I heard that Wal-Mart saved a $29 DVD player for the woman. :rolleyes:

Boy Punished for Talking About Gay Mom
Mon Dec 1, 5:56 PM ET Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo!



LAFAYETTE, La. - A 7-year-old boy was scolded and forced to write "I will never use the word `gay' in school again" after he told a classmate about his lesbian mother, the American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites) alleged Monday.

Second-grader Marcus McLaurin was waiting for recess Nov. 11 at Ernest Gaullet Elementary School when a classmate asked about Marcus' mother and father, the ACLU said in a complaint.


Marcus responded he had two mothers because his mother is gay. When the other child asked for explanation, Marcus told him: "Gay is when a girl likes another girl," according to the complaint.


A teacher who heard the remark scolded Marcus, telling him "gay" was a "bad word" and sending him to the principal's office. The following week, Marcus had to come to school early and repeatedly write: "I will never use the word `gay' in school again."


A phone message left for Lafayette Parish schools superintendent James Easton was not immediately returned.


The ACLU is demanding the case be removed from Marcus' file and that the school apologize to the boy and his mother, Sharon Huff.


"I was concerned when the assistant principal called and told me my son had said a word so bad that he didn't want to repeat it over the phone," Huff said. "But that was nothing compared to the shock I felt when my little boy came home and told me that his teacher had told him his family is a dirty word."

Next thing you know, they'll have a separate school for children with gay parents (like the highschool in NY for gay students).

It's unfortunate what happened to little Marcus but I'd be a little upset -no, i'd be pissed- if lil' Marcus introduced homosexuality to my daughter.

It's not fair that just because society is so darn liberal, we have to teach our 7 year olds about things that they may not need to be exposed to right now.

i think is hardly something to punish a little boy for.

as for the teacher, she should have taken the time out to explain children what gay was or perhaps gotten permission to explain what gay means.

that is like if a child saying penis or vagina, the teacher should take the time to properly explain what it is and how to use the word and of course notify the parents so that the parents can further properly explain

i notice alot of times children do not learn things from teachers, they learn it from their friends or television. i recall growing up learning several things that were not covered by my little catholic school nuns.

I agree. I was taken aback. At first glance at the title, I thought it might have been where he called a classmate's mom gay who wasn't. . .schools and teachers need to realize that not everyone's family is the traditional mom and dad anymore. I could see if the son had used a more derogatory term or euphemism but he simply told his classmate about his home life.

It's not like the kid explained the mechanics of gay sex. He talked about his family.

So are you saying that kids with gay parents can go to regular schools as long as they don't talk about their families? Or they just shouldn't talk to YOUR child?

How is the school supposed to stop that at all? They have no place whatsoever making a judgement call in this situation.

That's a large-azz babyperson
 

http://207.218.133.47/np_0/medium/1201jbbaby.jpg

Glad to read that Ms. Long didn't have to push Babyperson Virginia out of the birth canal...:eek:

OMAHA, Neb. - An Omaha woman has given birth to a 14-pound, 3-ounce girl. :eek:

Jirong Long required a Caesarean section to deliver Virginia Wenjing You on Nov. 26. Virginia is the largest baby delivered at Creighton University Medical Center in its 130-year history, spokesman Ed Finan said.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest baby ever delivered was a boy weighing 23 pounds, 12 ounces in Seville, Ohio, in 1879.
Long, a Creighton genetics research fellow, said the size of her daughter is even more amazing because she and her husband, Mingrong You, are not big people.
Long is about 5 feet 4. She weighed 130 pounds before her pregnancy and peaked at 192 while she was expecting.
Her husband is about 5-9 and weighs 160 pounds.
Five days after Long's Nov. 20 due date, doctors induced labor with the expectation that the baby would be 8 or 9 pounds. Long said they eventually decided to perform the C-section because it was too dangerous for her to deliver naturally.
Long said she and her baby had no complications and are in good health.
Virginia already is wearing 6-month-old's clothing.
"She has a lot of hair and she is so cute," Long said. "She is very beautiful, and I am very, very happy."

chiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

:o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o

CTFU @ your subject line! :D

My "little" cousin was 13 lbs and some ounces (I don't remember exactly how many, but it was more than 6). He's a regular sized 15-year old now, but he was diagnosed with diabetes when he was an infant.

