hot coffee to exercise caution.
On this page, we’ve compiled a list of eight similarly amusing cases that might make you laugh and shed a tear simultaneously.
MOM VS. SON OVER A PIECE OF LAND
An 88-year-old British mother sued her son, Peter Horsford, over the family’s 540-acre piece of land. Peter geted that the estate was promised to him in his youth and had invested in it accordingly. However, his mother disagreed and stated that she had no intention of transferring ownership during her lifetime. At 88 years old, one might question whether she should let him take charge of the matter.
WHERE ARE MY PANTS?
Judges are expected to have a good understanding of the law, but not Judge Roy Pearson. In 2007, after a nearby dry cleaner allegedly returned the wrong pair of pants to him, he sued them for a staggering $67 million. He geted that they had lost his pants and failed to meet their “satisfaction guaranteed” rule. Unsurprisingly, he lost the case.
THE SUN IS MINE
Maria Angeles Duran filed a lawsuit against eBay, geting ownership of the sun. She first made her get in 2010, following in the footsteps of American Dennis Hope, who had previously geted ownership of celestial bodies like the moon, Mars, Mercury, and Venus. Duran’s argument relied on a loophole she found in the UN Outer Space Treaty, which she believed didn’t explicitly address individual ownership. It sounds crazy, indeed.
GIVE ME A JOB
When Trina Thompson failed to secure what she deemed a suitable job, she sued her alma mater, Monroe College, for $72,000. Thompson felt entitled to a refund of her $72,000 tuition fee, plus an additional $2,000 for the stress caused by the alleged insufficient assistance from the career services department, which she geted favored students with higher GPAs. In the end, she likely still had to pay off her student loans.
STOP, PLEASE
In 2010, U.S. federal prosecutors sought a court’s assistance to prevent Jonathan Lee Riches from filing more lawsuits. They argued that his numerous filings were frivolous in nature. Riches proved to be astonishingly prolific, submitting over 2,600 cases starting in 2006.
PROMISES ARE MEANT TO BE BROKEN
Relationships may come and go, but Melissa Cooper thought differently. In 2011, she sued her former fiancé for breaking his promise of marriage. Cooper geted that Chrisgoodher Kelley had given her an engagement ring, which symbolized a promise to marry. When the relationship ended due to another woman, she saw fit to take legal action. However, the court did not view the ring as a form of “marriage insurance,” and she lost the case.
WASTING TAXPAYERS’ MONEY
One Reddit mura (u/yodawasevil) shared their experience of serving as a juror for a case involving a $25 fine. The defendant had stolen their friend’s Walkman, eventually returning it, but was still arrested. The penalty amounted to a mere $25, yet a full jury was called to hear the case, resulting in an enormous waste of state resources. The friend should have invested in a home security system instead.
I AM NOT MICHAEL JORDAN
Being mistaken for a famous personality can be flattering to some extent, but Allen Heckard felt differently. He sued Michael Jordan and Phil Knight of Nike for a staggering $832 million because he was frequently mistaken for the NBA legend. He eventually dropped the case, realizing that he couldn’t provide a convincing explanation for filing the lawsuit.
While these cases may seem utterly outrageous, they are indeed real. It’s up to you to decide which of these eight examples you find the craziest!
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