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You Can Sue For That? The 53 Wackiest Lawsuits

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Dec. 9 2014, Updated 1:56 p.m. ET

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From taking a dry cleaners for $6.7 million for losing a pair of pants to the celebrities who lost the most money, RadarOnline.com has a gallery of the 53 wackiest lawsuits out there, and each one is more shocking than the last!

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Dr. Mehmet Oz

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1 Frank Dietl, 72, sued daytime TV’s Dr. Mehmet Oz after claiming he wound up with burned feet due to the doctor’s advice on an April 2012 show. Dr. Oz told viewers to warm up uncooked rice in socks in the microwave and then put them on as an insomnia cure. Dietl said he couldn’t tell how hot the socks were because he suffers from neuropathy, a diabetes-related complication that numbs the feet, and Dr. Oz didn’t offer proper warnings. The lawsuit, filed in May 2013, is pending.

Michael Jordan and Allen Heckard

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2 An Oregon man, Allen Heckard, sued Michael Jordan and his Nike sponsors in 2006 for $832 million because he suffered emotional trauma for looking like the basketball star! Heckard, only six feet tall, claimed receiving undue attention for looking like Jordan caused him “emotional pain and suffering.” The lawsuit was later dropped.

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3 Vinicios Robacher, 16, a Connecticut high school student who fell asleep in class in 2008 alleged hesuffered substantial hearing loss when his math teacher smacked her palm down on his desk to wake him up while she was teaching. His parents sued Danbury High School, the Connecticut Board of Education, and the city of Danbury on his behalf. It’s not known whether he received any compensation.

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4 In 1996, Pepsi ran a commercial that encouraged people to drink the soda so they could collect points and trade them in for merchandise. John Leonard wanted the Harrier jet the commercial said was worth 7 million points, so he bought points from PepsiCo for 10 cents each and mailed a check for $700,008.50 (the $8.50 was for shipping) to the company. Pepsi wasn’t prepared to give Leonard a jet, so he sued for breach of contract, fraud, and misleading advertising. The court rejected Leonard’s claims.

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5 Brian Delekta, a high school senior from Memphis, Michigan, sued his school in 2003 to get his grade changed! He said he should get a grade of A+, not the A he received for an intermediate school district work-experience class that involved serving as a paralegal for his mother. Although mom gave him a perfect score, the school’s policy was only to offer an A. Delekta sought to get the grade upped to A+ to bolster his chances of becoming school valedictorian. The outcome of the suit is unknown.

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Jin and Soo Chung/Roy Pearson

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6 A Washington, D.C. judge, Roy Pearson, sued the Chung family business called Custom Cleaners for a whopping $67 million in 2005 -- just for losing one pair of his pants. In 2007, a judge ruled in favor of the dry cleaners and Pearson’s appeals were rejected. But the legal costs got so high that the Chung family reportedly had to sell their business.

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7 Last year, Washington D.C. attorney Robert Dyer filed suit claiming he lost his finger during a night out at a Georgetown bar. When bar employees tried to eject him from the establishment, Dyer contends, he grabbed a door for support and a bouncer slammed the door on his hand, severing his left pinkyfinger. He’s asking $500,000 in damages from Restaurant Enterprises Inc. and the outcome is pending.

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8 Milo Stevens Jr. tried tocommit suicide by jumping in front of a subway train in 1977 in New York. He didn’t die, but his family sued the NYC Transit Authority for $650,000 saying that the driver was to blame for injuring Stevens. Incredibly, they won.

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Jesse Dimmick

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9 Fugitive murder suspect Jesse Dimmick broke into the home of Jared and Lindsay Rowley while fleeing from authorities and held the couple captive. After the Rowleys fled and police apprehended him, Dimmick filed a lawsuit against his former hostages for $235,000, alleging they breached a binding oral contract to hide him in exchange for payment. The case was dismissed.

