Ridiculous Lawsuits - Not just a North American Thing

I know a lot of people point to the US as the land of ridiculous lawsuits, but the good people of France are trying to steal that crown. Renault recently introduced an electric car called the ZOE. There are a few people in France who just happen to be named Zoe Renault. The parents of two of these girls sued Renault to try to block them from using the name because it is a violation of privacy and a breach of human dignity. The judge shot down their lawsuit, but the families are planning on appealing.

My favourite quote from the article: "Industrialists, in order to humanise and market products, are turning names into brands," Koubbi said. "So, if you're lucky, you could end up as a pretty pot of flowers. If you're not, as a whip, a vibrating dildo or a toilet brush."

Another one: "He said one family had changed the name of their three-year-old child to Margot after Renault brought out a car bearing the same name as the little girl -- Clio."

French Lawsuit Link

Bob

ha..

yeah the more i talk to folks in the UK and Europe, our crazy penchant for lawsuits is spreading.... Like a disease.

not only silly lawsuits with monetary rewards, but in some cases in the UK, if there is a negligence case against a company, the heads of the company can be held criminally liable, and end up in jail for something someone else in the company did.

The UK seems to be particularly vulnerable to stupid lawsuits, maybe they watch too many undubbed US law shows . I also think that lawsuits which a lot of sane people would consider frivolous are just getting a lot more publicity these days as they're easy meat for underpaid journalists.

BoxheadTim wrote: The UK seems to be particularly vulnerable to stupid lawsuits, maybe they watch too many undubbed US law shows . I also think that lawsuits which a lot of sane people would consider frivolous are just getting a lot more publicity these days as they're easy meat for undereducated journalists.

Fixed that for you.

BBSP. The cure for frivolous lawsuits.

Ranger50 wrote:

BoxheadTim wrote: The UK seems to be particularly vulnerable to stupid lawsuits, maybe they watch too many undubbed US law shows . I also think that lawsuits which a lot of sane people would consider frivolous are just getting a lot more publicity these days as they're easy meat for undereducated journalists.

Fixed that for you.

When you offer somebody with a 4-year degree a $24k salary, you're not going to get the cream of the crop.

DaveEstey wrote: When you offer somebody with a 4-year degree a $24k salary, you're not going to get the cream of the crop.

Is that why they all vote D?

DaveEstey wrote: When you offer somebody with a 4-year degree a $24k salary, you're not going to get the cream of the crop.

Wow... That is a TON of money to put some words on paper in a very poor grammatical prose I have to read in the local, hell, national, papers around here. Some of the people on this board write better then the "professionals".

Hmmm, I suppose if my last name was Ford and my first name was Freestar....I'd be ticked. But seriously, an invasion of privacy?

Imagine the news stories " Man slams into rear end of Zoe Renault" or "4 Drunk Men arrested inside Zoe Renault, inside ruined!"...And thats your daughter's name! haha

I thought it was pretty cool when Nissan had a "Krom" (my last name) version of the Cube - I had no idea it was an invasion of my privacy and my human dignity had been breached . . .

Conan sues Nissan.... "On this, my day in court, Krom..

I'm hardly anti-France, but they do have some different ways of looking at things. Take for example the rioting in the streets over the change in retirement age.

Here you have people rioting in the street and damaging property that belongs to working people presumably affected by the retirement age change, with crowd control provided by police who must now also work longer until they retire. They are all in the same boat, its just kind of strange.

Is Top Gear next?

Appleseed wrote: Is Top Gear next?

Some Brit is named Geoff Top Gear?

There's a big difference between a lawyer filing a lawsuit and it actually getting anywhere. Zoe Renault's parents (or an ambulance chaser) filed a suit, but the justice system in the form of a judge told them to pound sand. As he should have.