America is often described as a litigious country, and there's no shortage of examples of lawsuits we consider frivolous or foolish. What almost all lawsuits have in common, whether merited or not, is that there's a plaintiff and a defendant, and they are two separate entities. However, from time to time, lawsuits are filed in which the plaintiff and defendant are the same person.
10. John Fogerty was sued for plagiarism.
John Fogerty is the legendary lead singer and songwriter of Credence Clearwater Revival. They had hits with songs like "Fortunate Son" and "Bad Moon Rising." You'd be hard-pressed to find many films set in the '60s and '70s that don't feature CCR somewhere on the soundtrack.
When Fogerty was working on his solo album in the 1980s, he released a song called "The Old Man Down the Road." It's a solid song, and it has that signature Fogerty sound. In fact, it had so much of Fogerty's signature sound that it was criticized.the record label went to court , who still owned the rights to his previous work with his band CCR. The basis of their lawsuit was that Fogerty's new song was too similar to "Run Through the Jungle," which, of course, Fogerty himself wrote and sang. Essentially, they were suing John Fogerty on behalf of John Fogerty for ripping off John Fogerty.
In 1988, the jury decided that no, Fogerty hadn't fooled himself by writing a song that sounded like he'd already written it. By then, Fogerty said he'd spent$400,000 more in legal costs , rather than even making money from the song itself. Fortunately, a few years later, he won a lawsuit against his old label to recoup his legal costs.
9. A man sued himself for his own property.
In 1985, Oreste Lodi filed a lawsuit against himself . Or at least he tried. He sued on the grounds that he was the beneficiary of a charitable trust. Plaintiff Lodi wanted to wrest control from Defendant Lodi. It was suggested that this was some sort of tax scam he was trying to pull off, as convoluted as that sounds. The problem was that after Lodi served himself with the paperwork, he refused to respond. This meant he was almost getting a judgment against himself, but instead, his the case was closed . This, in turn, prompted him to appeal the decision.
The appeal didn't go as far as the court reasoned, and there could be no winner or loser in the case, as both would have been the same person. The only benefit Lodi saw was that the court wouldn't force him to pay legal fees for filing a frivolous lawsuit.
8. Robert Block sued himself for $5 million for violating his rights.
Every now and then, you hear the story of a prisoner who studies law while behind bars to help them navigate the system and get out again. Perhaps this involves reviewing their own case or finding a precedent that could help them get a lesser sentence. Either way, it takes a lot of time and effort. Robert Block didn't take this route in his own legal affairs.
Brock was incarcerated at Indian Creek Correctional Center and had served 23 years when he filed a $5 million lawsuit against himself. His argument was that he had gotten drunk before his incarceration and violated his own civil rights. While intoxicated, he committed a crime, for which he was sent to prison. For this violation of his rights, he believed he owed himself 5 million dollars . But since he was imprisoned, he needed the state to provide money because he could not work and earn money on his own.
His plan was, to highlight 3 million dollars to his wife and children for their pain and suffering, and then another $2 million was to go towards supporting his 23 years in prison. He was even prepared to return it after his release if the court ordered him to do so. Unfortunately, the court deemed this all frivolous and rejected it.
7. Barbara Bagley sued herself for wrongful death
In 2011, Barbara Bagley was driving in Utah with her husband, Bradley, when she lost control of the vehicle. No other car was involved, and the details are sketchy, but the car ended up flipping, resulting in the death of Bagley's husband. Bagley subsequently filed a negligent homicide lawsuit against herself.
So how does it work? Bagley filed a lawsuit As the representative of her husband's estate, she sought damages to cover funeral expenses, loss of future financial support, the pain her husband must have suffered, and her own pain over his loss. Bagley's estate representative filed a lawsuit against Bagley, which was acting as her insurer. She thus sued her own insurance company, claiming that the accident was her fault and therefore, under her insurance, she should pay. Her insurance company clearly had no interest in paying precisely because the accident was her fault.
The case was initially dismissed, but Bagley then appealed the decision. The appellate court effectively overturned the first judge's decision, declaring that there was nothing in Utah law preventing her from suing herself.
It's unclear how much money, if any, she actually won as a result of the lawsuit. But lawyers pointed out that by law creditors get the first dibs, so the lawyers themselves, as well as the hospital that treated her husband and everyone else, should have received money from the estate before Bagley.
