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Show Reader's Courtroom Privacy Protected - Cooling Off Period ;i No Refund By Will Bernard, LL.B State laws vary. For personal guidance, see your local attorney. May a Storekeeper Post The Name of a Customer Who Owes Him Money? A penny-pinching widow ran up a large bill at her neighborhood drug store and then refused to pay. Finally the druggist decided on drastic action. He posted in his front window a huge sign, headed by the name of the widow. Below her name, the sign read: "This woman owes me $111.20 which should have been paid long ago. This sign will stay here until she pays." The widow was outraged, and promptly sued the druggist for damaging her good name. And the court granted her claim. The judge said that, even though the sign was true, it still invaded the widow's "right of privacy" by putting her private affairs on public display. ' May You Strike An Adversary After a "Cooling Off" Period? While sprinkling his front lawn, a man accidentally got a little water on his neighbor's car. The neighbor rushed up cursing, and announced he was ready for , a fight. The first man turned around, walked into his house, and got a baseball bat from the attic. Then he returned to the scene of the argument and calmly smacked his neighbor over the head! Injured, the neighbor sued for damages.. The hitter protested that the neighbor neigh-bor had "provoked" the fight in the first place, but the court held him liable anyhow. The judge sa'd that, even if provoked, the man had no right to resort to violence after he had enough time to "coo) off." If a Boxing Fan Fails To Use His Ticket, Is He Entitled to a Refund? A Montana farmer arrived in New York one day with a ticket to a championship boxing match. It was his first visit to the Big City, and he had come just to see the fight. But when he got to the stadium, he was utterly baffled by the many gates, ramps, and signs. After several unsuccessful attempts at-tempts to get inside, the poor fellow fel-low gave up in despair and started back to Montana! Later he filed a lawsuit seeking to hold the boxing promoter liable for his frustrating experience. He demanded not only the price of the ticket but also his train fare to and from New York! However, the court rejected the claim in its entirety. The judge said that, if the man couldn't find his way into the stadium, it was just his own tough luck! May the Owner of a Boathouse Rent a Boat to a Person Who Smells of Whiskey? A salesman went to a beach club one afternoon and had a couple of drinks. Then he decided it would be nice to take a rowboat ride on the lake. He rented a boat at the nearby near-by livery, and set forth alone. About 500 yards out, he stood up, i ' tipped over, and drowned. Later the widow sued the owner of the boat-house boat-house for damages, saying that he had been negligent in renting a boat to a man smelling of whiskey. However, the court held the proprietor proprie-tor not liable. The judge said that the man didn't have to turn away everybody who had something to drink so long as the person wasn't so drunk as to be helpless. . A woman sued a used car dealer for fraud, accusing him of selling her a "lemon." At the trial, ttfe woman's attorney kept emphasizing how poor his client was and how rich the dealer was. When the jury brought in a verdict in favor of the woman, the dealer appealed the case. And the upper court threw out the verdict, ordering a new trial because of the "improper" comments of the woman's lawyer. The court said: "The law knows no such thing as rich man or poor man, but seeks to treat all alike." |