Wrongdoings of another person must be dealt with strictly and there is no better feeling in the world than receiving justice for being right. Here is a look back at some of the most successful personal injury cases fought in the court of law:
1. Suing Railways
The city of New York witnessed something peculiar. A woman attempted suicide by laying down on the train tracks inside a subway. Upon the arrival of the train, it did not kill her instead injured her very badly. This gave the woman an opportunity to file a legal case. When she sued the city of New York for her injuries, the Supreme court had to award her a whopping $14.1 million! As lame as it may sound, this is a real case and a successful one from the plaintiff’s point of view.
2. Case On Faulty Door Knobs
Newmark Reality and Associated were sued by Cedrick Makara, NY claims examiner for getting his thumb injured due to their negligence of not installing a doorknob.
When he went inside a washroom (built by Newmark Realty) that didn’t have a doorknob and wanted to exit, another person from outside pushed the door towards inside. In the process, Cedrick’s thumb was seriously injured.
He had to undergo surgery and could not work for the next 6 months. The court of law found elements of the claim valid and awarded him 3 million dollars. Also, his wife received $750,000 too!
3. The Attacks of 9/11
One of the most tragic days in the history of mankind has to be the 11th September 2001 when the twin towers in NY City were attacked by Al Qaeda terrorists. There were no limits to the human and financial losses recorded and it led to a lot of lawsuits being filed.
Within a few years, numerous victims of that terrorist activity had received compensation. However, another type of problem arose when the men who worked for rescue and recovery operations suffered illnesses and injuries started lawsuits.
By 2009, more than 9K individuals knocked at the door of courts for receiving justice against private contractors and govt. agencies. In most cases, it was claimed that not much was done to protect the workers from the illnesses passed through ground zero environment. Majority of these cases were filed by construction workers, policemen, and firefighters.
However, the defendants opposed the claims stating that the relationship between ground zero conditions and the illnesses were not proved. In fact, the city of New York itself claimed legal help as the situation was of national emergency and the money for the recovery of damages coming from the pool of local taxpayers would not be fair.
Since there were a plethora of cases filed, it took a long time for the courts to hear them out and ultimately serve justice. Finally, about $700 million was approved in 2011 and over 95% of the claims were successfully closed.
4. Suing The Weather Reporter
This case is a classic example of how far people can go to get compensation. A weather reporter was dragged to court by a woman in Israel since his prediction about the weather was wrong. He had predicted good weather, but rain took over which was not predicted.
The woman claimed that this piece of information led to her illness and injury as she was not appropriately dressed. She caught the flu and was unable to report to work for many days. Medication expenses were also born by the woman. Finally, the court offered her $1000 as compensation.
5. Burglar Suing The Home Owners
In another unusual case, Terrence Dickinson, a thief in Bristol, Pennsylvania attempted to burgle a home. In the process he got trapped as the garage door from where he planned to exit did not work properly. He also tried another door which was also stuck for some reason. As a result, he was trapped inside the property for 8 long days and he had to survive on just dog food and Pepsi.
Later the man had the courage to file a case for the mental stress he had to suffer, and the court awarded him $500,000!
6. Suing McDonald’s
This is another classic example wherein an elderly lady named Stella Lieback bought a cup of coffee at one of the McDonald’s drive-thru which got spilled on her lap. This caused injuries to her upper thighs and groin.
She sued McDonald’s for $20k as it was proved that the coffee was slightly hotter than what McDonald’s usually serves.
However, the company felt that they were not at fault and they would anyway win this case. With this confidence, they approached the court and that was a terrible mistake. The judge settled $200,000 of which Lieback would receive about $160,000 because of the joint responsibility of giving and taking the coffee from the delivery counter.
The case continued further and ultimately, she was awarded $2.7 million for corrective damages.
7. Emotional Distress Due To Car Accident
A student named Julie Miramon was involved in two car accidents in the year 1988. The first one was a serious accident for her and she was in the back seat in the second one. In both cases, the lady did not suffer any physical injuries but there was mental distress that she went through leaving her with problems of anxiety and eating disorders.
In the initial ruling, the plaintiff was not awarded any monetary compensation. However, later she received $790 for medical expenses and furthermore $6000 for the suffering she went through.
Conclusion
All these stories have a common ending. The individuals who suffered a personal injury of some kind or the other were compensated by the court of law and justice was served in each and every case. All of them had information on how to claim personal injury compensation.
Such acts reflect authentic functioning of the court of law and also give rays of hope to people who are suffering due to personal injury and are looking forward to getting justice.
