6 of the strangest lawsuits making headlines
A grandma loses her parking spot, a bachelor party turns violent and four more strange lawsuits in the news
October 17, 2012 at 08:44 AM
11 minute read
The original version of this story was published on Law.com
Perilous Pole
It wasn't cold feet that cast a pall over Patrick Gallagher's nuptials—but rather a ruptured bladder. In November 2010, the Lansdale, Pa. resident was celebrating his bachelor party at the Penthouse Club, a gentlemen's club in Philadelphia. As part of his “Bachelor's Package,” the club's dancers allegedly invited him onstage and told him to lie on his back underneath a stripper pole. From there things went badly awry, when a dancer climbed the pole, and reportedly “from a great height…launched herself down onto [Gallagher's] abdomen.”
The next day, Gallagher was diagnosed with a ruptured bladder, which required surgery, as well as nerve damage in his back and hip. The injured groom is suing the club for negligence and seeking at least $50,000 for medical costs, pain, humiliation and mental anguish.
Prized Poodles
How much is that dog sperm in the window? More than $300,000, if you ask two Pennsylvania women embroiled in a recent lawsuit over some canine genetic material. Linda Blackie and Miriam Thomas, who raise prize-winning standard poodles deposited 122 sperm samples from several of their dogs at the Mount Nittany Veterinary Hospital, reportedly to preserve them for future breeding specimens. But in 2009, according to the plaintiffs' attorney the cryogenically-frozen samples were mistakenly thawed and destroyed.
Blackie and Thomas argued that, given the dogs' prize-winning pedigrees, the samples were worth upwards of $300,000. Hospital officials countered that the samples' quality ranged from “moderately good to extremely poor,” diminishing their value. But a jury sided largely with the plaintiffs, awarding $124,960 to Thomas and $89,760 to Blackie.
Falling Fan
It's raining basketball fans in Oklahoma City, according to one Tulsa resident and OKC Thunder supporter who allegedly suffered injuries when a fellow spectator fell on him during a game. According to David Jones, he was attending the Thunder's preseason game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Oct. 12, when “an individual from the balcony level above…fell out of the balcony on to the plaintiff, causing him injuries.”
Jones, who is seeking damages for negligence, claims he “experienced great pain and suffering and has incurred medical bills for medical treatment and lost wages” as a result of the incident.
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