Lawsuits and court cases often capture public attention due to their unusual, controversial, or groundbreaking nature. Here are some interesting lawsuits and court cases from the past
1. In 1996, Oprah Winfrey was sued for causing $11 million in damages to cattle farmers simply for mentioning that she would not eat another burger after a show about mad cow disease. – Source
2. The Cult Awareness Network listed Scientology as the #1 most dangerous cult. Scientologists sued them into bankruptcy and now own the New Cult Awareness Network. – Source
3. In 1956, Kenneth Donaldson was kept in a state mental hospital against his will for 15 years, he sued the state for his loss of liberty. His case went all the way to the Supreme Court and marked the beginning of the deinstitutionalization of mental asylums in the U.S. – Source
4. Petroleum companies have rights to most of the Battery patents and sue anyone who uses them (with gag orders). – Source
5. Jonathan Lee Riches got the Guinness world record for having filed the highest number of lawsuits in the world. When he heard of this, he sued the Guinness Book of World Records to remove his name. – Source
6. Neil Armstrong once sued his barber for 20 years after he sold his hair to a collector for $3,000. – Source
7. A company called The North Face clothing company once sued a clothing company called The South Butt for its name. – Source
8. The movie Behind Enemy Lines was backward. The downed pilot was rescued with full NATO cooperation and was in fact put into danger by US General releasing information to the press. The pilot sued Fox over the movie and they settled out of court. – Source
9. After The Lion King was released, a hyena biologist sued Disney for portraying hyenas as villains. – Source
10. The bully from the song “Brain Damage” by Eminem actually sued him for using his real name. The judge delivered the ruling of the case in the form of a rap. – Source
11. Harry Houdini once sued a police officer, who accused him of making his escapes via bribery. He won his case by opening the judge’s safe. – Source
12. Apple used ‘Carl Sagan’ as a codename for a computer in the 1990s. Carl Sagan sent Apple a cease-and-desist letter, and Apple changed the name to ‘Butt-Head Astronomer’. Carl Sagan sued for libel and lost, and Apple changed the name to ‘Lawyers are Wimps’. – Source
13. The United States gave asylum to Nazi war criminals for decades and then tried to cover it up until they were sued under the Freedom of Information Act. – Source
14. In 2011, A man was hit by a Metro train going 70 mph in Chicago and his flying body parts injured a woman. She sued his estate on the theory that “If you do something as stupid as this guy did, you have to be responsible for what comes from it” – Source
15. Tom Waits always refused to give rights for his songs in ads and successfully sued many companies, that hired impersonators to sing similar songs in order to bypass his consent. – Source
16. Sacha Baron Cohen received a letter from a lawyer saying he was being sued for $100,000 for his role in Borat. The lawyer added “P.S. Loved the movie. Can you sign a poster for my son Jeremy?” – Source
17. Evel Knievel sued Kanye West over damage to his reputation from the ‘Touch the Sky’ music video. – Source
18. The woman who sued Mcdonald’s for their coffee being hot had a legitimate case for medical expenses and was awarded the rest of her money because McDonald’s ignored 700 other coffee related injuries – Source
19. In China, “the hero pays for their action”. If you help someone, you assume responsibility and are at risk of being sued. – Source
20. Four women sued the Girls Gone Wild Series for distress. An all-female jury threw out the case. – Source
