Personal injury cases are generally a grave matter—after all, an injury will result in pain and distress on the part of the plaintiff, all of which needs to be taken into serious consideration by all parties involved. It’s a matter of making sure those who are wrongfully injured are properly compensated for everything they have had to endure.
There are, however, some rather strange personal injury claims that have come up in the past, and these range from silly and senseless to outright catastrophic. Here, we’ll look at some of the most bizarre personal injury claims that have ever been made in history.
1. Suing the weatherman: A woman in Israel left her house, fully expecting sunny, pleasant weather as a weather forecast had predicted. However, it rained instead, and the woman contracted the flu, causing her to miss a week of work. She sued the TV station for $1,000, claiming the error in forecasting had caused her illness. In the end, she actually won.
2. Mike look-alike: One man claimed what he called “defamation and distress” for being mistaken for Michael Jordan over the course of 15 years. Eventually, he sued the NBA star and Phil Knight (who founded Nike) for $862 million. He later dropped the case.,
3. Haunted House of Horrors: Naturally, most people would assume an attraction called the “Haunted House of Horrors” would invoke feelings of terror, fear, etc. However, in one case, a woman actually sued Universal Studios for psychological trauma and mental anguish after a terrifying experience in their haunted house. As strange as that sounds, there was a bit of merit in the case—while fleeing from one of the workers (who was wielding a de-fanged chainsaw), she slipped and fell. The worker continued with his act in spite of her predicament, but she suffered no injury, which is probably why the case was thrown out.
4. Drunk on water: A radio show contest in 2007 promised a gaming console to whoever could drink the most water. One woman, who managed to down two whole gallons of water within three hours, died of a water overdose. Her husband filed for wrongful death, recovering $16.5 million in damages from the radio station.
5. Missing pants: A judge in Washington D.C. sued a dry cleaning company for the astronomical amount of $54 million—all for losing a pair of pants. Why so much for a pair of pants? He claimed that he suffered mental anguish over the loss, made more intense by the fact that they didn’t live up to the “Satisfaction Guaranteed” sign they had set up. In the end, he lost the case.
Some cases may seem outright silly, but they can still have dire consequences, especially if people have actually been injured. While it may technically be possible to recover damages for mental pain and anguish, those usually have to either be coupled with a physical injury or be truly severe.
The core of any personal injury claim is negligence. If you have been injured due to someone else’s negligent behavior, you likely have a personal injury case and need an experienced lawyer to support you. For the assistance you need, contact the attorneys at Hart & David today.