Central California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CCCALA) is marking April Fools’ Day by highlighting some of the “tom-foolery” that’s been conducted in our courtrooms. They may sound like an April Fools’ joke, but unfortunately, these cases are all too real.

Examples include:

• An animal rights group sued dairy producers claiming that they illegally failed to warn consumers of the risk of lactose intolerance when consuming milk. A federal judge dismissed the case. (Dairy Today, August 8, 2006)

• A diet book author sued the Coca-Cola Company claiming that its customer loyalty promotion encouraged children to drink potentially lethal amounts of soda. The plaintiff dropped her case when a Coca-Cola spokesperson noted that consumers could share their sodas with friends. (Associated Press, August 1, 2006)

• A group of five orphaned siblings and the family that took them in were profiled on ABC’s show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” when the producers and Pardee Homes built and paid for a nine bedroom mansion for the family. The siblings also received cars, groceries, computers, stereos and other gifts. Around the time the show aired, the siblings moved out of the home. They then sued the host family, ABC and Pardee Homes, claiming that they went back on the promise of a new home for the siblings. The Los Angeles judge who threw out the case noted that the contract was between ABC, Pardee Homes and the siblings’ host family – and not with the siblings themselves. (Associated Press, March 3, 2007)

“Though many of these cases make you want to laugh out loud, they’re also a telling sign of a more serious problem,” said Diann Rogers, President of Central California CALA. “Our civil justice system is so out of control that it actually rewards abuse.”

Rogers says consumers don’t understand that cases like these, even if ultimately thrown out of court, eventually effect of us in our pocketbooks. Frivolous lawsuits still involve court costs and time, which must be picked up by taxpayers, and often force businesses to raise prices as lawsuits increase the cost of doing business.

“When you remember that lawsuit abuse creates higher prices, higher taxes and fewer jobs, suddenly these types of lawsuits aren’t so funny anymore,” Rogers stated.

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.  Central California CALA currently has over 3,000 supporters throughout the Central Valley and Sacramento region.  For more information, visit www.StopBadLawsuits.com