New York's Priciest Hotel Room -- $12,595 a Night
Tue Dec 2,10:27 AM ET Add Oddly Enough - Reuters to My Yahoo!



NEW YORK (Reuters) - Forget puttin' on the Ritz. Try puttin' on the Mandarin Oriental.



New York's new Mandarin Oriental 250-room hotel offers a suite with a $12,595 nightly pricetag, beating out the Ritz-Carlton by almost $100 as the costliest overnight lodging in the Big Apple.


The Mandarin's Presidential Suite, set to open to the public in January, includes a full kitchen, formal dining room, living room with high-definition flat-screen LCD televisions, baby grand piano, panoramic views of Central Park and the Hudson River and Asian-themed art worth almost $1 million.


The wood-paneled suite includes high-tech surround sound, an entertainment system, wet bar, office/media room and French-marbled foyer floors. The master bath has a two-person steam shower and a deep-soaking tub overlooking the park.


New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg attended a Feng Shui-inspired ribbon-cutting ceremony at the hotel on Monday.

Home intruder gets 325 years!
 

Posted on Tue, Dec. 02, 2003

Home intruder gets 325 years
Man given lengthy sentence after pleading guilty to robberies, ssaults, kidnapping
By RICK BRUNDRETT
Staff Writer

Intruder gets 325 years

When Cindy McLemore got home from the hospital that day close to Christmas last year, the undecorated birthday cake sat on her kitchen table, right where she had left it.

She had baked the cake for her 3-year-old nephew. But a stranger, John W. Hayward, had forever wiped out any happy memories of that day, McLemore said.

Hayward, 25, of Columbia, was sentenced Monday to a total of 325 years in prison after pleading guilty to a string of crimes last year in Lexington and Richland counties. His actions included a vicious attack at McLemore’s West Columbia home, witnessed by three of her six children.

Lexington County prosecutor Tav Swarat said Hayward’s 325-year sentence, which will be served consecutively, is unprecedented in his experience.

McLemore, 26, said she will never forget what happened last Dec. 23 at her home on Roman Way. She gave this account Monday to The State:

She had pulled the birthday cake out of the oven about 2 p.m. and went outside to tell her then- 3-year-old nephew, Hunter Sheibler, and three of her children — Kayla, 7; Christian, 6; and Timothy, 3 — to come inside while she decorated it. The children had been celebrating Hunter’s birthday outside.

Her three older children and her husband, Tim, were away at the time.

Cindy McLemore had just walked out into her yard where the four children were playing when a masked man armed with a handgun suddenly jumped over the fence and ordered them inside. A second masked intruder, also wielding a gun, met them in the kitchen.

“When I saw the one, I was in shock,” McLemore recalled. “When I saw the second one, I thought, ‘Oh my God, we’re going to be dead.’”

The intruders told her they wanted her van and ordered her to go outside and start it. One of the intruders kept the four children at gunpoint on a couch.

After she started the van, the intruders ordered her and the children into a bedroom, then forced her to lie on her stomach on the bed while the children watched.

While one of the intruders tied her feet with a vacuum cord, Hayward threatened her crying nephew that he would “blow his brains out and kill his mother” if he did not shut up.

McLemore, who is 5 feet 2 inches tall, said after she pleaded with the intruders not to harm the children, the 6-foot-1, 225-pound Hayward grabbed her by her hair — pulling out a large chunk. He then began hitting and kicking her because she would not stay still long enough to allow him to tie her hands.

The intruders threatened to kill her and the children if they continued crying or pleading. Hayward told her they would come back and kill her if she called police.

She credited her daughter Kayla, the 7-year-old, with calming the intruders. But she said they “trashed” her house before stealing her van — and many of their Christmas presents.

Hayward used the van and a rifle stolen from the home to rob the First Citizens Bank on Platt Springs Road in West Columbia later that day, Lexington County prosecutor Tav Swarat said Monday. More than $14,000 was stolen in the heist, he said.

