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Teens' cookie deliveries crumble into $900 lawsuit

735 views 24 replies 21 participants last post by  flinchy 
#1 ·
WTF is wrong with people today...

taken from http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/nationworld/articles/1229527.html

"

Durango, Colo. -- Two teenage girls trying to perform an act of kindness for their neighbors ended up being slapped with a medical bill for $900 after one neighbor suffered an anxiety attack when they knocked on her door at 10:30 p.m. delivering homemade cookies.

The incident began July 31, 2004, when the girls, Taylor Ostergaard, 17, and Lindsey Jo Zellitti, 18, decided to skip a dance and stay home and bake cookies for their neighbors.

Big mistake.

They were successfully sued for an unauthorized cookie drop on one porch. The deliveries consisted of half a dozen chocolate chip and sugar cookies accompanied by big hearts cut out of red or pink construction paper with the message: "Have a great night." The notes were signed, "Love, The T and L Club," code for Taylor and Lindsey.

At one of the nine scattered rural homes south of Durango where they delivered cookies that night, a 49-year-old woman became so terrified by the knocks on her door around 10:30 p.m. that she called the sheriff's department. Deputies determined that no crime had been committed.

But Wanita Renea Young ended up in the hospital emergency room the next day after suffering a severe anxiety attack she thought might be a heart attack.

A Durango judge Thursday awarded Young almost $900 to recoup her medical bills. She received nothing for pain and suffering.

"The victory wasn't sweet," Young said Thursday afternoon. "I'm not gloating about it. I just hope the girls learned a lesson."

Taylor's mother, Jill Ostergaard, said her daughter "cried and cried" after Judge Doug Walker handed down his decision in La Plata County Small Claims Court.

"She felt she was being punished for doing something nice," Jill Ostergaard said.

The judge said he didn't think the girls acted maliciously, but it was pretty late at night for them to be out. He didn't award any punitive damages.

Taylor and Lindsey declined to comment Thursday, saying only that they didn't want to say anything hurtful. Young said the girls showed "very poor judgment."

Just as dusk arrived a little after 9 p.m., Taylor and Lindsey began their deliveries. They didn't stop at houses that were dark. But where lights shone, the girls figured people were awake and in need of cookies. A kitchen light was on at Young's home.

Court records contain half a dozen letters from neighbors who said they enjoyed the unexpected treats. But Young, at home with her 18-year-old daughter and elderly mother, said she saw shadowy figures who banged and banged at her door. She thought they were burglars or some neighbors she had tangled with in the past, she said.

The girls wrote letters of apology to Young, with Taylor saying in part, "I just wanted you to know that someone cared about you and your family."

The families had offered to pay Young's medical bills if she would agree to indemnify the families against future claims. Young wouldn't sign the agreement. She said the families' apologies rang false and weren't delivered in person, so she brought the matter to court.
"

:rolleyes
 
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#2 ·
That woman sounds like a fucking bitch. I cant believe how money grubbing some people are, and the lawyers who help them are even worse. Oh it makes me sick!!!
 
#3 ·
WTF! Get fricken real! What has this country come to? Sometimes, I think that we are a bunch of pussies, living off the sweet, blood, and tears of our proceeding generations.

I can see it now...If Thomas Jefferson was still alive, he'd whip out his dueling pistol and shoot that whiny bitch.
 
#6 ·
And what did you bring the big bad wolf, Red?

Doesn't surprise me. I mean this is America. All the debates we've had on this site should show how greedy we are here. Nope, not surprised. :laughing

Might've been an Enron lawyer that helped her win the 900 bucks. Hey, ya have to restart somewhere. :2sniper

I wonder if they had on cute plaid skirts when they went around delivering. :1pimp
 
#8 ·
I would ring her doorbell every hour on the hour for the rest of her miserable life. :bangin
 
#9 ·
Loki_D_Wolf said:
All the debates we've had on this site should show how greedy we are here.
There is greed, and then there is opportunism. I would argue that this case is the latter.

No one wants to accept responsibility for their own actions, and throw blame wherever it sticks and sue everyone looking for a payday.

Life is not always fair, and sometimes it fucking sucks. Once everyone accepts that, this will be a better country.
 