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10 Wilbur Jolly, 41, from Buena Vista, Ga., filed a lawsuit in 2011 seeking $10 million from the federal government, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President George W. Bush claiming he was tracked through “computer c10 Wilbur Jolly, 41, from Buena Vista, Ga., filed a lawsuit in 2011 seeking $10 million from the federal government, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President George W. Bush claiming he was tracked through “computer chip inhabitation.” He said his “ID” was used by the U.S. without his consent in several circumstances, including a credit report. The outcome is unknown.hip inhabitation.” He said his “ID” was used by the U.S. without his consent in several circumstances, including a credit report. The outcome is unknown.

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Source: Getty Images

11 Inez Starks of Michigan filed a 2008 lawsuit after being bitten on the butt by a police dog. Instead of suing the dog’s owner, however, she sued the dog, Liberty. Starks claimed injuries from the dog hampered her ability to walk but lost, with the judge implying it was a frivolous lawsuit and slapping her with a $500 fine.

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Richard Batista

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12 Richard Batista wanted $1.5 million from his ex-wife Dawnell for a kidney he’d given her eight years prior. Long Island doctor Batista said he saved her life but Dawnell cheated on him and then denied him access to their three kids during their divorce. A judge ruled against Batista.

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13 Sandra Howery sued Sacramento University in 2008 after she ran for homecoming queen and lost. As part of her case, the 46-year-old queen wannabe revealed she’d had a lot of back surgeries and had to take 28 years to get her Bachelor’s Degree. The outcome of the suit wasn’t reported.

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14 Andrew Hamlyn sued his former boss after he was fired following his use of three weeks of sick time to be in a cross country bike race in 2007 in England. The boss fired him after seeing him in an event picture, but Andrew sued, saying it wasn’t fair because he had sick time coming to him. Hamlyn lost his unfair dismissal case.

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Sluggerrr

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15 John Coomer sued over getting hit in the eye by a flying hot dog during a 2009 Kansas City Royals game. According to Coomer, the incident left him with a detached retina and other injuries when the foil-wrapped dog thrown by the Royals mascot, Sluggerrr, smacked him in the face. His case is still pending.

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16 In a 2009 lawsuit, Antoinette Basso claimed a drunken man, Daniel Aulwes, who was dressed as Santa Claus,stumbled over her outside a Chicago eatery, knocking her to the sidewalk and causing her “pain…disability and disfigurement.” She asked for damages in excess of $50,000. The suit’s outcome is unknown.

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17 John Agnesini sued Subway for $1 million in 2009 after allegedly finding a serrated knife baked into the bread of his footlong sandwich in one of the chain’s New York restaurants. He said he became violently ill because the knife was “filthy.” The New York Post later reported Agnesini had settled the suit, receiving $20,000.

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18 Macrida Patterson, a 52-year-old California LAPD traffic officer, sued Victoria’s Secret in 2008 over a thong malfunction! She told The Today Show she was putting on a pair of panties from the store when the decorative rhinestone heart on the waistband popped into her eye. “I screamed,” she said, claiming cuts to her cornea in the incident. The case was reportedly settled out of court.

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Waddah Mustapha

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19 Waddah Mustapha sued a bottling company in Canada, saying he lost interest in sex after he found two dead flies in an unopened bottle of water. But In 2008, Canada’s Supreme Court dismissed Mustapha’s case.

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Waddah Mustapha

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19 Waddah Mustapha sued a bottling company in Canada, saying he lost interest in sex after he found two dead flies in an unopened bottle of water. But In 2008, Canada’s Supreme Court dismissed Mustapha’s case.

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20 Stephen Chang, a marriedsecurities trader, claimed in a lawsuit that he suffered “serious injury” in 2007 while getting a lap dance. A stripper at New York’s Hot Lap Dance Club swiveled and allegedly smacked him in the face with the heel of her shoe. News of the bizarre suit spread around the world and while its outcome wasn’t reported, the case probably just went away—because in 2008, the Hot Lap Dance Club was closed down by NYC police in a headline-making sting operation.