Hayward also was charged with the robbery of more than $100,000 from the South Carolina Bank and Trust branch on Assembly Street in Columbia in August 2002, Richland County prosecutor Dana Pellizzari said. In addition, he was charged with robbing a pizza delivery person of $30 on Decker Boulevard in November 2002, she said.

Hayward was scheduled to face trial Monday in Richland County on the Columbia bank robbery charge when he decided to plead guilty to the string of crimes, Pellizzari said.

Judge Reggie Lloyd sentenced Hayward to a total of 325 years after he pleaded guilty to five counts of kidnapping, four counts of armed robbery, one count of assault and battery with intent to kill, and one count of criminal conspiracy.

Hayward’s public defender, Samuel Mokeba, could not be reached Monday for comment. When he entered the plea, Mokeba asked Lloyd to give Hayward a 30-year sentence.

Trials are pending for Hayward’s co-defendants, Kimjaro Presley, 21, and Frank McKenzie, 24, in the home invasion case, Swarat said. Presley was one of the armed intruders, while McKenzie acted as the getaway driver, he said.

McLemore said Hayward deserved the long sentence he received.

“I’m very grateful because he’ll never see the light of day,” she said. “Still, we didn’t have to go through what we went through.”

McLemore said her three children who witnessed the attack and her nephew have required counseling to deal with nightmares. She said she also has suffered nightmares and occasionally loses feeling in her arm because of the attack.

“Christmas is coming up,” she said. “But it’s hard to concentrate on the joy of Christmas when that anniversary is coming up.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, so I probably will be the lone voice on this one, but I think this is a bit excessive. I am in NO WAY trivializing his crime(s), but there was no one that was raped or murdered in this scenario. I've heard of serial murderers that have gotten less time than this.

Is it just me? :confused:

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY TOO MUCH TIME!!! I just knew that those 3 kids had all been killed, raped and mangled. Yes they have nightmares but so do a lot of PTSD folks. 25 years and be done with it.


325 years . . . .in the words of Chris Tucker, "Who did he kidnap CHELSEA CLINTON!?!?!?!??!!?!?!?!?!?

Frivolous Lawsuits contest
 

It's once again time to review the winners of the annual Stella
Awards. The Stellas are named after 81 year old Stella Liebeck who
spilled coffee on herself and successfully sued McDonald's. That
case inspired the Stella Awards for the most frivolous successful
lawsuits in the United States.
Unfortunately the most recent lawsuit implicating McDonald's, the
teens who allege that eating at McDonald's has made them fat, was
filed after the 2002 award voting was closed. This suit will top the 2003
awards list without question.

THIS YEAR'S AWARDS GO TO:
5th place (Tied).
Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas was awarded $780,000 by a jury
of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was
running inside a furniture store. The owners of the store were
understandably surprised at the verdict, considering the
misbehaving toddler was Ms. Robertson's Son.

5th place (Tied).
19 year old Carl Truman of Los Angeles won $74,000 and medical
expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord.
Mr. Truman apparently did not notice there was someone at the wheel of
the car when he was trying to steal the hubcaps.

5th place (Tied).
Terrence Dickson of Bristol, Pennsylvania was leaving a house he
had just finished robbing by way of the garage. He was not able to get
the garage door to go up since the automatic door opener was
malfunctioning. He could not re-enter the house because the door
connecting the house and garage locked when he pulled it shut. The
family was on vacation and Mr. Dickson found himself locked in the
garage for 8 days. He subsisted on a case of Pepsi he found and a
large bag of dry dog food. He sued the homeowner's insurance
claiming the situation caused him undue mental anguish. The Jury agreed to
the tune of $500,000.

4th place.
Jerry Williams of Little Rock, Arkansas was awarded $14,500 and
medical expenses after being bitten on the buttocks by his next
door neighbor's Beagle dog. The Beagle was on a chain in its owner's
fenced yard. The award was less than sought because the jury felt the dog
might have been a little provoked at the time as Mr. Williams, who
had climbed over the fence into the yard, was shooting it repeatedly
with a pellet gun.

3rd place.
A Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber Carson of
Lancaster, Pennsylvania $113,500 after she slipped on a soft drink
and broke her coccyx tailbone). The beverage was on the floor because
Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier, during an
argument.

