Overboard Suing

[H2SO4]

How do you feel about it? I know sometimes when I watch the news and hear about bad things happening to people and hear how the victim is taking the person at fault to court for X amount of money, I can't help but think this is kind of stupid.

Now I understand bad stuff happens and life can suck a lot at certain times, but does that justify this over-compensation? Is it over-compensation? American's (and other nationalities as well) seem more than willing to cash in on their bad fortunes to make a large sum of money. Oh no I spilled hot coffee on my lap I want 1 million dollars. Oh I was beat up by a thug I demand 20 million dollars. I was strip-searched and humiliated at McDonalds, I deserve 200 million dollars.

We say this is justice but is it? Does no one stop to think "Hey, life isn't fair, that sucks", instead of demanding cash prizes for their misfortune? I'd say it's one thing to demand a drunk driver to pay to fix the front of your car, but it's a bit extreme to start demanding huge sums of money for your own financial gain.

[IRC]

Re: Overboard Suing

I guess technically I'm against it but then if I ever slipped and fell in Wal-Mart their asses would be in court so fast it would give me whiplash which I would then sue my attorneys for.

[peachy]

Re: Overboard Suing

How do you feel about it? I know sometimes when I watch the news and hear about bad things happening to people and hear how the victim is taking the person at fault to court for X amount of money, I can't help but think this is kind of stupid.

Now I understand bad stuff happens and life can suck a lot at certain times, but does that justify this over-compensation? Is it over-compensation? American's (and other nationalities as well) seem more than willing to cash in on their bad fortunes to make a large sum of money. Oh no I spilled hot coffee on my lap I want 1 million dollars. Oh I was beat up by a thug I demand 20 million dollars. I was strip-searched and humiliated at McDonalds, I deserve 200 million dollars.

We say this is justice but is it? Does no one stop to think "Hey, life isn't fair, that sucks", instead of demanding cash prizes for their misfortune? I'd say it's one thing to demand a drunk driver to pay to fix the front of your car, but it's a bit extreme to start demanding huge sums of money for your own financial gain.

out of 100 outrageous cases how many of them win i wonder.

[Alex]

Re: Overboard Suing

Yeah, I think that suing is pretty ridiculous, but if I was able to acquire mass money from a corporation I didn't support I'd hit it.

[Armored]

Re: Overboard Suing

I could live with people calling me a greedy idiot if i got rich off of it.

[The Toecutter]

Re: Overboard Suing

As much as I despise these companies mentioned, I'd only sue if I had just cause for it...

[Translucid]

Re: Overboard Suing

I guess one rationale you could use to justify this would be that losing a large sum of money will make them change their policy regarding the subject. like that chick who had to be strip searched at mcdonald's like a year ago, and sued for a couple million. if she sued for like $10,000 the company wouldn't care and the case wouldn't get much media coverage. but since she sued them for a gratuitous amount of money it made news and the company probably won't let it happen.

although I'd probably let my manager grope me for a cool million.

[Kirin]

Re: Overboard Suing

We say this is justice but is it? Does no one stop to think "Hey, life isn't fair, that sucks", instead of demanding cash prizes for their misfortune?

I think that there are lot of frivolous lawsuits, but I also think there are some lawsuits worth filing. Although money isn't a real fix for suffering or misfortune, I think people like this guy deserve some sort of compensation, even if he doesn't get the full amount he requests. Even though life's not fair and bad things happen, if an awful situation was due to someone's gross neglect, it ought to be worth some sort of compensation.

[Perversion]

Re: Overboard Suing

Damn...that sucks for Francis...

[H2SO4]

Re: Overboard Suing

out of 100 outrageous cases how many of them win i wonder.

You'd be surprised at how many "outrageous" cases win. Also, it's not just the outrageous ones either, it's all cases that although they might have been wronged, they feel they deserve some sort of monetary compensation for what happened.

And yes, that's a good point Transucid brought up, perhaps we need to sue these people for what they've done so they learn a lesson, but what about the victim? Do they just get the money because they are punishing someone who did them wrong?

I think it would be better if the companies still got sued, but instead of giving the money to someone who is just looking to cash in on their bad luck, they must donate it to a worthy cause. That way the money goes to who could really use it and deserves it, rather than someone who doesn't really.