Normally, lawsuits are no laughing matter. But sometimes, people file absolutely ridiculous lawsuits. Here are XXX of the funniest lawsuits ever filed in court.
I Look Too Much Like Michael Jordan
An Oregon man was so tired of being mistaken for Michael Jordan that he sued Jordan for defamation, permanent injury, and emotional distress. He also sued Phil Knight for promoting Jordan. He argued that he should not have to live his life being mistaken for someone else. What remedy did he want? Money, of course.
While some people like having celebrity dopplegangers and even make a living impersonating them, this man decided to try to make some money through a lawsuit.
He did not win.
Budweiser Didn’t Help Me Attract Beautiful Women
In 1991, a man sued Anheuser-Busch because drinking their beer did not help him attract beautiful women, as implied in their ads. You know, the ads for alcohol or hundreds of other products that show beautiful people using the product? His argument was that this was false advertising. He sued for emotional distress and personal injury and wanted $10,000.
Clearly he also lost this lawsuit.
Jelly Beans Have Sugar?
One of the funniest lawsuits ever filed in court was in 2017 when a woman sued because Jelly Belly jelly beans have sugar in them. Her argument was that the ingredients used the description “evaporated cane juice” instead of sugar to make them seem more healthy. Now, she was eating their “Sport Beans” line, which is marketed to athletes as a good way to take in electrolytes and nutrition while doing endurance sports. But one of the things that people need for endurance sports (like a marathon or a long bike ride) is sugar – so this is an absolutely appropriate ingredient in these products.
My Hostages Escaped?
In 2009, a man broke into a home and held the homeowners hostage. He fell asleep and the hostages escaped, safe and sound. He was convicted of his crimes, and the hostages also sued him in civil court for damages. He countersued because they escaped, claiming that there was a binding oral contract that they would help him hide from police and instead they turned him in.
He did not win this lawsuit.
My Date Texted During a Movie
This one always makes me laugh. One of the funniest lawsuits ever filed in court was in 2017 when a man went on a first date to see Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 and his date spent time texting during the movie. While I agree that it’s annoying when someone is on a bright phone screen during a movie, I can’t imagine suing over it! He filed a lawsuit for a whopping $17.31, the cost of her ticket.
He did not win this case, and his date filed for a protective order because he kept harassing her for the money.
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Megan is a 40-something government employee in the Washington, DC area. She got interested in Personal Finance when she got out of college and realized that her paycheck wasn’t going to go as far as she had hoped. Since starting this blog, she has managed to buy a house and make a solid start on her retirement goals, and hopes to help others do the same. Here is her story:
In 2007, I was a gainfully employed 20-something with no debt but not a lot of knowledge about personal finance. It was a co-worker’s comment about Roth IRAs that sent me to the internet, searching for information. It was then that I realized that I really didn’t know a whole lot about personal finance and that my current financial situation was due a lot to inherent frugal tendencies, generous family members, a fear of debt, and good luck. While that was working for me, clearly I needed a better plan.
While I had no debt, I was also pretty much living paycheck to paycheck and not worrying about going over budget (I say this as if I had a real budget) because I had an emergency fund set aside to cover any overages.
Except that’s not what an emergency fund is for.
So I did a lot of research, read a lot of blogs, and decided that I needed a plan. I needed to budget. I needed to know what I was spending my money on. I needed to prepare for the future.
I decided to create a blog not only to make myself accountable to others but also to share the knowledge that I gained along the way. I’ve learned so much from my fellow bloggers, and I hope that my readers can find something useful in what I have to share as well.
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