Mr. Coffee Nerves: You'd think they'd just put security cameras in the produce section to help determine who really had an accident and who didn't.

They probably do. But consider:
The cases include a 30-year-old woman who was awarded more than $300,000 last year after requiring a knee replacement when she became stuck under a trolley following a fall.

The 30 year old with the mangled knee probably isn't faking.

Theaetetus: Mr. Coffee Nerves: You'd think they'd just put security cameras in the produce section to help determine who really had an accident and who didn't.

They probably do. But consider:
The cases include a 30-year-old woman who was awarded more than $300,000 last year after requiring a knee replacement when she became stuck under a trolley following a fall.

The 30 year old with the mangled knee probably isn't faking.

Or they're the most dedicated fakers out there!

Slaxl: Theaetetus: Mr. Coffee Nerves: You'd think they'd just put security cameras in the produce section to help determine who really had an accident and who didn't.

They probably do. But consider:
The cases include a 30-year-old woman who was awarded more than $300,000 last year after requiring a knee replacement when she became stuck under a trolley following a fall.

The 30 year old with the mangled knee probably isn't faking.

Or they're the most dedicated fakers out there!

Well, consider... an award of $300k means her lawyer takes $100k and her insurance company takes $100k. She only gets $100k to take home.
But gosh, that's a lot, right? Until you realize that knee replacements only last 10 years, and so, if she lives past 70, she's going to need four more full knee replacements. Which her insurance may cover, unless she ever changes jobs and then has a "pre-existing condition". So, there's a strong chance she'll need that money to pay for the future operations.
Additionally, she was likely out of work for a while, and those lost wages are also part of the $100k. And she may have lost seniority or opportunity to advance, and her career will suffer.

In short, she's got a lifetime of painful operations to look forward to and is probably not even adequately compensated. It's a terrible way to make money.

Theaetetus: Slaxl: Theaetetus: Mr. Coffee Nerves: You'd think they'd just put security cameras in the produce section to help determine who really had an accident and who didn't.

They probably do. But consider:
The cases include a 30-year-old woman who was awarded more than $300,000 last year after requiring a knee replacement when she became stuck under a trolley following a fall.

The 30 year old with the mangled knee probably isn't faking.

Or they're the most dedicated fakers out there!

Well, consider... an award of $300k means her lawyer takes $100k and her insurance company takes $100k. She only gets $100k to take home.
But gosh, that's a lot, right? Until you realize that knee replacements only last 10 years, and so, if she lives past 70, she's going to need four more full knee replacements. Which her insurance may cover, unless she ever changes jobs and then has a "pre-existing condition". So, there's a strong chance she'll need that money to pay for the future operations.
Additionally, she was likely out of work for a while, and those lost wages are also part of the $100k. And she may have lost seniority or opportunity to advance, and her career will suffer.

In short, she's got a lifetime of painful operations to look forward to and is probably not even adequately compensated. It's a terrible way to make money.

Did you read my comment and really think I was serious? I suppose there are people on Fark who post such silly things in seriousness.

Watch a move called Hot Coffee and see what really goes on in the world of "fraudulent' law suits.

No jury is going to award millions to someone with just a booboo that they faked.

My neck! My back! My neck and my back!

Personal Injury lawsuits do have some silly effects around the edges but overall they keep the vast majority of consumer products safe. Can you imagine the size of the government beurocracy that would be required to accomplish the same industry supervision? Plus, like any regulatory agency they would eventually become corrupted by the industry they are supposed to watch.

Lawsuits turns attorneys into freelance bounty hunters that are, for example, far more effective at preventing food poisoning than the FDA.

FriarReb98: I know someone who does this. She truly is one of the worst humans imaginable. Also, she does it at discount supermarkets so she can lie to us and say she's paying $1 a day for lunch. And once it wasn't a grape, it was a child's urine. I actually laughed my ass off in my head while she said it.

\pretty sure every retailer in my area has a file on her from her writing in to corporate on them

But the Safeway was running a "buy one, get one free" special on child urine that week. And you can definitely use food stamps for those.

"The cases include a 30-year-old woman who was awarded more than $300,000 last year after requiring a knee replacement when she became stuck under a trolley following a fall"

This seems real as how do you fake getting stuck under a trolley?

What is sad is the other 95% that are scams like my aunt who had a guest that needed hip replacement faked a fall in her bathroom. Her homeowners paid it even after several people claimed she planned it to get her surgery paid for. I guess it is cheaper to pay and make it go away.

