Word: suede
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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According to one frequently cited tale, a body builder competing in a footrace with a refrigerator strapped to his back was injured when one of the straps came loose; he sued several defendants, including the strapmaker, and won $1 million. The facts, according to the lawyers' group: ten athletes competed...
Another tale allegedly involves a fat man with a history of coronary disease who suffered a heart attack while trying to start a Sears lawn mower, sued Sears and the manufacturer, contending that too much force was required to pull the rope, and won $1,750,000. The real story...
In yet another celebrated case, a burglar supposedly fell through the skylight of a school, sued and was awarded $260,000, plus $1,500 a month. The full story, it seems, is that a 19-year-old man and three friends tried to take a floodlight off the roof of...
Equally significant is the growing size of punitive damages, which supposedly serve the same purpose as a don't-ever-do-anything-like-that-again fine of the defendant. Juries sometimes find that a person's actual damages amounted to only a few thousand dollars, yet decide that the corporation...
Courts and legislatures have steadily expanded definitions of who can be sued, and on what grounds. These days you usually can sue city hall, despite the doctrine of sovereign immunity, which holds that governments cannot be sued without their consent. State laws, and court interpretations of them, have granted that...