Posted on 10/16/2012 8:35:14 AM PDT by Uncle Chip
A Missouri couple has filed for bankruptcy just eight years after winning a $20 million lawsuit against the makers of a butter popcorn flavoring that gave one of them lung disease.
Eric Peoples of Carthage and his wife, Cassandra, sued International Flavors and Fragrances Inc. and Bush Boake Allen Inc. in 2004 after Mr Peoples developed bronchiolitis obliterans while working at a popcorn plant in Jasper.
But just eight years later, the two are being forced to sell the home they built for $3.9 million to pay off creditors, after their financial situation went spectacularly downhill.
According to the Joplin Globe, the Peoples listed the current value of their residence and 10.5 acres of land at just $700,000 and personal property assets of nearly $33,000.
But their liabilities are listed at more than $611,000, including a $482,876 mortgage with U.S. Bank. The couple's case against the butter flavouring companies was the first of several brought by workers and their spouses.
The suit claimed Mr Peoples, who has two children with his wife, developed the lung disease after being exposed to diacetyl, a chemical present in the flavouring to give a buttery taste and aroma.
Researchers have found that, when heated, the chemical produces a toxic, potentially lethal gas, and can leave those exposed with a shortness of breath, a dry cough and wheezing.
At the trial, doctors testified that Eric Peoples would eventually need a double-lung transplant.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Taxes too, no?
I have little no sympathy...
if they had used the brains God gave them
They probably did. Just more proof that leveling the score board (as opposed to the playing field) doesn't work. Wealth received without effort just isn't appreciated or understood by those receiving it (the 47%).
QUITE a difference between $3.9 MILLION and $700,000!!!! WHO’s LYING???? And WHY if they just won $20,000,000.00 can they not PAY THEIR MORTGAGE??? Because the LAWYERS got $19,000,000.00!!!!
Just proof that no matter how much money you throw at them, they will always be POOR. GO ROMNEY
Regards,
That happens a lot in my house, I need a Lawyer.
BTW: just how long did he work at that plant? Short of breath, dry cough and wheezing?? Sure, I'm going to work here and suffer through it just long enough to get a few symptoms, find a lawyer and cough in his face.
Someone ripped them off somewhere.
When we were house shopping in 1998 we ran across a property we loved.
French Provincial 4 bed, 2.5 bath with both Formal areas, an office and great family room. It also had an inground pool.
The house had been built by people who had sold property for a shopping center. Their former house was a 3 bed, 1 bath on a slab.
We laughed our butts off at the interior decor....bright pink carpet in the formal living and dining rooms, complete with fade marks, breast fed baby poop yellow walls in the bedrooms, and the foyer was lined with “collector” dolls still in the boxes. It was the tackiest thing ever.
The pool, after inspection, had been installed by the owner and the side walls were caving in.
We did a low bid because of all the repair and updating that would have to be done. The owners declined and we walked away.
Ten minutes down the road we built a 5 bed, 4 bath, 4500 sq ft home with new, inground pool for $15k less then the asking price for the older home.
They never did sell it....I heard the man had passed away and the wife and grown son were still living in it.
I love stories with a happy ending.
Best line of the week...by far..kudos!!!
Definitely! In $1. bills, apparently!
My wife and I have done quite well and do have a comparable income to that amount.
That said, we have always purchased well below our capabilities, which is precisely within our means. We drive ‘05 and ‘08 moderately priced vehicles.
I understand that a 10,000 sq ft house with grounds is just a huge burden unless you also employ a large, competent staff. The staff is more expensive than the house.
They had the house built. They did not get 20 million. Their lawyers got 35%, the government takes at least that amount and what was remaining they had to share with other employees who were suing. They would be lucky to get anything after everyone else took their share of the jack pot.
They thought of themselves as rich enough to build and maintain that house. They were not. Alot of poor people who win money lose everything due to a math deficit and an immediate gratification problem.
Curtsey.
How dumb could the couple be? They bought a VCR with some of the money.
And now the taxpayers will be paying for a double lung transplant! /s
It was a scam to begin with.
I have thought about the kind of house I want, if I ever won the lottery, because I ain’t gonna get it through inheritance and I’d like three things.
1. A balcony, on top of the house to watch the night sky and sleep outside when it’s warm.
2. A dedicated exercise room, with some nice free weight equipment and a place to do aerobics.
3. A good theatre setup, that i can also multi-task on hobbies.
All in a home about 2400 sq ft.
not feeling polite right now.
they theiving bastards deserve all the misery thet got from a BS lawsuit. hope the lawyers choke on it too.
Poor people are poor because of what they do. Most people in this country have the same opportunity to get rich as anyone else. BUT if you go for instant gratification and make repeated bad life decisions, then you're going to be poor. Giving poor people money doesn't change how they act. The do the same things that they did to be poor in the first place, the money goes away, and they really don't have a clue as to what happened to it.
Democrats foster the egalitarian myth that everyone is as good as everyone else. Not true. The small business owner who puts in 100 hours a week deserves every penny he earns. The welfare brood sow, the morbidly obese person on disability because they weight 600lb, all with the bone deep sense of entitlement don't deserve a penny of what the government steals for them. I really resent having to pay out my hard earned dollars for my health care AND the health carse of some jerk who spent every cent he ever received before the next welfare check arrived.
Continuing on that theme, 0bama and Biden aren't the problem, they're the symptom for a huge class of lazy worthless people who feel that someone owes them a living, and not jsut a living, but a good lifestyle with a free cell phone, free housing, free healthcare, free food, free transportation, etc. These a$$holes are the problem, and there isn't any immediate solution.
My mother always said, if you spread the money out equally to everyone, the rich would still end up with the money later.
You should have moderated that debate last night. You get it.
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