Who doesn’t crave White Castle?  Their sliders have hit the spot for kids on late night snack runs to resurgent Hollywood stars to most everyone in between.

However, not everybody loves the burger joint.  One man in New York has a particular axe to grind with the burger shop. He says that the booths at the restaurant aren’t big enough to accommodate his nearly 300-pound frame.  So he’s suing. 

The plaintiff’s lawsuit claims that the uncomfortable seating is a violation of his civil rights, so he’s suing under the American With Disabilities Act (White Castle says it provides chairs to anyone that doesn’t want to sit in a booth) . “I just want to sit down like a normal person,” he told a local reporter.

In fact, the disgruntled diner is so upset that he’s boycotting the stores.  He hasn’t set foot in a White Castle since the latest insult.  Instead, he sends his wife to pick up his food when he needs a White Castle fix (he’s boycotting the booths, not the burgers – let’s not overreact here).

Is this the most ridiculous lawsuit of the month?  Or is it one of these:

Lottery winners sued by non-participating co-worker for a cut of winnings
Lawyers sue on behalf of shareholders that don’t own shares
Unpaid interns sue studio for wages
Man sues over toothpaste left in dispenser

Vote here.

A Michigan woman who claims she was misled by the trailers for the movie ‘Drive’ is suing the distributors of the film.  She says she was disappointed by the lack of driving in the film and was expecting something more similar to the ‘Fast and Furious’ films.

Continental Airlines is being sued by a passenger who says she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder caused by a turbulent flight.  The plaintiff says her new fear of flying has negatively impacted her career choices since she can no longer travel by air.

Taco Bell says it is still recovering from the lingering effects of a lawsuit over the restaurant’s taco and burrito meat.  Taco Bell took the unusual step of vigorously fighting back in the media, calling it frivolous and demanding an apology from the plaintiffs’ firm that filed the suit.

A pair of aspiring filmmakers are suing the studio that brought them on as unpaid interns, saying that the studio routinely has interns do such menial work as preparing coffee and taking lunch orders.  The plaintiffs are suing for the back wages that they believe they should have earned.

Proctor & Gamble has been sued by a consumer who is unhappy that, no matter how hard he tries, he can’t get the final bits of toothpaste out of the dispenser.

A New Jersey teen who was locked inside a park after closing is suing the city, saying he hurt himself when he was forced to jump over a fence to get out.

It’s nice to have football back.  Fans didn’t miss out on any meaningful games, owners and the union hammered out a new bargaining agreement, and players got back to work while skipping extended training camps.  Most players probably welcomed the respite from two-a-days in sweltering temperatures, but one player was probably happier than most for the shortened camp schedule, considering that a previous camp landed him in court.

The player is punter Sav Rocca, who is currently with the Washington Redskins, but was punting for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2009.  During training camp that year, the Eagles opened up one of their practices for a fan appreciation event, where players sign autographs, pose for pictures, and connect with fans.

As part of the fan interaction, Rocca booted a ball up into the stands, and told the fan who caught it to throw it back.  The fan’s toss went way off-line and hit the wrist of another spectator, who is now suing Rocca, the Eagles, and – hey, why not? – the Eagles Charitable Foundation over her injuries.  The thrower is not named in the suit.

This may be Australian-born Rocca’s first experience with the U.S. legal system, but the legal situation Down Under is also far from ideal.  The Australian legal system has become more and more lawsuit friendly.  While the American legal system remains in serious need of reform, it is not the only one that can be improved.

Is this the most ridiculous lawsuit of the month?  Or is it one of these?

• Xbox Live user claims Microsoft owes him $500 billion for not responding to his legal notice 
• Plaintiff who filed over 160 ADA lawsuits caught on tape hiking despite supposed end-stage emphysema
• Young adults sue mother for sending cards without gifts and playing favorites
• Fired after boasting about his “superior legal mind,” rookie lawyer sues New York firm for $77 million

Click here to vote.

NFL receiver Braylon Edwards filed a lawsuit against a Michigan nightclub after the club indentified Edwards as a participant in a brawl.  He says the incident cost him a $15 million contract, and instead had to settle for a $1 million contract.

An angry judge chastised a plaintiffs law firm for wasting the court’s time and resources by bringing a shareholder lawsuit on behalf of a client that, in fact, never owned any of the shares in question.

A man who paid $30 for sex with a prostitute and later got into a fight with her pimps will be allowed to sue the motel where the events occurred, a Pennsylvania judge ruled.  The judge dismissed the hotel’s defense that it should not have to protect customers who were engaged in illegal activity.

They say parenting is the toughest job in the world.  Finding a happy medium between protecting your children while helping them find the confidence and independence to go out into the world isn’t easy.  Sometimes the best you can hope to do is put them on the right path and wait for them to realize that being a parent wasn’t as easy as they assumed.