2nd place.
Kara Walton of Claymont, Delaware sued the owner of a Night Club in
a neighboring city when she fell from the bathroom window to the
floor and knocked out two of her front teeth. This occurred whilst Ms.
Walton was trying to sneak out of the window in the Ladies Room to
avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge. She was awarded $12,000 and
dental expenses.

1st Place.
This year's runaway winner was Mr. Merv Grazinski of OklahomaCity,
Oklahoma. Mr. Grazinski purchased a brand new Winnebago Motor Home.
On his trip home from an OU football game, having driven onto the
Freeway, he set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the
drivers seat to go into the back and make himself a cup of coffee.
Not surprisingly the RV left the Freeway, crashed and overturned. Mr.
Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising him in the owner's manual
that he could not actually do this. The jury awarded him
$1,750,000 plus a new Winnebago Motor Home. The company actually changed
their
manuals on the basis of this suit just in case there were any other
complete morons buying their recreation vehicles.

Re: Frivolous Lawsuits contest
 

HE IS A STRAIGHT UP & DOWN IJIT!!!!!

I read all of these and shook my head. We have really become a lawsuit happy society.

Shame On You: Victoria's Secret, Saks Fifth Avenue And Macy's

A CBS 2 Special Report

Nov 19, 2003 11:52 pm US/Eastern
NEW YORK (CBS) What CBS 2 found that some of the most famous stores in our area are doing is not only disgusting, it's dangerous. Selling used lingerie. Shame On You went undercover and what we found is shocking. CBS 2’s Arnold Diaz has more on this dirty little secret.

Our hidden camera investigation of Victoria's Secret and some other major retailers has uncovered a dangerous and appalling practice that shocked customers when we told them.

"It's just disgusting."

"I just think it's pretty gross."

"This is serious. This is real serious."

John, not his real name, is a disgruntled former employee of two Victoria's Secret stores. He came to us with the revolting allegation that it was store practice to take back used underwear and then resell it.

"When women would come in, I would be disgusted. I knew they were returning something they wore out to a date or just wore out to a club and it's like, you want another woman to buy this?" said John.

Diaz asked John if there were there times that he put back underwear that he was pretty sure was used, "Yeah, all the time, all the time. I don't even like touching it, I hold it by the tag because I don't want to put my hands on that."

Could this be true? To find out we bought thong underwear at two Victoria's Secret stores, and at Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdale's. We took them home, cut off the sales tags to suggest they'd been worn then marked each pair with two tiny black dots on the labels.

Every store took back our thongs without the tags, never asking if they'd been worn. Next our hidden camera caught the sales clerk at a Victoria's Secret attaching a new price tag on our returned thong, hanging it up and then putting it back on the floor for sale. We know it's the same thong because our two dots were on the label. Unbelievably, it’s not illegal in the tri-state area to sell used underwear, but "It could get someone sick."

Microbiologist Dr. Lori Daane says dangerous bacteria like yeast and ecoli can survive for weeks on lingerie and can be easily transferred. "Given the fact that you can get these organisms on this clothing, especially thong underwear, it's pretty likely you’re going to get some fecal contamination."

We also found our returned thongs back on the sales floor at another Victoria's Secret, at Saks Fifth Avenue and at Macy's. Bloomingdale's was the only store where we didn't see our thong back on sale. Lingerie customers were horrifed at our findings.

"Who the heck wants to wear someone else’s underwear. That's not a good thing."

"I don’t think they should take them back at all. I mean I think it should be, you buy them once and they're done."

One woman approached us claiming to be a customer of Victoria's Secret but turned out to be an employee.

When asked why she put used underwear back out she responded, “I don’t think we would do that. We would never do that.”

But when Diaz pointed out that there were pictures she said, “You do? I don’t think that's fair what you're doing.”

“I don't think it's fair you're putting used underwear back out,” asked Diaz. “We would never do that," was the employee’s answer.

In an official statement Victoria's Secret says "Our policy is to not sell used merchandise. Rest assured, we will investigate your allegations thoroughly."

Bloomingdale's, where we did not find our returned thong back on the sales floor says, "...any garment that shows any sign of wear, including no ticket, is marked out of stock."

