Craziest compensation claims from too-hot coffee to a lack of orgasms

-Mirror

A US dating agency has had to pay unlucky in love Dan Horton £1,000 compensation after two years of “humiliating experiences” with “unsatisfactory” women.

But he isn't the first, and most certainly won't be the last person, to lodge a bizarre compo claim.

Nothing is sacred it appears when it comes to compensation culture, with one bloke even trying to sue God.

Here is our round-up of some of the wackiest claims from around the world.             

1. In 1994, a 79-year-old American woman who spilt a McDonald's coffee over her groin area suffering 3rd degree burns was awarded nearly Sh438 million damages by a jury.

She was in a moving car at the time, but McDonald's admitted they had been serving coffee at temperatures of 180 to 190 degrees fahrenheit, which was far above the norm.

The amount of compensation was later reduced on appeal.

2. Cathy McGowan, 26, was overjoyed when a radio DJ told her she had won a Renault Clio.

But when she arrived at the station to pick up her prize she was presented with a 4-inch model of the car.               

She sued and a judge at Derby County Court ruled the radio station and its owners had to pay Sh1.2 million for a real car.

3. Romanian killer Pavel Mircea tried to sue God for breach of contract in 2005, claiming the Almighty reneged on the deal made at his baptism.

“He was supposed to protect me from all evils and instead He gave me to Satan who encouraged me to kill,” he said.

Mircea, 40, serving a 20-year term for murder, said God had accepted his prayers and offerings without providing any services in return.

He demanded reimbursement for cash he had spent on prayers and religious goods.

But judges rejected the case, ruling that God is not a person in the eyes of the law and doesn’t have a legal address where He could be served with papers.


4. A gravedigger was awarded Sh9.5 million compensation after falling into a plot he had dug.

He hurt his knee in the fall which Birmingham City Council said was due to a “burial chamber collapse” caused by “an unsafe system of work”.

5. A hospital visitor was paid almost Sh2.3 million compensation after slipping on a sachet of mayonnaise at Aintree University Hospital in Liverpool.

The case was just one of the compo claims that has cost the hospital Sh365 million over the last two years.

Another visitor was paid Sh730,000 after walking into the revolving entrance doors, and a healthcare assistant got Sh2.8 million after being hurt while dismantling a toilet.

6. A London artist was awarded Sh2.9 million compensation after slipping on some fresh pigeon droppings under Battersea Bridge.

Lois Matcham, 64, fractured her arm in the fall. She said she and other residents had complained in the past about the problem pigeons.

7. In 2005 a Brazilian woman sued her partner for failing to give her orgasms.

The 31-year-old claimed that her 38-year-old partner routinely ended sexual intercourse after he reached an orgasm.
Her case was rejected.

8. American Richard Overton sued the makers of Budweiser in 1991 for false advertising after the attractive ladies featured in the firm’s TV commercials failed to materialise in his own life.

The dad-of-three demanded Sh950,000 from brewer Anheuser-Busch for emotional distress, mental injury and financial loss because the beer brought him no luck with the opposite sex.

Overton complained that the scenic tropical settings, the beautiful women and unrestricted merriment were “untrue”.
His case was dismissed.

9. English Heritage paid Sh2.2 million compensation to a woman who suffered hip and pelvic injuries when she fell into a moat at Carlisle Castle while she was trespassing at 2 am.

She also got her Sh5.4 million legal bill covered.