Top 20 Most Ridiculous Lawsuits Ever
#20: Appendage in the Chili
You all know the story. Back in 2005, Anna Ayala allegedly found a severed fingertip in her bowl of Wendy’s chili. It became the media story of the decade, and it understandably resulted in a slew of bad publicity against the fast food giant. When Ayala sued the restaurant, the public watched with bated breath (probably while eating McDonalds or some other competitor). Of course, it was all nonsense. Ayala had gotten the fingertip from an associate of her husband, who had lost it in a workplace accident. She then placed it in her chili in order to scam Wendy’s. She subsequently pleaded guilty to grand larceny and served four years in prison.
#19: Uber Ruined My Marriage!
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Oh the joys of modern technology. An unnamed Frenchman sued Uber in 2017, claiming that the app had caused his divorce. As the story goes, the man had once ordered an Uber using his wife’s iPhone. However, a bug in the app prevented the session from closing properly. His wife then received notifications of all his future Uber rides, and both the locations and the times aroused her suspicion. She then issued a divorce, believing that her husband was cheating. The man in turn blamed Uber for his failed marriage and sued the company for nearly $50 million. Unfortunately, the outcome of the lawsuit is currently unknown.
#18: My Iced Coffee Doesn’t Measure Up
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Alexander Forouzesh had an interesting accusation. According to him, Starbucks was guilty of both false advertising and breach of warranty by using less liquid in their drinks than advertised. For example, a 12 ounce iced coffee doesn’t actually contain 12 ounces of coffee owing to the inclusion of the ice. The case was almost immediately thrown out by the court, claiming that it fell under “reasonable consumer standards.” In other words, those purchasing an iced coffee would understand that the inclusion of ice would decrease the amount of liquid. Or, as Judge Percy Anderson hilariously summarized, “As young children learn, they can increase the amount of beverage they receive if they order ‘no ice.’”
#17: The Movie Texter
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There are dates from Hell, and then there’s this. Brandon Vezmar and an unnamed woman went to see “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” and the woman began texting her upset friend, who was having a fight with her boyfriend. The incensed Vezmar asked her to take it outside, so she did - and then never returned. He then sued his date for the price of the ticket, $17.31, with his lawsuit petition claiming that “[the] defendant’s behavior was a threat to civilized society.” In turn, the woman claimed she needed to remove herself from the situation for her own safety. She also planned to file a restraining order against Vezmar, as he had contacted her younger sister demanding his money.
#16: The Pepsi Points Case
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In the late ‘90s, Pepsi launched a points-based rewards program. Basically, buyers would accumulate points by purchasing Pepsi products, and inturn, could spend the points on merchandise. The accompanying commercial saw a teenager getting into a Harrier jet accompanied by the words “Harrier Fighter 7,000,000 Pepsi Points.” As per contest rules, people could also pay $0.10 per point. So John Leonard sent a cheque for $700,000, thinking he had just scored an incredible discount on a $30 million-plus jet. Yet Pepsi didn’t give him one, so Leonard sued. Pepsi claimed that it was a joke and the court agreed, stating that the commercial was “clearly not serious.” It was deemed an illegitimate offer made in jest and Leonard’s case was dismissed.
#15: A Crafty Prisoner Sues Himself
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When a Judge calls something “an innovative approach to civil rights litigation,” you know it has to be good. A man named Robert Lee Brock was spending over 20 years in prison for grand larceny when he had a brilliant idea. He would sue himself for a violation of his civil rights and make the state pay for it. Brock drank alcohol and in turn sued himself for $5 million for violating his religious beliefs. He hilariously requested that the state of Virginia float the bill, arguing that he was a ward of the state and couldn't make money while in prison. Judge Rebecca Beach Smith commended Brock’s creativity but instantly dismissed the case, calling it “ludicrous.”
#14: Where Is My Job?
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The job market is tough. Trina Thompson discovered that firsthand. Thompson earned her bachelor’s in information technology from New York’s Monroe College. However, she was unable to find a job between her graduation in April and the following August. As a result, she sued the college, claiming that its career counsellors were doing a bad job of finding her gainful employment. Thompson believed that graduating from the school was a waste of time and demanded a refund of her $70,000 tuition. Unfortunately, that’s not how college works, and Monroe answered back by stating, “It is clear that no college...can guarantee employment.”