Macy's East says, "...we have guidelines and practices for merchandise such as intimate apparel, we train our sales associates to thoroughly inspect all merchandise [that is returned]. This should insure that only clean, sellable items are on our selling floor."

Saks Fifth Avenue says, "if merchandise looks like it's in saleable condition and has not been worn, we do put it back on the sales floor. We trust our sales associates to make good judgements about the saleability of returned merchandise and in most cases they do."

But john says it's not always obvious what's been worn, "The only way you could, like, damage it out, is if it's ripped or if it's really, really stained and, you know, where it's really noticed. But sometimes you can't notice it."

So into the CBS 2 Hall Of Shame we induct Victoria's Secret, Saks Fifth Avenue and Macy's for a filthy practice that puts their customers' health at risk.

Interestingly, in New York it's illegal to sell hats that have been returned but not thong underwear.

Some stores do refuse to take back underwear, a policy that should be posted. But the best protection for consumers is to wash, wash, wash your underwear before putting it on.

Well I'll be damned!!:mad: :mad:

I always wash my anyway. You dunno who's hands and who knows what else coulda been messin with them.

i am officially distubed by that! i always wash my underwear before wearing it because you never know who handled it in the store before you, but i never thought the stores would put used underwear back on the floor! that's just wrong.

That is disgusting.

That's revolting...although when I worked at Vickies though we did have to take back underwear that we knew was probably worn. I always wash new underwear for that reason specifically!

:o

I work at a sister store of Victoria's Secret and we sell underwear. If we find underwear on the floor or if it's been returned we damage it out. It does not cost that company anything to loose underwear, that cost a total of $.50 to make that we sell for $8. That is just gross. I wash my underwear too, but only once. After reading this I think I may need to do it more than that. Or go to Wally World and get the ugly granny panties that come in a bag. :(

LMAO LMAO LMAO

Before I worked for Vickie's Catalog in 99, I used to get my panties at Wally World, Value City and other places where panties were by the pack.

I've never returned pannies because I didn't know that you could. :confused: I thought that all sales were final on pannies (AND swimsuits) everywhere. I only recently started washing new underwear. That is SOOOOOOOOOOOO gross. I will never look at underwear in the store the same again.

My way is Hanes Her Way
 

That's why people should buy the cotton panties that are sold in a bag by the sixes . . . 6 pair = $5.99 . . . since they are sealed, one can tell if they are used.

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: at the used panties! EEEW!

I work for another sister store of VS, who doesn't sell underwear, but if we have clothing returned that has ANYTHING on it, or even smells at all, it gets damaged out, no matter whether it's a necklace or a $70 sweater.

Oh EWWWWWWW. Glad my rear end is too big for those designer panties, and even when I buy the six pack of panties from Wal-Mart, I ALWAYS wash them before I wear them!!

Re: My way is Hanes Her Way
 

I co-sign on that.

That is just NASTY. And you would think with those types of those being so "high end", they would know better.

When I worked retail clothing if I ever had panties, bathing suits, or those naughty nighties returned, and we could tell they were worn, right into the salvage they go. Some nasty AZZ people would try on panties and lingerie and we'd find them in the fitting rooms. I sent those away too. Sometimes management would try and sell it, but then I'd accidentally leave a pen on it, or it would get caught and ripped, OOOPS.

Oh and don't even trust the plastic bag panties. We had some and the manufacturers send us new bags for when people rip them open. Wash them. Also wash all towels you buy, it takes off the lint and any cooties.

While working at Bloomingdale's, I worked in men's undergarments for about a week (that's all I could stomach). Anytime someone would bring back underwear that was obviously used, we damaged it out and put it into the stock room so that it could be sent back to the merchandiser. And people would return some NASTY stuff. I think I told the story before but I had a guy try returning soiled underwear. I told him that they were a biological hazard and that he needed to take them out of the store. Do people have any shame?!

All my underwear gets immediately washed after purchasing. Even if they weren't a return, someone could have tried them on. Ewwww...

Your People...Why?
 

Guilty verdict in restaurant assault case
Manager hit with car over no mayonnaise
By ANDREW TILGHMAN
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle

A McDonald's customer who flew into a violent rage when she was denied mayonnaise on her cheeseburger was convicted Wednesday of felony assault for running over the restaurant's manager.

