The American legal system really is a mess. Whether it's the reluctance of the two parties in congress to address nominees for various federal courts or the constant tort claims, it seems that justice comes at an obscenely slow pace.
One of the reasons, however, that justice is often very slow in coming is due to the various lawsuits that are filed that truly seem meritless, a nuisance and meant merely to aggrandize the lawyers filing the complaint.
Take for instance this lawsuit recently filed against Beverages & More that claims their "5 Cent Sale" is deceiving. In the Wine Business Monthly article on the lawsuit we have this little revelation about the claim in question:
“This practice of using a fictitious, marked up, or otherwise misleading regular price" is a deceptive, unfair and illegal practice,” alleges the filing. Plaintiff Peter Gray Jr. of San Francisco seeks restitution, damages, injunctive relief, and attorneys' fees, claiming to have been “actually injured as a result of BevMo’s conduct in an amount not less than the difference between what he paid for the two “regular” price bottles of wine (a total of $17.98 plus tax) and what he should have paid if BevMo had sole the bottles at their actual regular prices (a total of $12.98 plus tax).”
If you read this closely, the plaintiff in the case is claiming he was "injured" to tune of at least $5.00.
I'll tell you what, Mr. Gray, give me a call and I'll shoot you a check for four times that amount if you choose to drop your lawsuit and give our legal system a small break. I'll consider it the completion of my civic duty for the day.
Gray claims that with some wines the "regular price" advertised is in fact a higher price than what would be considered "regular" prior to the 5 Cent Sale. BevMo claims the lower-than-regular prices Mr. Gray has seen on some wines actually represents their "Club Bev" prices on some wines.
Who Cares? Really. Who Cares?
There's no question about it. Americans are in desperate need of tort reform as well as a dose of common sense. And some Americans need to do something with the time they have on their hands besides filing seemingly ridiculous lawsuits. Tell you what, Mr. Gray, in addition to giving you a check for 4 times the the least amount you were supposedly injured by BevMo, I'll also throw in a beginners book on wine. Maybe that will occupy your time and save us Californians from footing the bill so you can retrieve your $5.00.