85% of all Toyota Land Cruisers sold to middle aged black women is because of this.

KimNorth: "The cases include a 30-year-old woman who was awarded more than $300,000 last year after requiring a knee replacement when she became stuck under a trolley following a fall"

This seems real as how do you fake getting stuck under a trolley?

What is sad is the other 95% that are scams like my aunt who had a guest that needed hip replacement faked a fall in her bathroom. Her homeowners paid it even after several people claimed she planned it to get her surgery paid for. I guess it is cheaper to pay and make it go away.

How do you get stuck under a trolley at all?? Assuming it's local slang for "shopping cart". Can't picture it.

pippi longstocking: Watch a move called Hot Coffee and see what really goes on in the world of "fraudulent' law suits.

No jury is going to award millions to someone with just a booboo that they faked.

Most of them don't go to trial because they're settled out of court.

You have to consider that the people who do this type of thing would sell their kid for 150 bucks, so they figure they're winning big if they threaten to sue and then extort a thousand dollars to take care of their "injuries".

sharkbeagle: 85% of all Toyota Land Cruisers sold to middle aged black women is because of this.

And I get a days vacation for calling for the extermination of north Carolina.

KimNorth: What is sad is the other 95% that are scams

95% of the claims are scams? Where does that come from?

From the article:

The firm's senior associate, Fiona Ley, blamed poor cleaning practices and the tendency for shoppers not to look down as they gaze at the shelves.

"Some slip on fresh produce, others trip over strewn packaging, especially later in the night when the chaps are stocking shelves, and then there are incidents where a poorly maintained trolley is steered into someone else," she said.

A Woolworths spokeswoman said there was a range of measures to ensure stores are safe, " particularly in the produce, deli and milk section, including the strategic placement of non-slip mats as well as additional mats on wet days".

A Coles spokesman said it had ramped up both its in-store cleaning and anti-slip mats.

"We have substantially increased the amount of dedicated in-store cleaning we undertake in recent years."

I guess they felt cleaning up properly wasn't necessary before people started suing and collecting.

jules_siegel: KimNorth: What is sad is the other 95% that are scams

95% of the claims are scams? Where does that come from?

From the article:

The firm's senior associate, Fiona Ley, blamed poor cleaning practices and the tendency for shoppers not to look down as they gaze at the shelves.

"Some slip on fresh produce, others trip over strewn packaging, especially later in the night when the chaps are stocking shelves, and then there are incidents where a poorly maintained trolley is steered into someone else," she said.

A Woolworths spokeswoman said there was a range of measures to ensure stores are safe, " particularly in the produce, deli and milk section, including the strategic placement of non-slip mats as well as additional mats on wet days".

A Coles spokesman said it had ramped up both its in-store cleaning and anti-slip mats.

"We have substantially increased the amount of dedicated in-store cleaning we undertake in recent years."

I guess they felt cleaning up properly wasn't necessary before people started suing and collecting.

You sound like you got a big payout from a bogus "slip in fall" which enabled you to move to a foreign tropical place and pursue your dream of being a writer.

What are you running shot on cash and planning your next payout?

//hiding in the next isle with foot out, your welcome.

I understand that everyone loves reading stories about frivolous lawsuits, but this story is crap. First, it is about Australia. Second, it offers no citations nor direct figures. Third, it makes unsubstantiated conclusions. In other words, this seems to be an article for the tort reform industry.

Remember, every time there is a "frivolous" jury verdict, there were 8, 10, or 12 jurors who went along with the verdict. Would you rather an elected judge make the call? The jury system is the last major check on big business we have in this country.

Lets talk about the one personal injury lawsuit that everyone hangs their hat on - the McDonalds hot coffee lawsuit. "She got allllllllllll that money for spilling coffee on herself, we've got to change this." The real facts of that case are that McDonalds was nuking the coffee far beyond a safe temperature. Coffee this hot would then make the cup flexible and easy to spill. There was no way to drink this coffee at this temperature without seriously burning yourself.

Everyone hates personal injury lawyers until they (or their family) is seriously injured due to someone else's negligence.

KimNorth: You sound like you got a big payout from a bogus "slip in fall" which enabled you to move to a foreign tropical place and pursue your dream of being a writer.

I was a successful writer long before I moved to the tropics, which pretty much closed my publishing career, mainly because of the difficulty communicating from places where I had to take a taxi to make a telephone call. I traded my career for a life at the beach. It was well worth it. Because I am a genuinely boostrappy person, I survived and supported my family by doing graphic design, which was my trade before I became a writer.