#14 ·
Brian said:
There is greed, and then there is opportunism. I would argue that this case is the latter.
+1. Exhibit "A" being this bit:

The families had offered to pay Young's medical bills if she would agree to indemnify the families against future claims. Young wouldn't sign the agreement. She said the families' apologies rang false and weren't delivered in person, so she brought the matter to court.
So, pretty much, this woman (so to speak) is angry that someone would dare approach her door without asking first, and is then further angry that the people involved wouldn't apologize for doing something that the rest of the world thinks is normal and acceptable behavior. Or, more likely, that she was looking for the bucks (which explains the "pain and suffering" that she fortunately lost out on).

I really hope that there's something more to this that we're not hearing.

Take comfort in this: this woman is now doomed to a life filled with crank calls, TP'd trees, and flaming bags of dog crap on the porch--and there's NOTHING the neighbors are going to do about it.
 
#15 ·
10:30 is a little late at night.... but come on.... and anxiety attack. Guess teh gir;s should have phoned first.

I guess when you live alone out in the middle of nowhere a knock on the door at night could freak out and old lady. At least all she requested was recovery of medical bills.
 
#16 · (Edited)
I say the judge is an asshat just as much as the lady in question.......he should've thrown the case out after hearing what is was about! Jeesus H.........HER: "I thought the knock at the door might have been burglars..." Judge: " Hey dumbass, burglars DON'T knock. Case dismissed."

BTW, how the hell do you have an anxiety attack the next day and attribute it to a knock on your door the previous night? What f'ng BS! I'd appeal the judgement.
 
#17 ·
cherrypicker said:
10:30 is a little late at night.... but come on.... and anxiety attack. Guess teh gir;s should have phoned first.

I guess when you live alone out in the middle of nowhere a knock on the door at night could freak out and old lady. At least all she requested was recovery of medical bills.

Mike when in the F__K did 49 become old :confused I hope you peeps don't consider me old :eek
 
#18 ·
cherrypicker said:
At least all she requested was recovery of medical bills.
Well, no. If you read carefully, the reporter mentions that she got nothing for pain and suffering, and that the judge awarded no punitive damages. That suggests that she asked for both.
 
#19 ·
cherrypicker said:
At least all she requested was recovery of medical bills.
She wanted the whole pie:

"The families had offered to pay Young's medical bills if she would agree to indemnify the families against future claims. Young wouldn't sign the agreement. She said the families' apologies rang false and weren't delivered in person, so she brought the matter to court." :rolleyes
 
#20 ·
But heres the kickers:

But Young, at home with her 18-year-old daughter and elderly mother, ...
The bitch isn't old - she is just a bitch with anxiety problems (shes living with her 18 yr old daugher and elderly mom). The elderly mom didn't have an anxiety attack !?

..some neighbors she had tangled with in the past....
So the rest of the neighborhood already hates her too - man, glad I do not live next to her.
 
#23 ·
As far as this womens decision to persue legal action being an indication of the current state of this country, I have to disagree. I believe the posts from all of you on this subject however are. We all seem to know what the problem is here. Unfortunately legal reform is as much a slippery slope as abortion, and infinately more complicated.

Phily
 
#24 ·
Turn the other cheek - again?

Brian said:
There is greed, and then there is opportunism. I would argue that this case is the latter.

No one wants to accept responsibility for their own actions, and throw blame wherever it sticks and sue everyone looking for a payday.

Life is not always fair, and sometimes it fucking sucks. Once everyone accepts that, this will be a better country.
lol This was both! But reality gives a different set of facts as to why I made that statement. She's greedy and too many examples of that are here in America. From the CEO's all the way down. And you're right - she took the oppurtunity. :2sniper
Now when our kind media starts to give more of a segway to good news instead of all the negative b.s. like this, then we'll see we can and probably are a better country. :)
 
#25 ·
If the girls are cute, there is bound to be a line of guys waiting to pull pranks on this crabby ass lady. Teenage boys will do anything if they think it will help them get some lovin! :1pimp

I'm surprised the judge gave her the $900 judgement. Knocking on someones door at 10:30PM when the lights are on can hardly be considered negligent. Normally to win these kinds of lawsuits you have to prove malice, negligence or intent. Did the judge really believe that the girls sought to give this lady an anxiety attack by giving her cookies? :jerkit
 
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