6. Herbert Barber sued himself for services he provided to the city
Suing yourself is absolutely out of the question in the modern world. You can go back to 1911 and find a case. Herbert Barber, who sued Herbert Barber . Barber worked as a tax collector in a town called Warwick. The town didn't pay him for his services, so he filed a lawsuit to get compensation in the amount of $8,250.44 . One of the defendants was the city treasurer, whose job it was to make sure he got paid. The city treasurer was Herbert Barber.
Surprisingly, Barber did not win and the case was dismissed.
5. Teun van de Keuken sued himself to draw attention to slavery in the chocolate industry.
If you've ever seen free trade chocolate for sale, you know the chocolate industry has a dark side, built on child slave labor. In fact, much of the chocolate you eat was likely produced using child slave labor. Journalist Teun van de Keuken learned this in the early 2000s while investigating labor relations in West Africa. He was so moved by what he learned and eager to spread the word that he devised a new way to shed light on the problem.
He ate chocolate and then turnedto the authorities, claiming to have benefited from child slavery. The courts were unimpressed and refused to prosecute, so he hired a lawyer and sued himself. At the same time, he founded the chocolate company Tony's Chocolonely to sell chocolate on a free-trade basis, and the company remains strong to this day, even though the courts refused to prosecute him.
4. A Spanish artist sued himself for the right to install scaffolding.
Santiago Sirugeda is a man whose work straddles the line between art, performance, and architecture, a space occupied by few. He began working with street architecture in the 1990s, including pieces such as waste container rental , and then using them as platforms for building playgrounds, with the city refusing to issue permits for things like swing sets but readily issuing permits for dumpsters.
Later, he came up with a new idea to expand the room in the house by adding on in a similar way. In a project he called Scaffolding , He spray-painted graffiti on a house. He then sued himself for the right to install scaffolding on the same building, ostensibly to help remove the graffiti. The scaffolding was attached to the building and used for several months as additional living space.
3. One of Donald Trump's companies sued another.
Donald Trump is no stranger to lawsuits, and he became so obsessed with one that he ended up suing himself. Several years ago, Trump Mortgages LLC set up shop at 40 Wall Street, in the Trump Building. Two separate entities, both under the Trump banner. If you remember anything about Trump Mortgages, it might be... didn't last long .
Within a year, Trump Mortgages stopped pay rent . So 40 Wall Street LLC was forced to sue Trump Mortgages LLC for nonpayment. The mortgage company didn't even respond to the lawsuit, so the judge ordered their eviction from the building.
2. Lothar Malskat sued himself for being an art forger.
Lothar Malskat had a lot going for him. He'd survived World War II, had an incredible reputation, and was an accomplished artist. The problem with the third part was that no one really knew about it. Malskat worked as an assistant to restorer Dietrich Fey, and the church hired them to restore some Gothic frescoes uncovered during the bombing.
The work took three years, but the restored frescoes became a source of German national pride. They even found their way onto two million postage stamps. Fey was celebrated as a hero and genius for his work. And that's precisely why Malskat sued himself.
Fey received all the money and fame for the frescoes and numerous other works. But they were all fraudulent. Malskat was a counterfeiter, and Fey took credit for his work. The problem was, no one believed him when he exposed himself and his boss. His only recourse was to sue himself, proving in court that he was, in fact, an artistic genius capable of creating masterpieces.
He pointed out inconsistencies in the so-called restorations. In one, he hid the face of a famous actress. Some of the other figures were young men working nearby. In one there were even turkeys , which were not in Germany at the time the paintings were to be painted.
Malskat received prison term for his efforts. His frescoes were destroyed, and despite his skill, he never achieved fame in later life. But he took everyone with him, so that was something.
1. Peter Maxwell sued himself for work-related injuries
It's a familiar story. A worker gets injured on the job and sues the company for compensation. They win, and the company writes off the settlement, end of story. So what happens when a self-employed person tries the same thing? If you're Peter Maxwell, you're pulling off one of the most audacious, yet remarkable, lawsuits in history.
Maxwell owned a manufacturing company in Chino, California. He worked for a foam flooring company, and one day his sweater got caught in a mixing machine. He was seriously injured, and so hired a lawyer , to help him sue his boss; himself. He hired another lawyer to handle the lawsuit on behalf of the company. You'll be surprised to learn that they agreed to settle the case for $122,500 .
The company wrote off the settlement as a business expense, but the IRS wasn't amused. They billed Maxwell twice, once as the employee and once as the employer, seeking a refund. Maxwell returned to court and won when the judge ruled he was entitled to the settlement and the right to write off the expenses.