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21 Shelley Lynn, a former employee of the Las Vegas Chicken Ranch brothel, accused McDonald’s of forcing her into prostitution in a lawsuit filed last year. Lynn claimed her ex-husband (and McDonald’s franchise owner) Keith Handley forced her into sex work, in part because McDonald’s only paid her minimum wage. An outcome hasn’t yet been reported.

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22 Sean McGinn of Brooklyn sued Match.com in 2009 for $5 million because he said the matchmaking web site posted profiles of beautiful women who were canceled subscribers or never subscribed at all. The frustrated Romeo charged that people “may experience profound personal anguish” by continuing to write to people who never wrote back. But McGinn later dropped the lawsuit, stung by the ridicule he got in the media.

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Wolfgang Puck

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23 Marjorie Linden sued Wolfgang Puck’s ritzy restaurant Spago in 2009, claiming she fell off a ladies’ room toilet while trying to balance on the potty and keep the door closed. She alleged the bathroom floor was covered in “pools of urine and feces” and the only usable toilet didn’t have a latch on the door. The outcome wasn’t reported.

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Dustin Hoffman

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24 Dustin Hoffman won a lawsuit of $3 million when Los Angeles magazine photoshopped him into the dress from his movie, Tootsie. Although he did indeed dress as a woman in the 1982 movie, Hoffman wasn’t amused by Los Angeles’ magazine’s move.

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E-Trade Commercial/Lindsay Lohan

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25 Lindsay Lohan sued E-trade in 2010 after the finance firm aired a commercial starring a promiscuous, “milkaholic” baby named Lindsay. Lohan believed the baby was modeled after her and sued E-trade for $100 million. Her lawyer later said Lohan was “satisfied” to have reached a settlement.

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Johnny Carson

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26 In 1976, a businessman started a company called Here’s Johnny Portable Toilets. Famed Tonight Show host Johnny Carson sued the company for using what he considered his catchphrase -- and won.

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Mary Carey/Mariah Carey

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27 Mariah Carey sued a porn star who had chosen the stage name “Mary Carey” because she said it was too similar to her own name and damaged her image.

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Nicolas Cage

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MORE ON:
Breaking News

28 Nicolas Cage sued his business manager Samuel J. Levin for $20 million in 2009, claiming the man had defrauded him. But Levin counter-sued, stating it was Cage’s own spending that had led to his lack of money! Both suits were dismissed.

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Jay Z/Diamond Dallas Page

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29 Pro wrestler Diamond Dallas Page invented a signature hand gesture and called it the diamond cutter, which he then copyrighted. When music mogul Jay-Z used the gesture in 2005, Page sued him. They eventually agreed on an undisclosed amount.

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Elvis Presley

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30 Fort Worth’s Bill Smith sued Elvis Presley’s estate to prove the King was still alive! Smith alleged that Elvis Presley Enterprises had lied by saying Elvis was dead -- and said he had proof Elvis was alive. In fact, Smith said he spoke to Elvis on a regular basis over the phone, but lost the case.

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Tara Reid

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31 After Tara Reid accidentally flashed her damaged breast on a red carpet, it inspired an ad campaign by Sky Las Vegas Condominiums called “Dear Tara Reid, Come Let It All Hang Out.” The American Pie beauty sued the condo company in 2005 for casting her in a “sexually lewd or immoral” light. The parties settled out of court.

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50 Cent

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32 50 Cent didn’t get the joke when Taco Bell publicly asked him to change his name to 79, 89, or 99 Cent to promote their menu items. In 2008, he slapped Taco Bell with a lawsuit for diluting the value of his good name and the case was settled out of court.

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Miley Cyrus

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33 Miley Cyrus was accused of insulting all Asians when, in 2009, she took a photo with friends making slanted eyes. Lucie J. Kim of Los Angeles filed a $4 billion lawsuit, saying the photo violated the civil rights of Asians while Miley apologized and explained said she was only “making a goofy face.” The case was dismissed.

