The Dark Knight

[Lt. Staplic]

...I don't see how it's sueable

you obviosly don't understand the country that is the US of A.

Over here, people can sue McDonalds because they spilt coffe on themselves and McD's didn't put a warning on the cup that it was hot, and win.

[Sionnach Glic]

That's because your justice system is retarded. That still doesn't mean she should have got it.

[Tsukiyumi]

I agree with Rochey. The guy was a jackass, and should have been censured or something; but the largest award she should have been given is what she paid out to enter the contest; i.e, nothing.

Okay, so if someone told you you'd won a paid scholarship for your daughter, and then laughed at you on air, saying: "we're just screwin' with ya!" You'd be a good little sport and laugh it off?

I'm saying if people are allowed to totally screw with poor people, then I should be allowed to bust their kneecaps.

[Mikey]

Busting kneecaps is fine; but while I might try to get the guy fired, or censured, or something, I believe that if I didn't suffer any tangible loss then I am due no tangible compensation.

[Sionnach Glic]

Okay, so if someone told you you'd won a paid scholarship for your daughter, and then laughed at you on air, saying: "we're just screwin' with ya!" You'd be a good little sport and laugh it off?

Were it me, I'd have settled for breaking the DJ's jaw; that would've been good enough for me.

Heartily seconded.

Of course the guy deserves a beating. She still doesn't deserve that money.

I'm saying if people are allowed to totally screw with poor people, then I should be allowed to bust their kneecaps.

Since when was she poor? IIRC, lawsuits in the US require a lot of money. If she was poor, then she's fucking inredibly stupid to try to sue them over something which, by all rights, should have been thrown out by the judge as a waste of time.
And feel free to beat the crap out of the guy. But don't expect any compensation. You lost nothing, you gain nothing.

[stitch626]

I wouldn't say she lost nothing. Maybe nothing financial, but think of the emotional trauma.

[Mikey]

I wouldn't say she lost nothing. Maybe nothing financial, but think of the emotional trauma.

Which has a liquid value of, um, zero.

[Sionnach Glic]

"But I lost my dignity!"

[Mikey]

"But I lost my dignity!"

Very true. Therefore, I personally will be happy to send that woman a check for the current market value of her dignity. The latest report I saw showed dignity as having high sentimental value, but actually selling for about $0.00/lb.

[Tsukiyumi]

Some great points, for sure, but the court disagrees.

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (AP) - A former waitress has settled her lawsuit against Hooters, the restaurant that gave her a toy Yoda doll instead of the Toyota she thought she had won.

Jodee Berry, 27, won a beer sales contest last May at the Panama City Beach Hooters. She believed she had won a new Toyota and happily was escorted to the restaurant's parking lot in a blindfold.

But when the blindfold was removed, she found she had won a new toy Yoda - the little green character from the Star Wars movies.

David Noll, her attorney, said Wednesday that he could not disclose the settlement's details, although he said Berry can now go to a local car dealership and "pick out whatever type of Toyota she wants."

After the stunt, Berry quit the restaurant and filed a lawsuit against Gulf Coast Wings, the restaurant's corporate owner, alleging breach of contract and fraudulent misrepresentation.

The restaurant's manager, Jared Blair, has said the whole contest was an April Fools' joke.

Source

While she didn't pay to enter the contest, she did work for it, which does entail effort.

[Lt. Staplic]

he's got a point

[Teaos]

And since she worked at hooters I'm guessing she had at least two points...

[Lt. Staplic]

[Sionnach Glic]

Some great points, for sure, but the court disagrees.

No surprise there. Let's just say I don't have a great opinion of the US legal system, and my opinion on it has just gone down another notch since hearing about this.

After the stunt, Berry quit the restaurant and filed a lawsuit against Gulf Coast Wings, the restaurant's corporate owner, alleging breach of contract and fraudulent misrepresentation.

I find the charges interesting. They claim a breach of contract, which implies something was signed. Now, surely if it was printed, it would be easy enough to recognise the difference between "Toyota" and "Toy Yoda".
If the restaurant explicitly called it a Toyota, as in the car, then she has a case.
If the restaurant explicitly called it a Toy Yoda, then she's a fucking moron.
If the restaurant left it ambiguous, then I still don't see how she has a case.

While she didn't pay to enter the contest, she did work for it, which does entail effort

Regardless of what type of competition it was, she would have had to do some work, even if it's just dialing a number on your phone.

Although I've no idea what Hooters is, I assume from the context it's a restaurant of some sort. The competition itself was described as a beer selling contest. Presumably, selling beer would already be on the job description for her. Ergo, they didn't ask her to do anything she wouldn't normaly have done, they just provided an additional incentive to work that bit harder. That she didn't like that incentive doesn't entitle her to sue them.

And now that I think of it, just how fucking stupid do you have to be to think you'd win a care worth several tens of thousands of dollars for selling more beer than your coworkers? They're really going to spend that much, just because she got them a few hundred dollars more than she normaly would have? It appears common sense is something that's absent from her résumé. The moment she heard "if you sell more beer than your coworkers, we'll give you a Toyota", then she should have registered that something wasn't making sense.

[Teaos]

I find the charges interesting. They claim a breach of contract, which implies something was signed.

To my understanding a verbal contract is legally binding in the US.

Although I've no idea what Hooters is, I assume from the context it's a restaurant of some sort

Hooters is a restaurant where girls with massive tits wear tight white tops and serve horny guys.