Consider, for example, the last of the lawsuits in the panel “Frivolous Lawsuits?” The events as related are true enough, but they don’t tell the whole story. It is often omitted, for instance, that the skylight was painted over and quite indistinguishable from the roof at night and that someone had recently died in a similar accident at a nearby school. The accused school knew of the danger and was planning to change the skylight. Further, the burglar might more accurately be described as a prankster. He was a recent graduate of the high school and was trying to move the floodlight to illuminate a basketball court.

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Frivolous Lawsuits?

◼ Three lobstermen in the United States encounter a violent storm and are lost at sea. Their families sue the National Weather Service for its faulty forecast and are awarded $1.25 million.

◼ A woman strikes a runaway horse with her car, and the animal crashes through the roof, killing her. Her estate sues the auto manufacturer, whose protests that no car could withstand such an impact go unheard. The manufacturer must pay $1,500,000.

◼ A man attempts suicide by leaping in front of a subway train. He is struck and injured. He sues, claiming that the driver should have stopped sooner. The case is settled for $650,000.

◼ A sailor uses a 50-year-old winch with its safety guards missing and is injured. He sues the manufacturer, wins, and bankrupts the company.

◼ A man dives into the waves at the beach and seriously injures himself. He sues the local town and wins $6,000,000.

◼ A man is refused entry to a fashionable New York disco. He sues for mental distress and is awarded $50,000.

◼ An American construction worker fires a staple gun; a staple ricochets off the wall and injures him. He sues the manufacturer, a West German company that insists the man misused the tool. The man wins the suit and is awarded $1.7 million.

◼ A 19-year-old burglar tries to steal a floodlight from a high-school roof, falls through a skylight, and is severely injured. Sued, the school pays the youth $260,000, plus $1,500 a month.