What are you running shot on cash and planning your next payout?

This is the stupidest retort I've ever received on Fark. You really are very special and you should believe in yourself no matter how many times people tell you are an obnoxious imbecile. They are wrong. It takes talent to do what you do, whatever it is you think you are doing.

jlj3394: I understand that everyone loves reading stories about frivolous lawsuits, but this story is crap. First, it is about Australia. Second, it offers no citations nor direct figures. Third, it makes unsubstantiated conclusions. In other words, this seems to be an article for the tort reform industry.

Remember, every time there is a "frivolous" jury verdict, there were 8, 10, or 12 jurors who went along with the verdict. Would you rather an elected judge make the call? The jury system is the last major check on big business we have in this country.

Lets talk about the one personal injury lawsuit that everyone hangs their hat on - the McDonalds hot coffee lawsuit. "She got allllllllllll that money for spilling coffee on herself, we've got to change this." The real facts of that case are that McDonalds was nuking the coffee far beyond a safe temperature. Coffee this hot would then make the cup flexible and easy to spill. There was no way to drink this coffee at this temperature without seriously burning yourself.

Everyone hates personal injury lawyers until they (or their family) is seriously injured due to someone else's negligence.

Somehow, I managed to drink quite a few cups of McDonald's coffee without sticking it in between my legs and opening the lid in the drive-through.

jules_siegel: KimNorth: You sound like you got a big payout from a bogus "slip in fall" which enabled you to move to a foreign tropical place and pursue your dream of being a writer.

I was a successful writer long before I moved to the tropics, which pretty much closed my publishing career, mainly because of the difficulty communicating from places where I had to take a taxi to make a telephone call. I traded my career for a life at the beach. It was well worth it. Because I am a genuinely boostrappy person, I survived and supported my family by doing graphic design, which was my trade before I became a writer.

What are you running shot on cash and planning your next payout?

This is the stupidest retort I've ever received on Fark. You really are very special and you should believe in yourself no matter how many times people tell you are an obnoxious imbecile. They are wrong. It takes talent to do what you do, whatever it is you think you are doing.

Come on guy! Lighten up! I was razing you.....

//You've been trolled/a little shocked you didn't see it.

tbyte: Somehow, I managed to drink quite a few cups of McDonald's coffee without sticking it in between my legs and opening the lid in the drive-through.

Her contributory negligence was discounted from the award. McDonalds subsequently reduced the heat of the coffee.

I think I once read something...where was it? on Fark...about farking a chicken. I don't know what it would mean exactly, but I'm confident it applies here.

"Remember, every time there is a "frivolous" jury verdict, there were 8, 10, or 12 jurors who went along with the verdict. Would you rather an elected judge make the call? The jury system is the last major check on big business we have in this country."

This ^

One of the main advantages of a large company becoming incorporated is that they get free insurance, To allow them to conduct business. Yet they use these "Claims" as an excuse to jack up prices. "privatized profits, socialized losses"

/Sorry, a pet peeve of mine
//Double sorry, Free insurance for corporations. No insurance for you Citizen.

KimNorth: Come on guy! Lighten up! I was razing you.....

//You've been trolled/a little shocked you didn't see it.

So you say, putz.

Approves

/Hot like slipping on pee-pee at Mega-lo-Mart

jules_siegel: putz

I now get why you had to leave the Country.

not to mention the cost of people "testing" the grapes and then not buying them.

Theaetetus: Mr. Coffee Nerves: You'd think they'd just put security cameras in the produce section to help determine who really had an accident and who didn't.

They probably do. But consider:
The cases include a 30-year-old woman who was awarded more than $300,000 last year after requiring a knee replacement when she became stuck under a trolley following a fall.

The 30 year old with the mangled knee probably isn't faking.

Stuck under a trolley? Are shopping carts different in other places?
Was it like those huge carts for moving drywall at the local home improvment center?
If so your buying way too much.
You know I have heard of people getting injured in one place and going somewhere else where its better to claim injury.
I knew this laundrymat owner that got served a lawsuit because his drier "tore off a person finger" when they stuck their hand into it while it was still spinning.
The investigation found the finger was not tore off as claimed and was in fact cleanly cut off.
Nothing was in the drier with a sharp edge and the person was only there for a few minutes before it happened and I guess there was a few other things where discovered. The person was found to be injured somewhere else.

