FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: PETER BYLSMA
PHONE: 310-795-8532
October 8, 2007
(Los Angeles, CA) – Los Angeles Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (LACALA) and citizens
throughout Los Angeles County have voted the infamous $54 million lawsuit over a pair of lost
pants as the most outrageous lawsuit of the year as part of Lawsuit Abuse Awareness Week
2007 (LAAW).
LAAW is a nationally recognized annual event in which LA CALA and groups throughout the
nation inform consumers of the human and financial costs of lawsuit abuse, encourage
legislators to enact common-sense reforms to our legal system, encourage people to serve on
juries and help ensure the legal system is used for justice, not greed.
LA CALA's most outrageous suits of the year also included the infamous Los Angeles Fire Department dog food lawsuit, Dan Rather's $70 million lawsuit against CBS, a police officer who sued the New York Police Department for allowing his wife - also a police officer - to carry a gun, parents suing a school district over a bad grade, a lawsuit over a screening of Brokeback Mountain, a $10 million lawsuit over a McDonald's cheeseburger, a lawsuit by a student to overturn a suspension after he got caught hacking into his teacher's computer for test scores and a suit filed by a woman over perfume in the workplace.
LACALA invited citizens to visit their web site at www.losangelescala.org to vote for the most
outrageous suit of the year. Voters selected the Pants Suit as the most outrageous of the year
in a close final vote over the Los Angeles Fire Department dog food lawsuit. Voters were
also eligible to win $500 in a random drawing from among voters who chose the suit named
worst of the year.
"These shameful examples of excess and greed get worse every year and the money to pay for them comes right out of the pockets of the citizens of our state and our nation," said Peter Bylsma, executive director of Los Angeles CALA. LA CALA is not alone in its concern as local communities also issued proclamations in support of Lawsuit Abuse Awareness week.
Los Angeles Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse is a nonprofit, grassroots public education organization dedicated to serving as a watchdog over the legal system and those who would seek to abuse it for undeserved gain. For more information, visit www.losangelescala.org.