Or wait for them to accuse you of being a bad mother and haul you to court to prove it, like the Illinois woman who was sued by her two children, now age 20 and 23.  The children, incidentally represented by their lawyer father, include a laundry list of offenses allegedly committed by their mother in the suit, including:

“failing to take her daughter to a car show, telling her then-7-year-old son to buckle his seat belt or she would contact police, ‘haggling’ over the amount to spend on party dresses and calling her daughter at midnight to ask that she return home from celebrating homecoming.”

The kids add that they were embarrassed that their mother had a different last name since she changed it after her divorce from their father (and lawyer), and disappointed when she sent birthday cards that didn’t include gifts or checks.

An Illinois judge recently tossed the case after two years of litigation (and growing legal fees).  The kids were able to use their lawyer/father for free on this case, but mom had to pay her costs on her own.  “It would be laughable that these children of privilege would sue their mother for emotional distress, if the consequences were not so deadly serious,” said the mother’s lawyer.  A suit as obviously ridiculous as this one should not take two years to be dismissed.

It may be small consolation, but here’s a ‘thank you’ to all the moms out there who teach their kids to buckle their seatbelt, to be home on time, and to understand that life (and homecoming and a birthday) sometimes doesn’t work out like you wanted.  Too bad the lesson didn’t stick for these two kids.

Is this the Most Ridiculous Lawsuit of the Month?  Or is it one of these:

• Xbox Live user claims Microsoft owes him $500 billion for not responding to his legal notice 
• Fired after boasting about his “superior legal mind,” rookie lawyer sues New York firm for $77 million
• Woman struck by fan-thrown football at training camp sues team
• Plaintiff who filed over 160 ADA lawsuits caught on tape hiking despite supposed end-stage emphysema

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Remember this from 2010?  A lawyer who claimed he was LeBron James’ father (despite a negative paternity test) sued the all-star, saying James should submit to a second test (and pay him millions of his earnings to boot).  A judge just tossed the suit.

A first-year lawyer who was fired from his firm after he burned too many bridges is now suing the firm for $77 million, alleging that they interfered with his job while he was there and hurt his career prospects by letting him go.

The plaintiff says he “immediately began doing superlative work” (his words) and decided that he should take on additional responsibility.  So he naturally emailed the partners asking for more, saying “it has become clear that I have as much experience and ability as an associate many years my senior, as much skill writing and a superior legal mind to most I have met” (again, his own words).

The firm calls the suit frivolous, and says that the fired associated was given a severance package.  The plaintiff says it wasn’t enough, adding “there’s simply no room in a big law firm for an intelligent, creative lawyer with real-world experience, and I had to find that out the hard way” (more of his own words).

In a competitive job market, there’s a right way and a wrong way to distinguish yourself.  Alienating your coworkers and bragging to your bosses that you’re smarter than most everybody else at the firm within the first year is probably the wrong way.  And filing a high-profile lawsuit against your former employer certainly isn’t the best way to market yourself to potential future employers.

Is this the Most Ridiculous Lawsuit of the Month?  Or is it one of these:

• Plaintiff who filed over 160 ADA lawsuits caught on tape hiking despite supposed end-stage emphysema
• Young adults sue mother for sending cards without gifts and playing favorites
• Xbox Live user claims Microsoft owes him $500 billion for not responding to his legal notice
• Woman struck by fan-thrown football at training camp sues team

Vote here.

A nearly-300 pound man is suing White Castle restaurants, saying that their booths are too tight to accommodate someone of his size.  The man’s suit, filed under the Americans With Disabilities Act, claims that the tight squeeze at White Castle is a violation of his civil rights.

A former University of Idaho student is suing the school, the state board, her sorority, and a fraternity after she fell from the fraternity’s house on an early morning two years ago.  The plaintiff says the defendants did not do enough to prevent underage persons from drinking alcohol, herself included.

An Ohio man who spent years buying lotto tickets with his co-workers is now suing a group of them that hit a winning $99 million jackpot.  The man stopped paying into the group pool a few months ago and never started again despite repeated invites to rejoin.  The plaintiff claims there is an unwritten code that requires members to cover for sick or vacationing co-workers.

A Southern California man who has filed over 160 lawsuits for ADA violations was caught hiking up a steep hill by a local reporter.  The man claims to have end-stage emphysema, which would require “supplemental oxygen because their lungs cannot deliver enough oxygen to the blood to meet their needs,” at the very least.

An NFL Hall of Famer is distancing himself from a lawsuit against the league and helmet manufacturers after his name was erroneously included in the suit as a player suffering from “multiple past traumatic brain injuries with various symptoms, including, but not limited to, memory loss, headaches, and sleeplessness.” He said, “If anybody called me and asked if I would join this case, I’d categorically say no because I don’t have any of the problems they’re talking about.”

An Illinois court has tossed a lawsuit filed by a pair of siblings against their mother for a variety of “bad mothering” complaints.  The plaintiffs, now 20 and 23, claimed the mother “sometimes didn’t include gifts in cards sent to her children; played favorites with her children . . . did not send  care packages until his sixth semester away at college . . . changed her surname, thus ‘causing attention’ at her daughter’s school events; and refused to buy her a homecoming dress.”