Waynetta Nolan, 37, faces up to 20 years in prison for hitting Sherry Allen Jenkins with her car, dragging the employee across the parking lot and breaking her pelvis.

In the middle of the lunchtime rush, the longtime McDonald's employee had briefly stepped into the drive-through lane to take down the disruptive customer's license plate number when Nolan's sedan lunged forward, witnesses said.

Witnesses said 43-year-old Jenkins screamed, "Stop! Please stop!" as she was thrown from the car hood, caught between the wheels and scraped along the pavement.

Nolan, who has previous convictions for assault and prostitution, said she was oblivious to the entire April 23 episode at the McDonald's near Bissonnet and Beltway 8 in southwest Houston.

Nolan said she had inched her car forward to put ketchup on her burger when she heard a car horn. Realizing she was blocking drive-through traffic, she said, she gunned her car forward.

Nolan testified Wednesday that she thought she had rolled over "a bump" when she ran over Jenkins.

Jurors took less than an hour to convict Nolan of aggravated assault. They will return to state District Judge Brock Thomas' courtroom today to decide Nolan's punishment, which could range from two to 20 years in prison.

The incident began when an 18-year-old employee working at the drive-through window told Nolan mayonnaise was not an option on McDonald's cheeseburgers. When Nolan became angry, she was encouraged to pull her car around to the window counter and speak to the manager.

Witnesses said Nolan cursed and threw a cheeseburger back though the drive-through window.

When Jenkins offered a special-order cheeseburger with mayonnaise, witnesses said, Nolan complained her french fries had grown cold. After receiving new fries, she then demanded a new drink.

Unable to pacify the belligerent customer, Jenkins finally called police, who asked her to get the customer's license plate number.

After running over Jenkins, witnesses said, Nolan sped from the parking lot and drove into oncoming traffic on a one-way feeder road. She was arrested at her home after a man who saw the assault followed her and reported her plate to police.

Jurors had the option of convicting Nolan of a lesser crime, such as misdemeanor reckless driving, but prosecutors said it was her spectacular departure that likely led to her felony assault conviction.

"Did she stop?" asked Assistant District Attorney John Jordan. "Did she say, `Oh my Lord, what have I done?' "

Nolan's attorney, Troy Wilson, said his client simply panicked.

"I think more than anything, it was the panic afterward that hurt her with the jury."

Re: Your People...Why?
 

This is not in anyway meant to be funny, but this lady dag near killed someone over this? :mad:

Re: Re: Your People...Why?
 

Hey, if she wanted her way, she should've went to Burger King!

I insist on having my burgers PLAIN
 

But why would you fly into a violent rage and jeopardize yourself over that? :confused: Believe me, I do pull into the drive-in parking lot and check that sucker. If I see a trace of stuff other than bacon or onions, I just go back into the restaurant and ask it to be corrected.:p

Re: Re: Re: Your People...Why?
 

As long as it is not THAT ONE in Va. Remember that?

http://www.greeksource.com/gcforums/...ht=burger+king

okay, i've been a McDonald's patron for many moons and I never, ever, ever recall mayo on burgers. this isn't just something that they started at the mickey d's on the southwest side. had this lady NEVER ate there before? if they don't have it, you can't get mad! i wouldn't demand a cheeseburger from kfc--why? BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE IT. some folks are just downright and recklessly STUPID!!!

Re: Re: Re: Re: Your People...Why?
 

Tee-hee...I stand corrected. But, I agree with Meez, everyone has patronized Mickey D's at some point in their life(broad generalization). Until very recently, the menu has been the same for almost 20 years.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Your People...Why?
 

These days, I hardly go to Mickey D's. I like Jack in the Box better.
:p

They don't have Jack in the Box here, but Mickey D's has a good grilled chicken sandwich, and the salads are ok!

Here's an update on the trampled "Wal-Mart" lady. . .
 

NEW TODAY >See more local news


Friday, Dec. 5, 2003

'Trampled' Wal-Mart shopper has long history of injury claims



ORANGE CITY, Fla. -- A woman reported "trampled" last week by Wal-Mart shoppers desperate for $29.87 DVD players has a long history of claiming injuries from Wal-Marts and other businesses where she worked or shopped, according to Florida Today news partner WKMG Local 6 News.


