The Stella Awards hoax

Somebody else sent me that silly email about frivolous lawsuits today. It's probably the tenth time I have received it over the last two years. Usually, it's upsetting to read about the outrageous awards in the courts for seemingly-stupid behavior, but today it just seemed all too familiar -- like I had seen the same five examples in 2003.

So I looked into it and found the whole email was another hoax. Check out Snopes.com to read the phony email and the research that debunks it.

There really are True Stella Awards, named after the elderly woman who burned her thighs on a flaming-hot cup of McDonald's java. The site does go into some detail regarding Stella Liebeck, and how contrary to popular belief, she actually was found to be partially at fault for the incident.