#13: Empty Air
Buying snacks can be frustrating. You spend the money, eagerly tear into the packaging, and find a lot of empty air within the box. You then think to yourself, “Why don’t they just fill this space with more candy?” Well that’s exactly what Biola Daniel thought when she sued Tootsie Roll Industries for under-packaging their Junior Mints boxes. According to her lawsuit, Junior Mints contain far more empty space than competing candy brands, and consumers are getting ripped off. U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald threw the case out on reasonable consumer grounds, hilariously stating that the lawsuit “attributes to consumers a level of stupidity that the court cannot countenance.”
#12: A Legally Binding Verbal Contract
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Where to even start with this one? While literally fleeing a murder charge, Jesse Dimmick broke into the Kansas home of Jared and Lindsay Rowley and held them captive. He allegedly offered them money in exchange for protection, and they agreed. However, the couple escaped once Dimmick fell asleep, and the fugitive was subsequently arrested. The Rowleys then sued Dimmick for emotional stress, and Dimmick countersued. According to him, the Rowleys had accepted his deal for money and had therefore broken a legally-binding oral contract. Not only was Dimmick’s lawsuit thrown out, but he was sent to prison for ten years.
#11: Joseph v. NASA
In January of 2014, astronomers revealed an interesting photo of the Martian surface, showing a strange rock that had not been present in the same spot twelve days earlier. It naturally brought considerable attention before scientists deduced that it was likely knocked into place by the Rover’s wheels. Undeterred, Californian Rhawn Joseph filed legal papers, claiming that NASA wasn't doing enough to study what he believed to be a living organism and a sign of life on Mars. We're excited about such a prospect, but… this one’s just a rock, dude.
#10: What a Jack Ass
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We feel bad for poor Jack Ass. Born Bob Craft, this Montana man changed his name to Jack Ass in the late ‘90s following the death of his brother. Why? To help promote safe and sober driving, of course. He began running a non-profit with the slogan, “Be a smart ass, not a dumb ass.” But tragic backstory and good intentions aside, his legal case was quite ridiculous. Jack Ass ended up suing Viacom over their famous “Jackass” brand, claiming that the name had plagiarized his own and that the crude franchise was defaming his character. To make the story that much more tragic, Jack Ass took his own life shortly after launching the lawsuit.
#9: Lucas v. McDonald's
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While you've all probably heard the story about the woman who sued McDonald’s for serving their coffee too hot and her suffering of 3rd degree burns, at least that one had legal grounds. Nothing trumps Webster Lucas’ lawsuit though, in which he sued McDonald's for $1.5 million after a confrontation stemming from a request for more napkins. Instead of giving him more napkins, the manager allegedly resorted to racist remarks and cursed at Lucas instead, which left the customer distressed, unable to work and demanding a cool $1.5 million. It's not that being discriminated against isn't legitimately distressing, but the thing is Mr. Lucas seems to have a history of suing fast food joints. He's reportedly sued Jack-in-the-Box twice, and also brought suit against Walmart and Denny's.
#8: An Age By Any Number...
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Shakespeare once wrote, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Does that work for ages, too? A Dutch man named Emile Ratelband hoped to legally change his birthday from 1949 to 1969, “officially” making him twenty years younger. He wished to change his birthday to avoid age-based discrimination and to find more success on Tinder. Crossing the boundary from hilarious to offensive, Ratelband compared the situation to being transgender, asking, “We live in a time when you can change your name and change your gender. Why can't I decide my own age?” The court eventually dismissed the lawsuit, stating (in more official terms) that people can’t just change their ages all willy nilly.
#7: RIAA v. Walton
The Recording Industry Association of America is known for being bloodthirsty creatures, and not even the deceased can escape its wrath. Proof? They attempted to sue an 83-year-old woman for making 700 songs publicly available on the Internet. Unfortunately for all involved, they sued her following her death. And the filed lawsuit came after her daughter responded to a warning letter with a copy of her mother’s death certificate to RIAA lawyers. Sorry guys, but we're pretty sure that you're not winning this one.
