Stella Awards

The Stella Awards are awards that were given between 2002 and 2007 to people who filed outrageous and frivolous lawsuits.[1] The awards were named after Stella Liebeck who, in 1992, ordered a cup of McDonald's coffee at a drive thru, put it in between her knees while sitting in the passenger seat of her grandson's car, and attempted to remove the lid in order to add cream and sugar.[2] The 180 to 190 °F (82 to 88 °C) coffee spilled from the cup, causing third degree burns.[2] The awards were an offshoot of a weekly news column written by Colorado writer Randy Cassingham, which featured "wacky-yet-true" news stories.[3]The awards were documented on a website[4] and in a 2005 book, both known as The True Stella Awards.[5] There are also a number of false Stella Awards circulating on the Internet.[6][7]

See also

References

  1. ^ "StellaAwards.com". The Stella Awards Official Site. http://www.stellaawards.com/. Retrieved April, 2012. 
  2. ^ a b Farrell Jr., Paul (24 June 2011). "'Hot Coffee' burns tort reform agenda". Charleston Gazette. http://wvgazette.com/Opinion/OpEdCommentaries/201106240068. Retrieved 28 June 2011. 
  3. ^ "Time to heap glory on whoever's trying hardest to cash in on stupidity". The Gazette (Montreal). 1 April 2007. http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/business/story.html?id=0410f62b-64e4-4e74-9c7a-77c4fe8b7aac. Retrieved 28 June 2011. 
  4. ^ "The price of litigation costs us all". The Telegraph (Alton). 14 April 2007. http://www.thetelegraph.com/news/cost-595-awards-pizza.html. Retrieved 28 June 2011. 
  5. ^ Conrad, Matt (2 January 2007). "Somebody Should Do Something About That". The Herald Independent. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=18FCAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yKsMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1368,6735&dq=the-true-stella-awards+book&hl=en. Retrieved 28 June 2011. 
  6. ^ Bennett, Samantha (10 September 2003). "Trust me, you can't believe everything you read". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZAgwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=i3ADAAAAIBAJ&pg=6400,5807032&dq=stella-awards&hl=en. Retrieved 28 June 2011. 
  7. ^ "Stella Awards". Snopes.com. http://www.snopes.com/legal/lawsuits.asp. 
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