Craziest, Most Frivolous Lawsuits in History

What do you do when things don’t go your way? If you’re like most people, you chalk it up to a bad day, turn in, and hope for a better one tomorrow. 

But a few people take the most minor inconveniences as a personal injustice and seek millions of dollars in ridiculous lawsuits. Since people have the right to sue for anything, some truly bizarre pieces of legal proceedings have taken place that never should have happened. 

These are the most absurd and frivolous lawsuits of all time. 

Year: 2018

Amount sued for: Unspecified 

Result: Dismissed 

The case: Sometime around 2018, Mikhail Abramov headed to a Home Depot to buy a stack of 4×4 lumber for his latest home improvement project. But when he got home, he discovered that a 4×4 piece of wood was actually 3.5 by 3.5 inches wide. Feeling Home Depot had cheated him out of half an inch of wood on each side, Abramov sued for deceptive practices.

Home Depot’s lawyers argued that a 4×4 merely being a common term and not a promise of exact size was common knowledge and that siding with Abramov would “ignore nearly a century of standardization and disturb an entire industry’s reliance on these lumber names.”

Doers may get more done, but suers get dropped. The judge dismissed the case and an entire industry doesn’t have to rename a product to suit one man.  

Year: 2015

Amount sued for: Undisclosed

Result: Lost 

The case: In 2013, Anjanaffy Njewadda was walking through Grand Central Station in New York City when she turned suddenly and locked eyes with something so unbelievable, so frightening, that she fell backward on the stairs and injured her ankle.

Since that scary thing was placed in a walkway by a marketing company, Njewadda naturally assumed that the company who paid the advertisers, CBS/Showtime, and the New York Transit Authority were responsible and should be made to pay.

So she did the American thing to do and sued them. What scared her so bad? Michael C. Hall. The scary object in question was actually an oversized poster for the last season of “Dexter.”

Why was that scary? As Njewadda said on the court record it was “the eyes.” 

Fans who actually saw the last season said it was the writing.

Year: 2018 

Amount sued for: Eviction 

Result: Awarded  

The case: Picture this. In 2018, Michael Rotondo was a “successful businessman” of an undisclosed business, soon to be 31-years-old and living at his parent’s house for the past eight years. His property was a broken-down Volkswagen Passat.

Hey, we’re not here to judge. But the judge is. And he ruled in favor of — wait for it — Michael’s parents. Despite sending Rotondo several eviction notices, he refused to pay bills, do household chores, or leave the family homestead. So they sued him. And they won.

Sadly, this isn’t the first time the guy had lost a lawsuit. In 2017, Rotondo sued Best Buy for $338,500 after he was fired for refusing to work Saturdays. 

Year: 2018 

Amount sued for: 20 years off

Result: Dismissed 

The case: in 2018, a Dutch “positivity trainer” named Emile Ratelband decided he didn’t want to be 69 years old anymore. He believed he looked much younger, darn it, and he was going to make the entire world recognize it — by taking his case to court. One of the reasons why he wanted to be recognized as younger guy? To score on Tinder. 

“If I’m 49, then I can buy a new house, drive a different car. I can take up more work,” he said. “When I’m on Tinder and it says I’m 69, I don’t get an answer. When I’m 49, with the face I have, I will be in a luxurious position.”

That luxurious position was denied, as courts tossed out Ratelband’s case. Looks like he’ll be getting old just like the rest of us.