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-Coffee-Owl- t1_is4kcwy wrote

"Clarkson revealed that after filming of the last segment of the film had been done, a lawyer had approached the group representing the mission and threatened to sue them for misrepresentation after it transpired that Clarkson's Camaro wasn't a 1991 model as promised but a 1989 model, further stating that they were told the lawsuit would be dropped on a settlement payment of US$20,000."

Just for the clear :) Imagine someone gave you a car, because you probably have nothing, a hurricane took all your stuff etc. and you sue that guy, because the car actually was 2 years older.

Yeeeah..., "Don't go to America!"

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TheRepublicAct t1_is5h4bi wrote

2 Things that I find American that most non-americans don't

  1. Suing people
  2. Casseroles
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aaj617 t1_is6h4dk wrote

I had an extremely abusive ex that treated me like a dog last year.

Final straw was when she tried to feed me unseasoned casserole with no stuffing on Thanksgiving.

Finally worked up the courage to stand up for myself finally and get rid of her.

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CranstonBickle t1_is5oqiz wrote

Casseroles? As in Cassoulet, Moussaka, Timaballo?

Oh and the Casseroles they cook in England, Australia, NZ?

Ok you said most - but they are maybe a lot more common than you think. I grew up eating and cooking them in the UK. Lancashire Hotpot is yum

But suing people. Oh yeah that's an American thing. Though it is creeping into other countries like the UK. Thanks for that.

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Dodohead1383 t1_is8eqhb wrote

Why are you getting downvoted? People why is he being downvoted?

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CranstonBickle t1_is8gc93 wrote

Blimey.... I guess someone really doesn't like me. And his only 4 friends

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Nonions t1_is5qpgw wrote

>. Lancashire Hotpot is yum

I'm sitting here hungry and you made it worse by making me think of this!! Gonna have to make one this weekend.

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draggar t1_is55owq wrote

>lawsuit would be dropped on a settlement payment of US$20,000.

This is exactly why people do things like this and get away with it. Corporations think it will cost them $50,000+ to defend a case so it's better to have a $20,000 settlement.

Too many people think a frivolous lawsuit will mean an easy payday for them. What most don't realize is that they'll be taxed on the full amount and then the lawyer will take their payment - often leaving the suer with little to nothing, or even owing a large sum.

This is also way many grocery stores will throw out perfectly good food as opposed to donating it.

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Killerbean83 t1_is7gyjd wrote

Most business owners will happily throw money at a lawsuit or investigator if they feel being personally wronged. It is half of my income these days.

Most corporations that can make the choice to piss away 20k over a fraudulent case, will fight you tooth and nail because they most likely have a fixed fee for the legal assistance they pay each month already anyways. And they will make sure it is gonna cost you a whole lot more too. Suing a company as an individual is a thing you need deep pockets for. Receiving a letter from a random lawyer means fuck all. I even doubt it would get accepted into court to begin with. It is a myth random claims will get you anywhere. It is not a myth when a company fucks up something like a wrongful termination or violation of regulated rights, you can (and should btw) take them to court. Sometimes it is an honest mistake, usually it is a calculated risk or they don't care. Getting donated a car and then suing for it being advertised as a different car, suggest, being advertised, that it was a sale. It is a donation. It is free. You have zero damages from the deal. Shit ain't gonna fly.

On the random remark about grocery stores, some codes prohibit donating it because food that has been on display all day can't be proven to have been stored at the mandatory temps etc or after 2 hours it is not allowed to go back into the storage. Since you failed the code, you are not allowed to donate it because it could potentially be "hazardous". I know, I know, just don't ask. We used to donate our leftover food to a homeless shelter. Then we got slapped on the wrist by the authority and from there on out we would fill 1 or 2 small containers with perfectly fine food after an event. *shrug*

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StrangePlaces405 t1_is52z2v wrote

That's not an American thing it's a litigious asshole thing.

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-Coffee-Owl- t1_is53iqq wrote

That's an American thing as hell. One of the first things comes to my mind when I think about, ehem, The United States Of America, is being sued for everything, on every step, from random people you meet.

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soberkangaroo t1_is5pg69 wrote

Are you American? Cause this has literally never affected me or anyone I know and I’ve lived all across this country. It’s a myth perpetuated by businesses to make employees and customers seem frivolous

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438867 t1_is5wwmj wrote

Ah yes, the covid defense. "I've never seen it so its not as bad as you make it"

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soberkangaroo t1_is5xwci wrote

Ah yes, the COVID denier defense. I saw Fox News panicking about it so it just be true

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johnnyfortycoats t1_is5u7zh wrote

America is a particularly litigious country. I have lived there, and in Sweden, in the UK and I am Irish. There is no doubt that the US tops those four countries in terms of its litigiousness and legal awareness

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Xelacik t1_is5ws93 wrote

I grew up in Sweden and I remember being in primary school like 20 years ago and hearing all these crazy stories about Americans suing over crazy stuff. The most memorable ones were a lady who put her cat in the microwave cuz it was cold or something and it blew up, so she sued the microwave company. And another one where a drunk driver crashed into a tree on someones’s property and sued them for planting the tree there. Probably no truth to these stories but its interesting that the “americans will sue you for anything” steretype was prevalent even then, in a small (population-wise) country like Sweden.

