American legal system...

Sandok

Dunno where else to post this but HAD to just say something about it...

News BBC

Am I the only one who finds SIX BILLION dollars way way way too much? The legal system in the US is seriously flawed.

calidan

Why do you think this is wrong? If this had been some stupid lady that spilled hot coffee on herself then I would have agreed that it would be wrong. This country supported terrorism, probably still does. Plus, the victim's families will never see that much money anyways.

thunderclap

For a long time I felt the same as you: why should a woman who spilled hot coffee on herself win so much money? I found out two or three years ago a little more detail about this case. It wasn't the fact she spilled hot coffee on herself that was the issue. The issue was the temperature of the coffee which was a lot hotter than the average coffee maker brews. It was so hot she had third degree burns on and around her genitals. Knowing that little detail I developed a little more sympathy for her case. Not only would it hurt like a son of a bitch but blistering? That warrants a case I think.

Sandok

I agree people should recieve compensation but sueing a COUNTRY for 6 BILLION DOLLARS is a bit far fetched no? Such a fine, if Lebenon doesn't pay can be taken from lebanese transactions with companies and that could lead to serious problems for the entire country.

And also, only in the US can you recieve that much money for "emotional damages". A man in the US bought once a RV and put on cruise control, thinking it would drive it for him. He went back to make coffee, had an accident and won 9 million dollars. That's stupidity.

Sure here it's not the same but the compensation is WAY out of proportion with the damages. No death is worth money, it'll never help and especially not that much.

Mousey

Amen Sandok, the world's gone friggin mad, i say it every day.

OmegaRED

6 billion fails to meet the criteria they used and because of this ridiculous amount they've all but guaranteed the victims families see none of it. It's smarter to pick a number that Libya would actually pay out.

OmegaRED

That's an urban legend, always be weary of lawsuits that sound ridiculous.

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Cruise [Un]Control

thunderclap

edYou heard about the Katrina victim that is suing the government for 3 quadrillion dollars, right? From my understanding he is representing himself as no attorney will represent him. Also, to put 3 quadrillion in perspective, the US printed 13 trillion dollars in 2007... that's 13% of one quadrillion.

Zelig

Haha, I love how the US court feels it can force a sovereign state to pay out money.

Does anyone know more about how/if specifically this would work? Or a link that explains the process would be nice.

A number like $170 million, which Libya had already agreed to.

OmegaRED

That's only 1 million per victim, what a slap in the face to the families. At minimum it should be 500 million based on the criteria they used.

Senor_Mota

Since the "McDonald's Hot Coffee Laps" era, suing anyone for anything has become very practical and rather easily performed. But this is a little more egregious and in a case like this, money is no object to those who are suffering from their loss.

I'm actually pursuing some legal action against the company I'm working for, although I'm not asking for such an incredulous amount. My case is regarding the supervisors of my area claiming that I drew a Swastika in my cubicle and that someone witnessed me doing so. Of course, unless I blank out of my own consciousness for hours at a time, this is absolutely not true, so I was on "Administrative Leave" for three days without pay and missed out on an integral training class for the product field I'm branching into due to them "getting the other side of the story". When I came back to work, I had a fellow employee tell me that no one really saw me do it, but that they had simply checked the Chat logs on my system and found out I was sitting there. Since there's no unified login on the network for users, they can't track it that way and since no one actually saw me doing it, that means that I missed work for three days while they talked to the "invisible and imaginary man" to get his side of the story. In other words, they lied to me. I consulted an employment-related lawfirm and they proceeded to tell me I had a viable case for slander and defamation of character.

I'm thinking my feelings are really hurt.

cozumel

If you went to see a doctor for symptoms you could really get a ton of money from them due to long-term emotional impact and the effect this has had on your family life. How you feel unable to trust anyone now etc.

And that is where the whole system is flawed.

As far as the Libyan case is concerned $6billion is wholly inappropriate and I hope that payment is refused. The Airline didn't lose out as they were insured. The families are the only ones who should be compensated and a million each would suffice.

mike2h

i agree. that barely covers those peoples average expected earnings, let alone pain & suffering.
i also believe that there should be a penalty if there is terrorism involved.
bty, by the time the lawyers get through those famillies will only get around $600,000 apiece. that, is a slap in the face.
i think 6 billion is ludicrous. omega was in the right range.

OmegaRED

Consider this, on the 9/11 Fund payouts

How does $1 million each for 170 victims seem reasonable when those families received much more.

mike2h

the main downside to the payouts for 911 is that we footed the bill, not the pos's that were responsible for it.
while i think there may have been some oversised payouts involved, i dont begrudge a single family a single cent.
good link on the 'urban legend' omega. the internet has really increased the spread of these & other myths. to many people take what they read at face value.
& thx to thunderclap for pointing out the 'otherside' of the story that the media seems to constantly omit.
as far as the op goes, there is no denying that this country is way overlitigous & that the amount of ridiculous suites is, well, ridiculous.
we can thank the bloodsucking lawyers for this sillyness & about 80% of the other problems that plague our society.

Kazeko

Few things.

1. The lady who sued McDonalds for the spilled coffee LOST the case.

2. Money can pay for your losses? Truely, the best symbol for humanity is Three Gilded Balls.

3. The problem is in the bureaucratic BS pulled in court, and what Mike2h said - bloodsucking lawyers.

cozumel

Lawyers = cocksuckers
They are probably the main winners in this case.

Just my humble opinion...

(Hope I haven't offended any DH members within the legal profession. Please accept my apologies if any offence has been caused as this was totally unintended. Furthermore, due to poor mental health, I cannot be held liable for anything I may have written. This is a result of the diminished responsibility caused by my condition.)

Fr4nk3nst41n

i agree...in part. in most cases they will aways get their fee. And i am about to graduate later this year.

and about a US court ruling aganist another country about something that happened on their soil...

this is totaly bogus

there a only 2 options for this: sue lybia on an lybian court(right...) or go to an international court