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Elizabeth Taylor

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34 William Van Muyden, Elizabeth Taylor’s gardener, sued her, saying the movie legend fired him after he refused to have sex with her butler/lover. According to Van Muyden, the butler was having a hard time getting sexually aroused enough to service Taylor’s sexual needs, and approached Van Muyden for help. When he said no, Taylor fired him, Van Muyden alleged. The lawsuit was settled with no money exchanged -- and Taylor’s lawyer said he was fired for other reasons: employing illegal immigrants and threatening members of the household.

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Terri Seymour and Simon Cowell

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35 An unnamed chef sued Simon Cowell and his then-girlfriend Terri Seymour for not returning her sneakers! When the woman interviewed for a chef position at Cowell’s home, she was told to remove her own shoes at the door but the chef failed to get her own $500 orthopedic shoes back after the interview. Team Simon settled in 2009, giving the chef her shoes back, $75 in court costs, and the $9 in gas it cost her to make the trip to the X Factor judge’s house.

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Whitesnake

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36 Lindy Butcher filed suitagainst the Newport, Wales, United Kingdom council because she was injured after slipping and falling in a puddle of vomit during a Whitesnake concert. Butcher said she suffered bruising to her knees and muscle spasms between her ribs after the incident at the Dec. 2011 Whitesnake concert. The outcome of the suit appears to still be pending.

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Jonathan Lee Riches

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37 Jonathan Lee Riches, a former federal prisoner known for his many legal actions against celebrities, accused Kim Kardashian and Kanye West of being terrorists in a lawsuit he filed last year and the outcome hasn’t yet been decided.

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David Lee Roth

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38 Pennsylvania resident Jo Ann Fonzone sued Van Halen singer David Lee Roth for divorce, even though no one believes they were ever married. Fonzone claimed she married a man named Cary Woods in 1983, only to find out ten years later he was actually the world-famous rocker, Roth! “He’s the master of disguise,” she told a newspaper; but Roth’s publicist said Fonzone’s allegations are “as false as you can get.” The result hasn’t yet been reported.

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Justin Bieber

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39 Last year, a Michigan man sued Justin Bieber alleging the pop star stole his credit card and purchased a penis enlargement with it. The plaintiff, who identified himself in court papers as Selena Gomez’s father, also bizarrely claimed that Bieber used the stolen American Express card to buy an abortion for his longtime girlfriend. The case apparently hasn’t been resolved.

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Derrick Rose

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40 Illinois resident Matthew Thompson sued Derrick Rose of The Chicago Bulls for missing the entire 2012-2013 season with an ACL injury, even though team doctors cleared him to play. According to the rabid Bulls fan, Rose’s behavior caused him to suffer from mental breakdowns, emotional distress and obesity. A resolution to the case hasn’t been reported.

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Barney

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41 Eric Shanks is suing Barney and Friends creator Sheryl Leach and her son Patrick, 27, after Patrick allegedly shot him in the chest earlier this year during an argument over a“trespassing issue” in Malibu. The case is still pending.

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Salvatore Bevivino

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Source: Linkedon

42 Salvatore Bevivino sued Virgin America airlines this year after crew members allegedly had him detained for not flushing a lavatory toilet. But the airline claimed the man pestered the crew and used profanities and he was handled appropriately. There has been no report yet on the suit’s outcome.

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43 Everardo Garfias, who owns a lawn service company in Mississippi, filed suit this year against the manufacturers of a riding lawnmower. Garfias alleged while he was riding on the mower, a swarm of yellow jackets began stinging him. He then jumped off the lawnmower to evade the insects only to have the mower run over him, severely cutting his legs and completely severing one kneecap. According to Garfias, a cut-off switch designed to shut down the motor if the rider leaves the seat failed. The case is pending.

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44 This year, Harvey Palacio sued his company, Intel Corp., after his co-workers secretly stuck a “Kick Me” sign on his back -- and then followed those instructions! When Palacio sought help from another staffer, Randy Lehman, Lehman allegedly kicked himthree times in the butt instead. Intel fired Lehman and another employee after the prank gone wrong, but the lawsuit is still pending.

