Monday, January 09, 2006

I'll drink to that!

Justice was served. And now those who filed the bogus lawsuit are gonna pay.

Or at least that is how it appears. Some parents in Colorado tried to take advantage of the court system by suing some prominent liquor companies. Coors, Brown Foreman (think Jack Daniels), Bacardi, Diageo (Cuervo, Baileys, etc.), Heineken, and others were sued because underage kids had obtained and consumed the product. Ok, I don't have to be nice about it. The kids got illegally drunk. So of course the parents blame the companies and their advertising saying it targets kids. Hmm....this seemed to work against the cigarette companies, why not try it against the spirits industry.

Well, the problem is, there was no merit to the case and it was thrown out. Slight problem for the parents though. The court awarded the booze businesses legal fees. You sued, they incurred a cost to defend themselves, you pay. Nice!

Better yet, Jack Daniels wants his cash. Yes, the companies have now filed suit against the plaintiffs to pay up. The cost is around $350k.

Needless to say I think this is freakin' awesome. Being against stupid lawsuits, precedents need to be set to prevent these from being filed again and again. In this particular case, the parents in question didn't even allege it was their own kids getting hooched or that they suffered an injury because of the tasty liquor. Come on here. Who the hell are these people to sue for something that didn't even affect them.

It is about time a defendant slapped back. Maybe now the attorneys will learn not to make a case out of an empty shot glass.

3 comments:

Disgruntled Car Salesman said...

Wow! Common sense in a court room. I am thoughrily impressed. Especially the counter lawsuit. That'll teach dumb "I want a handout" Americans that you can't sue your way into riches. In fact, suing your way into riches will in turn sue you into the poor house.

OWNED!

Erik said...

Too bad I can't start pro-actively suing people on the basis of stupidity. Sue them for the mental anguish that their existance will put on my life.

Good to see a judge pwning the people behind that frivolous lawsuit. Too bad they can't nail their lawyers to the wall, too.

StB said...

Erik,
That would make me soooo happy to see as well. To have the plaintiffs tell the courts they cannot pay and hear the judge order their attorneys to fork over the money. Not sure if it could happen.