Teens Successfully Sued...for Leaving Cookies on Doorstep

[Groucho]

From the "WTF Files":

Cookie klatch lands girls in court

Two Durango teens thought they'd surprise neighbors with nighttime deliveries of home-baked treats. But one woman was so terrified, she sued and has won.

Durango - Two teenage girls decided one summer's evening to skip a dance where there might be cursing and drinking to stay home and bake cookies for their neighbors.

Big mistake.

They were sued, successfully, for an unauthorized cookie drop on one porch.

The July 31 deliveries consisted of half a dozen chocolate-chip and sugar cookies accompanied by big hearts cut out of red or pink construction paper with the message: "Have a great night."

The notes were signed, "Love, The T and L Club," code for Taylor Ostergaard, then 17, and Lindsey Jo Zellitti, 18.

Inside one of the nine scattered rural homes south of Durango that got cookies that night, a 49-year-old woman became so terrified by the knocks on her door around 10:30 p.m. that she called the sheriff's department. Deputies determined that no crime had been committed.

But Wanita Renea Young ended up in the hospital emergency room the next day after suffering a severe anxiety attack she thought might be a heart attack.

A Durango judge Thursday awarded Young almost $900 to recoup her medical bills. She received nothing for pain and suffering.

"The victory wasn't sweet," Young said Thursday afternoon. "I'm not gloating about it. I just hope the girls learned a lesson."

Taylor's mother, Jill Ostergaard, said her daughter "cried and cried" after Judge Doug Walker handed down his decision in La Plata County Small Claims Court.

"She felt she was being punished for doing something nice," Jill Ostergaard said.

The judge said that he didn't think the girls acted maliciously but that it was pretty late at night for them to be out. He didn't award any punitive damages.

Taylor and Lindsey declined to comment Thursday, saying only that they didn't want to say anything hurtful.

Young said the girls showed "very poor judgment."

But Taylor had asked her father's permission to bake cookies for the neighbors after livestock-tending chores were done.

"I said, 'Go ahead, as long as I get some cookies,"' Richard Ostergaard said Thursday.

Just as dusk arrived a little after 9 p.m., Taylor and Lindsey began their mad spree. They didn't stop at houses that were dark. But where lights shone, the girls figured people were awake and in need of cookies. A kitchen light was on at Young's home.

Court records contain half a dozen letters from neighbors who said that they enjoyed the unexpected treats.

The cookies were good. It was a nice surprise. They weren't scared.

But Young, home with her own 18-year-old daughter and her elderly mother, said she saw shadowy figures who banged and banged at her door. When she called out, "Who's there?" no one answered. The figures ran off.

She thought perhaps they were burglars or some neighbors she had tangled with in the past, she said.

"We just wanted to surprise them," Taylor said.

Young left her home that night to stay at her sister's, but her symptoms, including shaking and an upset stomach, wouldn't subside. The next morning she went to Mercy Medical Center.

"We feel that knocking on a door and leaving cookies is a gesture of kindness and would not create an anxiety attack in the general public," Taylor's parents wrote to the court.

The girls wrote letters of apology to Young. Taylor's letter, written a few days after the episode, said in part: "I didn't realize this would cause trouble for you. ... I just wanted you to know that someone cared about you and your family."

The families had offered to pay Young's medical bills if she would agree to indemnify the families against future claims.

Young wouldn't sign the agreement. She said the families' apologies rang false and weren't delivered in person. The matter went to court.

Young said she believes that the girls should not have been running from door to door late at night.

"Something bad could have happened to them," she said.

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,...691638,00.html

[nevermind]

crazy bitch.

[devilshalo]

Screw the girl scouts, I'd buy me some of their cookies to make up for this dumbass lawsuit.

[matome]

So how many millions in punitive damages did this idiot ask for?

[brizz]

Jesus H. Christ. I hope the entire neighborhood institutes a plan of terror, including, but not limited too: Mowing their lawn, shoveling their walk, washing their car, and leaving as many cookies as they can make on their doorstep. That woman is a horrible, awful person. She should die and go to hell.

[nevermind]

If I lived closer I'd leave something on her doorstep

[matome]

He called the shit "poop"!

[kenbuzz]

Maybe it was Hitler, delivering another of his terrible jokes...

[nemein]

Just goes to show no good dead goes unpunished

[Mr. Salty]

The families had offered to pay Young's medical bills if she would agree to indemnify the families against future claims.

Young wouldn't sign the agreement. She said the families' apologies rang false and weren't delivered in person. The matter went to court.

What a bitch.

Two teenage girls decided one summer's evening to skip a dance where there might be cursing and drinking to stay home and bake cookies for their neighbors.

At least this will teach these girls they should be drinking and swearing, like normal high school kids.

[General Zod]

Originally Posted by brizz

Jesus H. Christ. I hope the entire neighborhood institutes a plan of terror, including, but not limited too: Mowing their lawn, shoveling their walk, washing their car, and leaving as many cookies as they can make on their doorstep. That woman is a horrible, awful person. She should die and go to hell.

Obviously this was a death-penalty case but the judge whimped out.

[Mad Dawg]

What a vile human being.

[Numanoid]

Geez, Groucho. You're resorting to swiping topics from other threads?

http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showpos...88&postcount=4

[TruGator]

Originally Posted by matome

He called the shit "poop"!

[FinkPish]

The only thing I can think of to say is WRONG. This is just WRONG. This woman gets so caught up in her own goddamn anxieties about life that they would sue two little girls for leaving fucking cookies on her doorstep. She needs a good slap in the face.

[Sdallnct]

Unbelievable...crazy, crazy stuff.

[BizRodian]

She thought perhaps they were burglars or some neighbors she had tangled with in the past, she said.

Yeah, somehow I doubt there are a lot of neighbors she gets along with.

[Trigger]

Originally Posted by stupid old bitch

She thought perhaps they were burglars or some neighbors she had tangled with in the past, she said.

That would've been a red flag to a judge that she's a neighborhood troublemaker

[Trigger]

dammit!

[jaeufraser]

Not only does the woman suck, but so does the judge. This teaches them a good lesson? What lesson?

It's not illegal to knock on someone's door at 10:30 PM. That the woman got scared and has medical issues is not the girl's problem. The fact they even offered to pay her medical bills was extremely generous to begin with. That a judge would award this woman any money is just wrong.

[brizz]

Can someone put their people finding skills to work and get this woman's info? Wanita needs a talking too....and some hate mail. what a vile human being.

[brizz]

And lets pause a moment to consider her name: Wanita Renea - both spelled wrong mind you. I'm sure this gal's a real peach.

[BizRodian]

What if you send her some hate mail, then she gets a panic attack and sues you?

[Suprmallet]

Well, this is stupid all-around. From the woman's reaction to the judge's decision. But I'll bet she won the battle and lost the war. Just imagine how much shit she'll get from people in the neighborhood after this.

[brizz]

I feel like flying there just to egg her house.