Patricia Vanlester, 41, was knocked unconscious and, her sister said, "trampled by a herd of elephants" by a stampede of shoppers reaching for DVD players that went on sale at 6 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving, according to Orange City police and the sister, Linda Ellzey.

The story was picked up by the Associated Press and carried in newspapers and other media as far away as Australia and China.

An investigation by WKMG-Local 6 reveals Vanlester has filed 16 previous claims of injuries at Wal-Mart stores and other places she has shopped or worked, according to Wal-Mart, court files and state records. Her sister, who accompanied her Friday on the visit to Wal-Mart, has also filed a prior injury claim against Wal-Mart, with Vanlester as her witness, a company spokeswoman said Thursday.

Asked whether Vanlester's frequent injury claims might cast doubt on the veracity of her latest allegation, her attorney, David L. Sweat, of Port Orange, said, "No comment." He did stress, though, that Vanlester "has not filed a claim nor have we decided to file one" related to last week's incident.

Wal-Mart is reviewing store videotapes "as we look into the claim," spokeswoman Karen Burk said from the retailer's Bentonville, Ark., headquarters. "We will investigate this claim as thoroughly as we have the other 10 claims that this customer and her sister have brought against our stores in the past."

Vanlester, who worked at Wal-Marts in Mount Dora and Orange City in 1996 and 1997, declined comment through her mother, Barbara Rastellini, with whom she owns a home here.

Vanlester spent at least two days in Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach last weekend and was back in the hospital Thursday "having a procedure done," Sweat said. He did not know if the procedure was related to the Wal-Mart incident.

Vanlester has for years complained of head, back, neck, leg or arm pain caused by slipping and falling, objects falling on her and other accidents, according to medical records in a public court file examined by WKMG-Local 6. In fact, her sister says she was wearing a neck brace at the time of last Friday's incident because of injuries from a years-old car accident.

According to state worker's compensation records and court files at the Volusia County courthouse in DeLand, here's some of what Vanlester has claimed over the years under some of her various legal last names: Rastellini, Findley, Crabtree, Platt and Vanlester:

In 1978 and 1982, more than $400 in worker's compensation was paid after she claimed injuries from being struck by a falling object and from slipping and falling while working as a machine operator at a now-defunct manufacturing plant in DeLand.
In 1984, she claimed a back sprain from working at a restaurant in Winter Haven, producing $356 in worker's compensation.
In 1987, she filed an injury claim against Deltona Lanes, a Volusia County bowling alley, after claiming she slipped and fell while bowling there. In a 1993 sworn deposition in another case, Vanlester testified she received a cash settlement from the bowling alley claim, but did not recall the amount.
In 1989, after her car ran off Interstate 4 in Volusia and overturned, she filed a claim against Big T Tire and Wheel Service, of Orange City, claiming the crash was caused by a tire blowout. She testified she received a cash settlement in that case, as well.
In 1991, she claimed to have slipped on a puddle of hand lotion while shopping for a curling iron at an Orange City Walgreen's, causing "permanent injury, disability, disfigurement (and) mental anguish." She filed suit in 1993, but it was thrown out in January 1994 after a 10-minute hearing. Walgreen's argued no one at the store had seen any liquid on the floor, so it could not be liable for failing to clean it up.
In 1995, Vanlester reported slipping and falling on liquid or grease while working in the meat department of a Eustis Publix, resulting in more than $1,200 in worker's compensation.
In 1996, she claimed to have slipped and fallen while working at the layaway desk of a Mount Dora Wal-Mart, leading to more than $600 in worker's compensation payments.
In 1997, she claimed a back strain while working at the snack bar of an Orange City Wal-Mart that was replaced by the Wal-Mart Superstore where she claims to have been trampled last Friday.
-Tony Pipitone, WKMG-Local 6 News

Seems like ol' lady is a pro! What'chall thank??

Claim-happy
 

This news sure as heck doesn't help her credibility, particularly since the average person isn't down with this kind of stuff. It may look like she's an abuser....

And here I was feeling sorry for old girl. . . she can go to fraud hell!!!