KimNorth: I now get why you had to leave the Country.

I know see that you are not merely a putz, but a pendejo, which is Mexican for a stupid putz. Keep up the good work. You have a great future in Internet trolling.

Now see.

cman: Umm, I fell on my butt and looked like a fool. I lost half a day of pay. Can I have $2 million please?

Maybe, if it ruined your dream of being a butt model.
Or you convince the jury that you can never poop right ever again.

Heraclitus: One of the main advantages of a large company becoming incorporated is that they get free insurance, To allow them to conduct business. Yet they use these "Claims" as an excuse to jack up prices. "privatized profits, socialized losses"

insurance is "free" for businesses? that certainly is an interesting claim.

MAYORBOB: FriarReb98: I know someone who does this. She truly is one of the worst humans imaginable. Also, she does it at discount supermarkets so she can lie to us and say she's paying $1 a day for lunch. And once it wasn't a grape, it was a child's urine. I actually laughed my ass off in my head while she said it.

\pretty sure every retailer in my area has a file on her from her writing in to corporate on them

But the Safeway was running a "buy one, get one free" special on child urine that week. And you can definitely use food stamps for those.

Urine the money!
Urine the money!
you know like the song?
I know its cheap and lame.
Was she pis*ed off about it?

jules_siegel: I know see that you are not merely a putz, but a pendejo, which is Mexican for a stupid putz. Keep up the good work. You have a great future in Internet trolling.

If he is an independent troll, I would strongly encourage him to get insured. Some people do not take well to being trolled and have been known to unleash the Mexican Mafia, or "Cerveza Nostra" on them and their families. Please get in touch with me for more information. Note that this is only if he is a private troll. Businesses do not need insurance, as Business Insurance was outlawed in 1981 by King Reagan the Astrologic.

proteus_b: Heraclitus: One of the main advantages of a large company becoming incorporated is that they get free insurance, To allow them to conduct business. Yet they use these "Claims" as an excuse to jack up prices. "privatized profits, socialized losses"

insurance is "free" for businesses? that certainly is an interesting claim.

I would assume he means self-insured. that would fit better into the "exaggerated insurance payouts, raise prices, raise profits" conspiracy.

pippi longstocking: No jury is going to award millions to someone with just a booboo that they faked.

But a company will settle out of court for $50K when the cost of just going to trial is several times higher.

CSB

Never thought I'd see the grape reference again.

Spent a decade cashiering nights at the local Wally's. Surprisingly, they really ARE concerned with customer safety, and it is a priority to settle accident claims BEFORE they make it to the lawsuit stage. I know, I know, it was all about the money, but still - we associates were regularly reminded to be alert to hazards.

WalMart was also fond of catchy slogans to keep their policies fresh in our minds. These ranged from acronyms (BOB and LISA for cashiers) to nifty litttle phrases (I particularly liked "time theft").

At one point, management was in the habit of pointing out loose grapes with the comment, "There's a $10,000 grape on the floor." (Don't recall exact dollar value, was in the 5-figure range.) No explanation, we thought they were being smart-ass jerks. But it WAS a funky thing to say, so of course it became a kind of ridiculing catchphrase amongst the peons.

It seems management knew it was more effective for the background story to work its way round through word of mouth. Apparently, the store had just paid medical bills for a customer who slipped on a grape. Made us all think a bit. Also made repeating the phrase lots funnier.

Subby is ignoring some of the benefits of wrapping the world in bubble wrap.

Link

My dad is obviously doing it wrong.

40+ years ago he was hit by a drunk driver driving a work truck but because the guy didnt have insurance (it wasn't required by law until the year after) he got nothing from the guy except a month long coma, heptatitis C from the blood transfusion, and a mangled up left leg. Today had this happened he would have gotten a few million from the drunk guys business and another few million from the blood bank.

Fast forward about 30 years and he is in a grocery store that has this oily substance on the floor and he slips and falls and does some bruising to his back. The manager of the grocery store is very nice to him, calls an ambulance, tells him to get checked out and does what one would consider the "right" thing....just being a decent human. This manager files the report and then corporate gets involved. Two lawyers show up at our house basically outlining their defense of the situation, him falling because of his disability, they provide him the names of three witnesses claiming it was his carelessness that caused the accident and just being generally threatening. Dad had no intent to sue but wanted the ambulance bill and whatever imaging they did to his back paid for. Of course they wouldn't pay and we didnt pursue because my dad wasn't hurt but its just another friendly reminder of how dickish people are. He bumped into the manager of the store and even she started accusing him of fraud even after witnessing the entire thing.