#6: Heckard v. Jordan & Heckard v Nike
In this case of celebrity lookalike versus a celebrity (and the company that made said celebrity famous), an African-American man from Portland, Oregon named Allen Heckard sued both NBA star Michael Jordan and Nike for $416 million each. Why? Heckard was tired of all the emotional pain and injury he was supposedly suffering from being constantly mistaken for the ex-Chicago Bulls player whenever he was out in public. Though they differ in age and height, Heckard and Jordan both have shaved heads and wear a single earring – yet one’s a famous athlete and the other’s an airport shuttle driver with a criminal record. In the end, Heckard dropped the suit before going to trial and without being given any money.
#5: Overton v. Anheuser-Busch Co.
Beer is certainly delicious, there's no denying that, but we'd be hard pressed to find anyone who believes that it has magical powers. However, Richard Overton was certainly fooled, as he sued Bud Light in 1991 for their false and misleading advertisements. In their commercials, male drinkers are often in tropical settings surrounded by gorgeous women. Overton’s lawsuit concluded those particular representations of life after drinking the beer were “untrue,” and therefore, that would fall under false advertisement. His case was suitably dismissed. Interestingly, Overton doesn’t drink alcohol. He filed the lawsuit when his young kids became entranced by Bud spokesdog Spuds Mackenzie.
#4: The $54 Million Pants
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You would think an administrative law judge would know the difference between legitimate and frivolous lawsuits. Judge Roy Pearson sued the owners of a Washington dry cleaners for supposedly losing his pants. According to Pearson, the cleaners had violated their “satisfaction guaranteed” sign and caused him mental anguish. Despite the owners agreeing to $12,000 in legal compensation, Pearson rejected their offer and sued for over $50 million. He should have taken that $12,000. Instead, he lost both the case and his job, as no one wanted to work with a judge who frivolously sued people over pants. The owners of the dry cleaners later recovered their exorbitant legal costs through fundraising.
#3: Kalkan v. Nolan & Warner Bros.
Helped by its grim tone and dark subject matter, “The Dark Knight” became an immensely popular film in 2008. All this success became an issue for the mayor of a city called Batman (bawt-mawn), located in Turkey. In his “batcrap” crazy lawsuit, Huseyin Kalkan made plans to sue Warner Bros. and director Christopher Nolan for using the name “Batman” without the city’s permission… as if the capital of Batman Province owned the rights to the name. To make matters worse, Kalkan even blamed the movie for a rise of unsolved murders and suicides in the area, claiming that “The Dark Knight” has made a negative psychological impact on the city’s residents. The suit doesn’t appear to have ever seen its day in court… and Kalkan was also sentenced to jail for promoting terrorism the same year.
#2: Rosenberg v. Harwood & Google
Google Maps is an astounding creation, as it gives directions to almost anywhere in the world. However, the web mapping service doesn't account for… cars. Lauren Rosenberg was following Google's walking directions, which led her onto a busy highway with no sidewalks. She “intelligently” kept right on following the highway and was subsequently hit by a car. As a result, she sued both Google and the driver – Patrick Harwood - for $100,000, but her claims were ultimately dismissed. We don't think Google needs the explicit statement of “please don't walk into moving cars” on their directions, but apparently they do. Oh, and by the way, it was nighttime when Rosenberg ventured out onto this highway.
#1: Watch the Sizzle!
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A man named Hiram Jimenez visited a New Jersey Applebee’s with his brother and ordered some delicious steak fajitas. After receiving the literally sizzling hot plate, Jimenez bowed over his food to pray. And that’s when some grease popped and hit him in the face. This resulted in a further comedy of errors which saw Jimenez knocking the hot food into his lap, losing his glasses, and bumping his elbow on the table. Despite suffering no serious injuries, Jimenez sued the restaurant for negligence. The court threw his case out, claiming that Jimenez shouldn’t have placed his face directly over sizzling food.