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Front_Beach_9904 t1_it2qpbg wrote

Pretty much everyone I know who has owned a small business has been threatened with/had suits filed against them.

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StrangePlaces405 t1_is54a12 wrote

Definitely not an aspect unique to America. There are examples of litigious behavior across the globe.

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sikels t1_is55vao wrote

It happening in other places doesn't change how America in particular is infamous for litigious idiocy.

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Royal-Doggie t1_is5oo35 wrote

or healthcare, or guns, or unhealthy food, there is some good things in america but these come to my mind right away

guns and hamburger boi, yeeeeha

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popsickle_in_one t1_is54hy9 wrote

It's an American thing because rando claims like that can just get thrown out before being heard in other countries.

Also, in sensible places, losing a case in court means you pay the legal fees of both sides, so there is no risk for someone who has done nothing wrong getting sued.

In the US, they just have to make it so going to court is more expensive than just paying them off so you get people suing over all sorts of stupid shit.

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SandysBurner t1_is5y2ub wrote

>Also, in sensible places, losing a case in court means you pay the legal fees of both sides, so there is no risk for someone who has done nothing wrong getting sued.

If you have to pay both parties' legal fees if you lose, doesn't that make it basically impossible to sue somebody who can afford better lawyers than you?

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Cystems t1_is70s4c wrote

It's a courts decision, so not necessarily guaranteed. There was a case here where a semi-famous entertainer got sued for defamation, and just before the case went to trial the person suing withdrew the case (cos it was bullshit in my opinion) and the court ordered him to pay all legal costs. I think the judge was pissed he wasted everyone's time.

But you're right, that can be a downside, but I think that'll be true of all systems. You lost your court case because they could afford better lawyers. Or not even better lawyers, they could just afford to drag out the case until you went bankrupt with legal fees.

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popsickle_in_one t1_is7g4zg wrote

The opposite.

In the US, rich people can afford to hire expensive lawyers to just hold up proceedings until the poor people can no longer afford to continue (see Trump)

Elsewhere, if you have a case, the better lawyers will be on your side because they know they'll get paid. You also get to keep all of your awarded money rather than having to spend most of it on your own legal team.

But if you don't have a case (see above litigious asshole thing) then you deserve to have to pay for wasting everyone's time.

Win win

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NPO_Tater t1_is8823z wrote

> rando claims like that can just get thrown out before being heard in other countries. > > Also, in sensible places, losing a case in court means you pay the legal fees of both sides, so there is no risk for someone who has done nothing wrong getting sued.

Damn, so exactly the same system the US has...

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SaborW t1_is597d3 wrote

No it's definitely an American thing. People sue for any and everything here. Fucking guy running from the police trips in a yard and breaks his ankle can sue the owner of that property and win. Guy breaks into your home and you harm him in a fight, he or his family if he dies can sue you.

Sure lawsuits happen everywhere, but only here are they so often so absolutely absurd and in such numbers

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StrangePlaces405 t1_is6rtgy wrote

While that is true what's not necessarily known is why lawyers and courts accept people filing frivolous lawsuits. Lawyers will tend to take on 'unwinnable" cases because they will negotiate high fees and awards if the miraculously win the case.

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p-terydactyl t1_is6wmnb wrote

Lawyers will take unwinnable cases because you pay them a retainer. No lawyer is taking an unwinnable case on contingency.

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Killerbean83 t1_is7htg5 wrote

This so much. Not sure what the legal boundaries are for a lawyer in the USA, but over here the lawyer has to "defend his clients interests". A lawyer has no obligation to to refuse a case because it is pure horseshit. If you are paying him because you want to go to trial, he will do so because you are paying him. At some point he should mention "well it is unlikely we will win" but after that, if you insist and you keep paying, the lawyer will keep going.

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EndoExo t1_is5jt3a wrote

It was totes a '91-'92 model, unless a previous owner swapped out the ground effects for the scoopy looking ones.

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kidsinballoons t1_is5pw1u wrote

Are you sure this isn't a joke? It sounds like they donated $20k to charity

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danhawman t1_is6750s wrote

It's easy to say a lawyer had approached them threatening to sue, I can say I was approached by a lawyer and threatened with legal action for writing this comment. That doesn't mean it happened. I'd bet a million to win a pound that it was poking fun at the sueing culture that exists in the USA.

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