Radio contest winner sues over candy bar

[Bob The Mercenary]

The Story

Basically, the radio DJ said the tenth caller would win "100 grand". The woman, thinking she would win money, called in and won the contest. She found out later that the contest was a joke and that she only won a 100 Grand candy bar.

The question is, should she be awarded $100,000 (plus other "punitive damages")? Another question...what kind of "punitive damages" could this have possibly caused?

My opinion is that the woman, who currently has several children, didn't have the money to support them. So she found a possibly easy method of getting together the cash by entering this contest. She didn't win money, so she got pissed. And now she's stuck with having to support her own kids.

Of course there's no proof at all of my opinion being true. I'm just wondering if this lady had children first and thought about money later.

[Dunxco]

Hmm, I guess it could be seen as false advertising by the radio presenter. I don't think she should be awarded the $100,000 although it's hard to explain why. I feel sorry for her on some level, but at the end of the day, the contest was never expected to be serious. They should ask some of the other contestants to see if they were aware that the contest was a joke. If so, then it clearly shows how desperate the woman must have been to get that much money.

And what makes you think that she would've used the money to help support her kids, just out of interest? This person is obviously desperate for money, but being such a cynic, I find it hard to believe someone would sue a radio company over such a petty issue for a noble cause like that - if she planned on pressing charges, then I personally believe it were be for her interest, not her offsprings.

[shiney]

This has happened before, and the lawsuit was pretty much thrown out if I recall. Welcome to the 'grow up you hysterical freak it was a joke' department. She can't claim it caused her mass trauma or immeasurable mental anguish. Nor can she say it put her under a greater financial burden than she already had, unless she stupidly spent a whole assload of money before picking up her 'prize'.

[Astral Harmony]

I've never heard of a radio station giving out a prize so much as $100,000 anyways. That lady was certainly desperate to believe that was possible.

Especially considering that it's a "10th caller" thing. You want that much in real money? You better answer 10 questions in a row correctly! $100,000 for being the tenth caller is a ridiculous assumption, regardless of how genuine it sounded.

[Luna Santin]

There's one thing that seems odd to me; namely, it's unclear whether or not the station recorded and broadcasted the moment wherein she was told of the ruse. On the one hand, for the radio station not to do so seems to potentially defeat the point of running the prank in the first place, but on the other hand, it's never mentioned in the complaint. Considering how money-happy this woman and her lawyer apparently are (they want the original "winnings," plus punitive damages, plus trial costs, plus interest) -- it seems to me that they would have demanded money for the psychological trauma and shame, had they been presented with even a scrap of a legitimate opportunity to do so. Now, for a look at the complaint:

"Relying on the representations of DJ Slick, plaintiff Norreasha Gill was induced to call the radio station..."

Oh, you poor, poor thing. How will you ever recover from such an ordeal?

"...plaintiff has suffered damage of $100,000 due to defendant's breach of contract."

Um. Right. "Damage." They make it sound like she lost money. This just doesn't add up. If a guy walking down the street tells you, "Hey, call me later and I'll give you a hundred-thousand dollars," sure, you might call. But when it then turns out that, hey, he wasn't planning to give you that much money after all, I don't think you get to sic the law on him. You're out the effort of a whopping phone call. Are you entitled to be annoyed? Sure, why not. I just don't see how an ultimately minor annoyance, or even being the butt of a private joke, would entitle just about anyone to quite that much money.

[TheSpacePope]

This just goes to show you that we are sue happy in this nation.
Some people will sue for anything.

[Hatake Kakashi]

The only part I noticed about the whole case that could be labled "misleading" would be the "100 Grand Richer" part. That is really the only legal leg she might have to stand on.

Putting that aside, if she were to enter the courtroom, she fully deserves to be sentenced to wear a sticker reading "I'm a complete dumbass" for a few months. The DJ never specifically said "One Hundred Thousand Dollars," merely "100 Grand." And indeed, she got "100 Grand." They promised, she answered, and they fulfilled their end of the bargain. There was no such breach of contract to even consider legally. Seems to me that rather than complain how she "suffered a loss" of $100,000, which she never had in the first place, she should take her candy bar with a good dose of STFU.

[Red Fighter 1073]

this will probably go under the "frivilous lawsuits" category that AIM shows. i really agree with hatake in this issue. they were never specific on what they were to give her, meaning that they never really said that they would give a thousand dollars. sure, if i were here i WOULD be pissed, but i think i would be able to shake it off after a while. and space pope, yes this country is QUITE sue-happy. and pretty much, this whole contest never should have been taken too seriously.

sidenote: heck, i'd be glad that i got a 100 grand candy bar. those things are good! wait..i got braces..damnit!

[Cubes]

Swift note to topic creator, since no one seems to have noticed yet... "punitive damages" in a lawsuit means making the station pay an extra amount of money a punishment for wrongdoing, whereas other damages are repayment of things like:money owed, pain & anguish, potential earnings lost. In other words, if she wins (highly unlikely), she gets 100k + interest because they "promised" they'd give her 100 grand, she gets her trial expenses paid, and (this is where punitive damages come in) she gets some amount of money added in simply because what the station did was "wrong" and they ought to suffer for it. Punitive damages are a hotly debated subject in law right now - many worry that the damages being awarded are excessive - in medical malpractice suits, in particular.

[Silly Kitty]

This all just seems kinda stupid. The woman should just get over it. It was a joke. This nation really is sue happy. Because it was not "$100,000" just "100 Grand" she can't sue for breach of contract. She get her "100 Grand," just not in the way she wanted.