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Originally Posted by Amazing Grace  Quote:
Originally Posted by fredtgreco Quote:
Originally Posted by etexas I general I agree. There is one industry that deserves a wave of lawsuits. Big Tobacco. They sell a defective product (what else do you call something that kills about 50% of it's users) they use chemicals like ammonia to "free up" nicotine to make it more bioavailable to the human body, (read free-basing), it causes more than lung cancer, there are new links between nicotine and MS, as well as a group of auto-immune diseases. I have to admit, I would not care if they took a BIG hit.  | I have absolutely no sympathy even for tobacco class action suits. There have been warning labels since the 60s, and the things you speak about are common knowledge. No body is putting a gun to someone's head to make them smoke. It is a very small step from tobacco lawsuits to fast food lawsuits, to just about anything else.
If you have been damaged, then you can seek a remedy at law. But class action lawsuits are ways to avoid ordinary burdens of proof, and designed to enrich lawyers. |
Not all Fred. This is a broad brush you are using. Go watch Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich. This is a legitamate case. |
For every Erin Brockovich there are 1,000 frivolous class suits. The Pacific Gas litigation could also have been handled (and may even have been, I don't have all the details at hand) by customary litigation.
I get at least 5-10 class action notices per year, from bank cards, to car rentals, etc. I don't know that the "award" is ever in excess of a couple of dollars or a coupon, but I know lawyers are getting rich.