My dad is one of the nicest guys you could ever meet and would do anything for anyone but for whatever reason the universe has chosen him to crap on...I kid with him that he must have killed puppies and kittens for fun in another life and is getting paid back for it.

Link

GIS fake slip and fall. Tons of dumbazzez on vids.

jules_siegel: From the article:

The firm's senior associate, Fiona Ley, blamed poor cleaning practices and the tendency for shoppers not to look down as they gaze graze at the shelves.

fixed for accuracy.
we *are* talking about grapes here, right?

jlj3394: Lets talk about the one personal injury lawsuit that everyone hangs their hat on - the McDonalds hot coffee lawsuit.

Lets.

"She got allllllllllll that money for spilling coffee on herself, we've got to change this." The real facts of that case are that McDonalds was nuking the coffee far beyond a safe temperature.

They were not "nuking" their coffee. They were holding their coffee at 180-185 degree, as per company standards. These standards are right in line with the National Coffee Association recomendations, and at the same temperatures that all coffee makers (even the one on your kitchen counter at home!) hold their coffee at.

tl;dr: The coffee was not 'too hot'.

Coffee this hot would then make the cup flexible and easy to spill.

She pinched the cup between her knees, reached over the cup, and pulled the far side of the lid towards her. This caused the cup to pivot and dump in her lap. if she has handled it more carefully, the spill (and resultant injury) would not have happened.

There was no way to drink this coffee at this temperature without seriously burning yourself.

...and yet only one cup out of every 24,000,000 sold resulted in a burn, of any severity. That means, for every 1 person who burned themselves, 23,999,999 people somehow managed not to.

Exactly how did these tens of millions of people manage the impossible??

jules_siegel: McDonalds subsequently reduced the heat of the coffee.

Wrong.

"Liebeck's attorney, Reed Morgan, and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America defend the lawsuit by claiming that McDonald's reduced the temperature of their coffee after the suit. Morgan has since brought other lawsuits against McDonald's over hot-coffee burns. McDonald's policy today is to serve coffee between 80-90 °C (176-194 °F), relying on more sternly-worded warnings on cups made of rigid foam to avoid future liability, though it continues to face lawsuits over hot coffee." - wikipedia

"The Specialty Coffee Association supports improved packaging methods rather than lowering the temperature at which coffee is served." -wiki again

The cause of this increase is more and more old people who refuse to go into nursing homes and think that they're still perfectly capable of acting like a 30-year-old when they're 80 and in poor health. I would also add: This includes younger people who have damaged their bodies with alcoholism, substance abuse, or obesity to the point that they have the balance, agility, bone density, and muscular control of a 90-year-old.

I'm sorry, but if you can't slip on a floor without breaking a hip, you need to be in a nursing home or have a nurse or have somebody else do your errands for you.

/Old people suck.

fredklein: They were not "nuking" their coffee. They were holding their coffee at 180-185 degree, as per company standards. These standards are right in line with the National Coffee Association recomendations, and at the same temperatures that all coffee makers (even the one on your kitchen counter at home!) hold their coffee at.

Those coffee makers are designed for pouring into an open-air porcelain mug, not a closed styrofoam container. The simple act of pouring coffee into a mug will drop the temperature by at least ten degrees almost immediately, because of the relatively large heat capacity of porcelain and via convection with the open air above. The temperature coffee should be served at depends strongly on how it will be contained and consumed, because what really matters is the temperature at the time you drink it (150 to 170 degrees to avoid burns) not the temperature it was initially brewed at.

She pinched the cup between her knees, reached over the cup, and pulled the far side of the lid towards her. This caused the cup to pivot and dump in her lap. if she has handled it more carefully, the spill (and resultant injury) would not have happened.

Which is why she was found partially at fault, and the award was reduced proportionally. The reason she still received damages is because without hospitalization and skin grafting the injuries she sustained would have been fatal.

pippi longstocking: Watch a move called Hot Coffee and see what really goes on in the world of "fraudulent' law suits.

No jury is going to award millions to someone with just a booboo that they faked.


I don't think anyone thinks her booboo was faked - it was the fact that McDonalds didn't spill coffee on her - she spilled coffee on herself from mishandling the cup - something that millions of people manage to handle properly every single day.

The movie was interesting, but very biased, and loose with the facts. I'll see your movie, and raise you this:

Link