Frivolous Lawsuits Outline

I. Intro

A. Attention Getter

1. We've all heard the story about the woman who spilled scalding hot coffee on herself and then successfully sued McDonald's. But we've also heard reports of burglars suing homeowners after injuring themselves during a robbery. Most of us laugh off these stories as urban legends made to show the ridiculousness of frivolous lawsuits, but you might be surprised, however by how many of these are true.

B. Link

1. Let's face the facts: In America, anyone can sue anybody over anything at anytime, so

B. Thesis

1. In order to increase your awareness of how the lawsuit craze sweeping the nation has gotten completely out of control, I am going to provide you with stories and court cases of complete irrationality, otherwise known as frivolous lawsuits.

B. Preview Statement

1. The effects of frivolous lawsuits are far more reaching than just a good joke though; they are in great part responsible for the problems with our health care system, insurance rates, property taxes, prices of products and services, doctor visits, poor patient care, and even job benefits.

II. Body

A. It is not everyday that a robber gets to sue those whom he has robbed from--and actually win.

1. When robber Terrence Dickson was leaving a house he just finished stealing from through the garage, he was unable to get the door open. He was also unable to re-enter the house because the door locked when it closed behind him.

a. The family to whom the house belonged was away on vacation, and Dickson was stranded in the garage for eight straight days.

b. For these eight days, he lived off a case of Pepsi and a large bag of dog food that he found there.

1. He sued the homeowner's insurance, claiming this caused him excessive mental anguish and he was rewarded over half a million dollars for his agony.

C. Or how about the man who sued Anheuser-Busch for false and misleading advertising?

1. The advertisements for Busch pictured fantasies of beautiful women in tropical settings that came to life for men while drinking Bud-Light.

2. When Richard Overton finally realized these fantasies were never going to come true, despite how much beer he consumed, he sued the company not only for false advertising, but also for emotional stress, mental injury, and financial loss of over ten thousand dollars.

3. Overton also became physically sick after drinking more and more beer, waiting for the fantasies to come to life.

D. Heard a wrong weather prediction lately?

1. Then why haven't you sued the television station and weatherman yet?

a. A woman in Israel won a case against a local TV station and its weatherman when he predicted that it was going to be a sunny day, but it in fact ended up raining.

b. The woman claims that she left home lightly dressed because of this weather forecast.

1. Resulting from this, she caught the flu, missed four days of work, had to spend money on medication, and suffered from stress.

C. Austin Aiken sued NBC because of a distasteful episode of "Fear Factor" that he watched.

1. The judge threw out this case in which Aiken claimed that the episode caused him suffering, injury, and great pain.

2. On the show the contestants were eating rats mixed in a blender, which apparently made him dizzy and light-headed, ultimately causing him to vomit and run into a door.

3. I guess some people have never heard of changing the channel.

D. Standing in a parking lot during a storm seems like a good idea, huh?

1. Well, it did not seem like a bad one for Shawn Perkins when he was struck by lightning in the parking lot of Paramount's King Island Amusement Park.

2. Perkins sued the park for not warning him about what he should do during a thunderstorm, and that you should not be outside.

E. Back to the woman who sued McDonald's though for spilling hot coffee on herself.

1. Stella