This post may contain affiliate links, allowing us to earn a commission on the products we would recommend to our families and closest friends. You can find more info on our Legal Stuff page.
Everyone likes to throw the story about the lady who got burnt by her McDonalds coffee as an example of weird lawsuits. But this is the thing, that wasn’t that weird, and Stella Liebeck was right to sue after she was covered in burns. The court ruled in her favor, she was awarded over $2.7 million in damages to cover her medical bills, and she is responsible for ensuring that no one else gets covered in burns from dangerously hot coffee. Here are some examples of some completely wild cases that took everyone by surprise and the financial impact they had.
Change the Age
In 2018, a man attempted to change his legal age as he felt he was being discriminated against because he was 69 years old. He claimed that if he could change his age, he would have a better chance at getting a job and finding a date on Tinder. There are a lot of reasons why this is a wild case but the fact that the man thought he could combat ageism by changing his age is definitely unusual. The case was thrown out after the court reviewed the possible repercussions from someone changing their age, including the financial issues that could arise. For one, if he were entitled to a pension at the age of 65 and he changed his age, he would have to pay back the money. Ageism is a massive problem in some industries, costing millions of dollars in payouts every year.
Ugly Baby
Imagine looking down at your newborn child and thinking, “that kid is ugly” because that is exactly what one guy did. He was horrified by the appearance of his newborn child, he accused his wife of cheating on him because it didn’t look like either of them. It was only when the case deepened that his wife confessed that she had several cosmetic procedures before they had met which altered her appearance. In the end, he sued her on the grounds of false pretenses as she had hidden her surgery from him. He won the case and his wife was ordered to pay him $120,000 in damages.
The Man Who Sued Himself
This has to be one of the more original cases that employ a lot of imagination. In 1995, Robert Lee Brock was an inmate who decided to sue himself for breaking his religious beliefs when he was convicted for breaking and entering. But, he had no income because he was in jail, and therefore wanted the state to pay him $5 million in damages. The judge was not impressed and threw the case out, but we applaud the idea of his attempt to get $5 million for nothing.
Sued over A Grade
A lot of parents will do anything for their children but some parents will go that extra step. In 2003, Brian Delekta was a high school senior who got an A and not an A+ for one of his classes. Believing that the paralegal work he was doing at his mother’s law firm was enough to push the grade higher, the family sued the school to get the higher grade and block the rankings of students until the case was settled. Ultimately, he lost the case and his chance to be valedictorian of his class. Although there was no immediate financial impact from the case, other than the court fees that needed to be paid, Delekta could argue that his financial future was impacted by the lower grade.
Batman Vs Batman?
Here is a fun fact, there is a superhero called Batman. Oh, you knew that? But did you know there is a city in Turkey called Batman? This oil-producing city and its mayor told the press that they planned on suing Christopher Nolan and Warner Brothers Studios over using the name Batman in the Dark Knight Trilogy. Obviously, Batman, the superhero has been around since 1939, so the mayor would have had a hard time with this case. The case was never filed so we will never know how this case would have turned out or what sort of damages they were seeking. We can only assume that they were seeking some free publicity.
She took his Phone
We know some parents would do anything for their kids but some parents need a team of dedicated criminal defense attorneys to save them from their kids. This was the case for one mother who took away her son’s phone. In 2017, a 15-year-old Spanish teenager tried to get his mother thrown in jail for taking his phone off him as she tried to get him to study. He claimed that this was mistreatment and wanted his legal expenses reimbursed. Thankfully the judge realized what the boy was playing at and ruled in the mother’s favor. He also stated that his mother was right to remove his phone and it was in his best interests to study and prepare for his future. No payment was made but we are sure the mother will be saving plenty of money after removing the phone from her ungrateful son.
Comments (0)