From robbers suing their victims to Michael Jordan look alikes suing for “mental anguish” these are 25 bizarre lawsuits that you won’t believe are real.
25
Batman sues Batman
The mayor of Batman city in southeastern Turkey sued Warner Bros for using his city’s name without permission. “There is only one batman in the world” he was quoted as saying.
24
Store owner sues homeless man for $1 million
In 2007 the owner of posh Karl Kemp & Associates Antiques in Manhattan sues several homeless people for hanging out in front of his store and scaring away customers.
23
Student sues school for being awakened by teacher
After falling asleep in class and being awakened by a teacher smacking her palm down on his desk, a 16 year old’s parents decided to sue the Connecticut Board of Education for the hearing loss he suffered.
22
Man sues himself
In 1995 Robert Brock, a Virginia state prisoner, decided he wanted to be moved from prison to a mental institution. He claimed that his crime was against his morals and that he had violated his own civil liberties. Although he sues himself for $5 million he also said the state should pay since he didn’t have an income.
21
PETA sues Division of Fish and Wildlife
On their way home from a protest, two members of PETA hit a deer with their car. They then informed the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife that they were going to sue them as a result of their deer management program which includes, in certain circumstances, an effort to increase the deer population.
20
Woman sues weather station for false report
An Israeli woman sues a TV station for making an inaccurate prediction. They said it would be sunny but it rained. This apparently resulted in her dressing lightly and catching the flu. She won her case for $1000.
19
Woman sues McDonald's for coffee that is too hot
In 1992 a seventy two year old woman from Albuquerque spilled her McDonald’s coffee into her lap. She then won a lawsuit against McDonald’s for nearly $3 million claiming that they should have put a warning sign on the cup.
18
Man sues Michael Jordan for looking like him
In 2006 Allan Heckard of Oregon filed a case against Michael Jordan and Phil Knight for the emotional trauma he suffered as a result of looking like Michael Jordan.
17
Man sues family after getting stuck in their garage during robbery
In October of 1998 Terrence Dickson of Pennsylvania was trying to exit the house he was robbing. He managed to get stuck in the garage, however, and for 8 days he lived off of Pepsi and dog food. He then successfully sued for over half a million dollars.
16
Woman sues for breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler
Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas won $780,000 after suing for damages when she tripped over a toddler running amock in a store. The strangest part? The toddler was her own son.
15
Man sues for damaged bumper after running over pedestrian
In January 2008 Thomas Delgado, a Spanish businessman sued the family of a boy he hit and killed in his luxury car for damaging his front bumper.
14
Mom sues company where her son went on a shooting spree
After Jonathan Russell came to work and shot three of his fellow factory employees dead, his mother filed for workers compensation from the factory as a result of his death on the clock.
13
Man sues ex-wife for return of kidney
Richard Batista saved his wife’s life by giving her one of his kidney’s. After their divorce several years later he demanded his kidney back. Either that or $1.5 million.
12
Woman sues neighborhood girls for bringing her cookies
In 2005 two teenage girls decided to skip out on a school dance and surprise their neighbors with home baked cookies. Wanita Young ended up suing them, however, because their knocks on her door apparently instigated an anxiety attack the next day. She made sure to accept her cookies though.
11
Boy sues school district for bad grade
Brian Delekta, a Michigan high school senior, was completing a work study program at his mother’s law office. When she gave him an A+ the school changed his grade to an A because that is the highest grade they recognize. He successfully sued the school to raise his grade to something that didn’t exist.
10
Music company sues musician for silence
Music publishers of the late John Cage sued Mike Batt in 2002 for have a track on his album consisting of nothing but silence. Apparently John also had a silent track on his album and Mike didn’t realize that silence was copyrighted.
9
Woman sues haunted house for being scary
In 2000 Cleanthi Peters sued Universal Studios because their annual haunted house “Halloween Horror Nights” was too scary and caused her emotional distress. You have to wonder though, which part of Halloween Horror Nights failed to give that away.
8
Man sues hospital for letting him rape a patient
After raping a patient in 2002 Edward Brewer sued Providence Hospital for failing to keep him from doing so. Not surpisingly, his suit was thrown out.
7
Man sues his hostages for not helping him escape from police
In 2010 Jesse Dimmick, a convicted felon, filed suit against his former hostages for hot helping him escape from police. According to him they had failed to uphold a legally binding verbal contract.
6
Man sues Bank of America for more money than Earth's total combined GDP
After being frustrated by the service he was receiving at Bank of America, Dalton Chiscolm sued them for $1.7 billion trillion. During the trial a professor of mathematics was even called in to testify about how big the number was. To give you an idea, Earth’s total combined GDP was $60 trillion that year. That is still over 28 million times smaller than what he was asking for.
5
RIAA sues deceased elderly woman for digital piracy
Since the turn of the millenium the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) has filed tens of thousands of lawsuits against individuals for piracy. Although some are legitimate, many are against people like poor old Gertrude Walton who passed away at the age of 83 only to have her family hit with this lawsuit the following year. As you may suspect, she had never touched a computer in her life.
4
Couple sues girl who sent text message to the driver that hit them on their motorcycle
Sounds crazy right? Well the judge agreed. New Jersey judge David Rand dismissed the suit saying the girl was not responsible for the driver crashing into them.
3
Man sues pharmacy for overdosing on Xanax and slipping into a coma
Well, technically he didn’t just sue the pharmacy. When Scott Simon of New Jersey was given Xanax form a local pharmacy at a party he overdosed and slipped into a coma. He then sued not just the pharmacy but every other partygoer, the host’s out of town parents, and the drug manufacturer Pfizer.
2
Man sues Walmart for killing wife with defective grocery bag
A Nebraska man recently sued Walmart after his wife’s supposedly defective grocery bag tore open in the parking lot dropping a can of La Choy on her foot which started bleeding, proceeded to get infected, and led to her eventually death.
1
Man sues Kanye West and Kim Kardashian for being members of Al Qaeda
Jonathan Lee Riches claimed he was deep in the hills of West Virginia when he stumbled upon Kanye West and the Kardashian family at a secret Al Qaeda training camp. They supposedly burned the US flag, stomped their feet on a picture of Obama, and Kanye performed for all the Al Qaeda trainees. He also claimed that Kim Kardashian is now the leader of Al Qaeda