List of unusual lawsuits
From EverybodyWiki Bios & Wiki
The following is a list of lawsuits that have been deemed unusual by multiple sources. Typically, such suits involve a strange reason, overly high reparations for the problem, or suing either inanimate objects, fictional characters, and even one's self. This page also compiles hoax suits commonly spread around as fact, as well as strange lawsuits in fiction.
Real suits[edit]
- On April 1, 2008, the high court of Lille, France nullified a marriage under the grounds of "mistaken essential qualities of the spouse" after the husband found her wife wasn't a virgin. However, the decision was reversed in November 2008, making the marriage once again legally valid.[1]
- In August 2009, Dalton Chiscolm sued the Bank of America for US$17.84 sextillion (ordered as "1,784 billion trillion"), with an additional $200 billion, allegedly due to receiving misinformation relating to details of a Spanish women; World Bank noted that the amount would be impossible to pay, since the total profit generated around the world in 2008 was $80 trillion.[2][3][4]
- Emile Ratelband from the Netherlands attempted to legally change his age from 69 to 49 to prevent ageism, believing his old age made him discriminated against and lose job opportunities.[5][6][7] The suit was rejected by the court, citing the process comes with special privileges including school and the right to vote.[8][9]
- Red Bull was forced to pay $13 million in settlement for false advertising thanks to their slogan "Red Bull Gives You Wings"; the suit noted that even in the figurative sense, the soft drink did not make the consumers feel energized.[10][11][12]
- One prison inmate attempted to sue himself in 1993 for $5 million for violating his religious beliefs, with the money coming from the government. Judge Rebecca Beach Smith considered the approach innovative, but dismissed it regardless.[13]
- Convicted fraudster Jonathan Lee Riches filed a suit against U.S. president George W. Bush on March 6, 2009, with the suit listing 783 other defendants. Among these included the Lincoln Memorial, the State of Israel, Saddam Hussein,[lower-alpha 1] Donald Trump, Mein Kampf, the Ming dynasty, the Nazi Party,[lower-alpha 2] Magna Carta, et al.[14]
- After receiving a pair of trousers from the dry cleaner Custom Cleaners, Judge Roy Pearson sued the owners for $50+ million in 2007, alleging that the received pants weren't his and that the owners had lost the original set. The suit ultimately ended in June with Custom Cleaners being cleared of any charges.[15][16][17]
- Video game critic James Stephanie Sterling (commonly known online as Jim Sterling) was sued in March 2016 by James Romine, one-half of the independent video game developer Digital Homicide Studios, after she[lower-alpha 3] gave a negative critique of one of their games. Seeking $10 million for assault, libel, and slander, they stated that her coverage of the game did not constitute fair use under U.S. copyright laws.[18] An additional lawsuit towards 100 anonymous Steam users was filed for the same reasons, worth an additional $18 million. Following this, Valve Corporation delisted all of their games off their service, and the case was dismissed with prejudice in February 2017.[19]
- In fall of 2010, comic book publisher Archie Comics filed a lawsuit against former writer and artist Ken Penders, who was previously the lead writer in the Sonic comic series by them, after he had copyrighted hundreds of characters and concepts for use in a continuation of the "Mobius: 25 Years Later" story arc which Archie claimed violated their contract.[20][21] Due to them being unable to produce the original contract, however, Penders ultimately succeeded in retaining his claims over the ideas, leading to the series being rebooted shortly afterwards.[22][23] Penders also sued EA and Sega over the video game Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood (2008), claiming the Nocturnes Clan featured in the game were plagiarized from his own Dark Legion; the Chronicles lawsuit was dismissed twice in 2011 and 2012.[22][24][25]
- One MBA student successfully sued the University of Ottawa for plagiarism after a professor misappropriated their paper.[26]
- Jessica Gomez of California filed a class-action lawsuit against Jelly Belly after being distressed the jelly bean packet she brought had labelled sugar as "evaporated cane juice." Her attorney stated that the lawsuit wasn't just about the sugar, but that the label could be used to deceive their customers.[27][28][29] The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also considers such a label to be misleading, recommending "cane sugar" as a more clear alternative.[28][30]
Hoax suits[edit]
- A common story was that a Chinese husband sued his wife for the "ugly" look of their baby, after which she revealed she had significant plastic surgery prior to getting married to hide her hideousness.[31] Snopes, however, disproved this, finding that it originated from the Chinese tabloid the Heilongjiang Morning Post, which often reported urban legend-like stories without any evidence to backup their claims.[32]
- It was commonly reported that one Kentucky man successfully sued himself for $300,000 after hitting himself with a boomerang.[33][34] However, the story originated from a 1996 issue of Weekly World News, another tabloid that commonly reported on fictional stories.[35]
Fictional suits[edit]
- The DreamWorks Animation film Bee Movie (2007) involves the honey bees successfully suing humanity for exploitation of their honey-making process.
See also[edit]
- Lawsuits against God - another list compiling real and fictitious lawsuits against God
- Lawsuits against the Devil - another list compiling real and fictitious lawsuits against Satan
- Strange laws - another list compiling laws regarded as useless, obsolete, or otherwise strange
- Frivolous litigation - the legal term referring to disregard of one's claims by any logic
- Vexatious litigation - when legal action is taken with the sole purpose of harassing an adversary
Notes[edit]
- ↑ Who was executed by the U.S. government on December 30, 2006.
