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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Top court overturns dead fly-in-water damage claim |
| 2008-05-25 |
| A man who claimed that he became depressed, anxious and phobic after finding a a dead fly in a bottle of water will no longer get the judgment he won against a bottling company, Canada's top court ruled Thursday. Martin Mustapha will have to shell out thousands in court costs, instead of collecting the more than $345,000 he won in an Ontario court three years ago. The Supreme Court of Canada agreed in a 9-0 judgment that Mustapha suffered real psychological harm, but Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin said his reaction was so "unusual or extreme" that bottling company Culligan of Canada Ltd., should not have to pay compensation. Damn. Next time try it in the USA and maybe you'll get somewhere. McLachlin said the legal test for damages is whether a person of "ordinary fortitude" would suffer psychological harm. In Mustapha's case, she concluded, the reaction was so unique that Culligan could not reasonably have foreseen the consequences and should not be held liable. Mustapha insisted that he had been treated unfairly and said finding the dead fly in an unopened bottle of water in 2001 devastated him. He became obsessed with thoughts of dead flies, could not sleep and was constantly on edge — to the point that his business and even his sex life suffered. "I'm just the type of person that is very clean and cautious about the health and well-being of myself and my family," Mustapha said. Try Prozac. He was diagnosed by several doctors as suffering from severe depression, anxiety and phobias. |
| Posted by:gorb |
| #5 Should we try the veal, AP? ;-p |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2008-05-25 16:49 |
| #4 "Hey, there is a fly in my bottled water!!!" "What is he doing there?" "The back stroke." /I'll be playing the lounge till next Friday |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2008-05-25 15:08 |
| #3 "He was diagnosed by several doctors as suffering from severe depression, anxiety and phobias." How much were they paid by his lawyer? I've got a better diagnosis for him: HE'S A WUSSIE LOSER. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2008-05-25 15:00 |
| #2 Yes, he suffers from "Getrichaphobia", complicated by "realitysucksaphobia". |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2008-05-25 14:57 |
| #1 He was diagnosed by several doctors as suffering from severe depression, anxiety and phobias. Of course he is suffering! He's a Muslim. |
| Posted by: Blinky Thunter4418 2008-05-25 08:12 |