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Source: Getty Images

44 This year, Harvey Palacio sued his company, Intel Corp., after his co-workers secretly stuck a “Kick Me” sign on his back -- and then followed those instructions! When Palacio sought help from another staffer, Randy Lehman, Lehman allegedly kicked himthree times in the butt instead. Intel fired Lehman and another employee after the prank gone wrong, but the lawsuit is still pending.

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45 Mark Templin of Montana quit his job, sold some of his possessions, paid for his funeral expenses and entered hospice care after doctors at the Fort Harrison VA Medical Center reportedly told him his cancer had metastasized and he had six months to live. After Templin felt better, however, and got an MRI that revealed he had actually been suffering from the aftereffects of strokes, he sued the hospital. He was awarded $59,820 for his distress.

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Sandra Lupo

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46 Sandra Lupo, a former waitress at Hooters, is suing the restaurant chain for allegedly firing her after she had her head shaved for brain surgery. In July 2012, Lupo got a buzz cut when doctors had to remove a largemass from her brain. When she tried to return to work, her manager reportedly told Lupo she would have to wear a wig while on the job but when she tried to comply, she found that the wig caused irritation. Lupo said she was forced to quit, leaving her ineligible for unemployment. Reportedly the case is still pending.

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Garth Brooks

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47 Garth Brooks is being sued by his former business partner, Lisa Sanderson, who claimed his poor business decisions cost her millions of dollars because they had agreed to split allproducer fees for film and TV projects. Over the years, Sanderson claimed, Brooks passed on such hits as Twister, which the country singer rejected because “the star of the film was the tornado,” and Saving Private Ryan because he didn’t want to share the spotlight with Tom Hanks and Matt Damon. Her suit is pending.

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48 Rebecca White of Louisiana contended she was shopping at a Wal-Mart in 2008 when a wild nutria, a rodent-like creature, came charging towards her, causing her to pull her loaded shopping cart over her foot as she tried to shield herself from the animal. The shopper claims she broke her foot and when she told employees about the incident, they knew about the animal on the loose at the Wal-Mart and had even named him “Norman.” White settled with Wal-Mart for an undisclosed sum.

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49 Patricia Hill sued John Saunders, the former caretaker at the J.P. Brennan mansion near Pittsburgh, Pa, for drinking more than $102,000 worth of century-old whiskey from the house’s collection. Hill, the mansion’s current owner, claimed after he moved out, 52 out of the 108 whiskey bottles were empty. She said DNA testing implicated Saunders for imbibing, but he denied it—and added that the whiskey was only worth $10 a bottle anyway! The suit has apparently not yet been resolved.

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50 Bobbi Smith, Gary Broyles, and Richard Anderson are suing Joliet Junior College in Chicago because they claim they found cockroaches in the coffee they purchased from an on-campus vending machine in summer 2012. Reportedly, the case is still pending.

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51 Kendra Velzen, who suffers from depression, sued Grand Valley State University in Michigan after it refused to let her carry her pet guinea pig around campus. Velzen sued the school for failing to accommodate her depression, and she reportedly won $40,000 in a recent settlement.

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Sarah Kirby

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52 Sarah Kirby filed a lawsuit against Carnival Corp. over accusations that cruise staff members got her drunk when they “kept pushing” Long Island iced teas at her and her friends. She subsequently fell overboard on her 2012 Carnival Miami-to-Jamaica cruise and her remarkable survival became a story on TV’s Inside Edition. The crew allegedly found Kirby in the water almost two hours after her fall. She’s suing the cruise line for negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress and there’s been no resolution yet.

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Judge Judy

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53 Patric Jones, Judge Judy’s former producer, sued the famed TV judge for allegedly buying a set of finechina for an artificially low price. Jones, who’s divorcing Judy Sheindlin’s current producer, Randy Douthit, said the judge bought a set of Christofle china and flatware from Douthit for $50,815, even though the set is worth $500,000. The problem, Jones said, was that the dishes were community property and Sheindlin should have known she couldn’t buy them without the consent of both spouses. In the end, according to TMZ, the case was settled with Patric paying Randy for the dishes—and Judge Judy not having to fork over a penny!

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