- ↑ Both Ming and the Nazi Party haven't legally existed since 1644 and 1945 respectively.
- ↑ At the time this lawsuit was filed, Sterling went by he/him pronounces. She came out as a non-binary in August 2020 and now goes by she/her and they/them pronounces respectively.
References[edit]
- ↑ "L'annulation d'un mariage pour non-virginité de l'épouse rejetée en appel". Le Monde (in français). November 17, 2008. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
- ↑ "Man sues Bank of America for '1784 billion, trillion dollars'". The Sydney Morning Herald. September 28, 2009. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
- ↑ Hansen, Lauren (October 23, 2009). "Bank claim that is out of this world". BBC News. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
- ↑ "Man sues bank for $1784 billion trillion". 9News. September 28, 2009. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
- ↑ "Dutchman, 69, brings lawsuit to lower his age 20 years". BBC News. November 8, 2018. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
- ↑ Boffey, Daniel (November 8, 2018). "Dutch man, 69, starts legal fight to identify as 20 years younger". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
- ↑ "Dutchman's attempt to slash 20 years off his age rejected by court". ABC News. December 3, 2018. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
- ↑ "Emile Ratelband, 69, told he cannot legally change his age". BBC News. December 3, 2018. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
- ↑ Brueck, Hilary (December 3, 2018). "A 69-year-old Dutch man just tried to legally subtract 20 years from his age — but the court said no way". Business Insider. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
- ↑ O'Reilly, Lara (October 8, 2014). "Red Bull Will Pay $10 To Customers Disappointed The Drink Didn't Actually Give Them 'Wings'". Business Insider. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
- ↑ Levinson, Sean (October 7, 2014). "Red Bull agrees to pay $15 million for falsely claiming to provide superpowers". News.com.au. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
- ↑ Evans, Pete (October 9, 2014). "Red Bull settles false advertising lawsuit for $13M". CBC News. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
- ↑ "Inmate sues himself for $5 million". Deseret News. April 9, 1995. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
- ↑ Howard, Brian (April 13, 2006). "Trial of the Century". CityPaper. Archived from the original on April 30, 2006. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
- ↑ "Man Sues Dry Cleaners for $65 Million After They Lose His Pants". Fox News. March 25, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
- ↑ "Judge sues dry cleaners for $64m over lost pants". The Sydney Morning Herald. June 13, 2007. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
- ↑ Alexander, Keith (June 8, 2016). "Ex-D.C. judge who filed suit against dry cleaner over lost pants may face sanctions". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
- ↑ Klepek, Patrick (March 17, 2016). "Angered Game Developer Sues Critic Jim Sterling For $10 Million". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Archived from the original on March 19, 2016. Retrieved January 28, 2018. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Ibrahim, Mona (March 2, 2017). "Jim Sterling was sued for making fun of a game, and it was a bad idea". Polygon. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
- ↑ "Archie Comics Files Federal Lawsuit Against Ken Penders". TSSZ News. Archived from the original on 20 July 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2014. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Langshaw, Mark (October 20, 2010). "Ken Penders: 'Sonic lawsuit still on'". Digital Spy. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 Schroeder, Bobby (2020-02-11). "How a Legal Dispute Wiped Out Hundreds of Sonic the Hedgehog Characters". Intelligencer. Retrieved 2022-05-21.
- ↑ "Archie Comics Settles With Ken Penders Over Sonic The Hedgehog Lawsuit". Bleeding Cool Comic Book, Movie, TV News. 11 July 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
- ↑ Hogeweg, Stan (2021-12-23). "Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood - Remembering the Sonic BioWare RPG". Game Rant. Retrieved 2022-05-21.
- ↑ Slind-Flor, Victoria (October 25, 2013). "Qualcomm, Jack Daniel's, Who Dat?: Intellectual Property". Bloomberg Technology. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
- ↑ "Student Wins Suit Accusing A Professor Of Plagiarism". The New York Times. September 24, 1997. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
- ↑ Rocha, Veronica (May 26, 2017). "California woman sues Jelly Belly Candy claiming beans were full of sugar". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 Houston, Gillie (May 23, 2017). "Woman Sues Jelly Belly, Claims She Didn't Know Their Jelly Beans Contained Sugar". Vice. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
- ↑ "Cali Woman Sues Jelly Belly, Claims She Did Not Know Beans Contained Sugar - CBS Philadelphia". CBS News. May 26, 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
- ↑ "Ingredients Declared as Evaporated Cane Juice: Guidance for Industry". Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, US Food and Drug Administration. May 1, 2016. Archived from the original on December 14, 2019. Retrieved August 22, 2019. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Chinese man sues wife for being ugly - wins $120k". KABC-TV. October 31, 2012. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
- ↑ Mikkelson, David (November 7, 2013). "Did a Man Sue His Wife Over Ugly Children?". Snopes. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
- ↑ "Man sues himself and wins". South China Morning Post. August 5, 1996. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
- ↑ "Man knocks himself out with boomerang--then sues..." Chicago Tribune. August 4, 1996. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
- ↑ Evon, Dan (July 8, 2015). "Did a Man Sue Himself After Being Hit by His Boomerang?". Snopes. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
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