A recently married man in Algeria hit the headlines this week after he took his new wife to court for $13,000 in damages. The reason? He saw her without make-up on for the first time!
A source speaking on behalf of the man says he felt deceived by his bride: “She looked very beautiful and attractive before the marriage, but when he woke up in the morning and he found that she had washed the make up off her face, he was frightened and thought she was a thief.”
Editor’s note: the above image is not of the person who was sued.
Is this guy REALLY shallow to sue someone over a make-up free face? Or does he have a point about using products to drastically change your appearance? Either way, this is one unusual excuse for a lawsuit.
 Here are a few more equally bizarre cases from around the world:
Woman sues TV station for getting the weather wrong
A woman in Israel sued a television station for inaccurately predicting the weather. They said it would be sunny, but it ended up pouring down with rain. As the woman was dressed inappropriately for such weather, she claimed it caused her to catch the flu. She won her case and received $1000, despite the fact that it’s a myth that going out in wet clothes or getting drenched causes a cold.
Man sues wife for $120,000 for giving him ‘ugly’ children
In a case similar to the recent one in Algeria, in 2013 a chinese man divorced and then later sued his wife for $120,000 because he deemed their children ugly. Apparently, Jian Feng (centre) was unaware that his ex-wife (upper left) had previously had $100,000 worth of plastic surgery to change her appearance. He said: ‘I married my wife out of love, but as soon as we had our first daughter, we began having marital issues. Our daughter was incredibly ugly, to the point where it horrified me.’ The most shocking thing about all of this? HE ACTUALLY WON.
Man sues ex-wife for return of kidney
Plenty of divorce battles get bitter, but not many are this bad. During their marriage Richard Batista donated a kidney to his ill wife Dawnell. After their divorce, he demanded the organ back, either that or $1.5 million in compensation. Luckily, divorce laywers came to the conclusion  that a kidney is not a marital asset to be divided. Phew.
Boy sues school over a grade
When Michigan High School senior Brian Delekta completed a work study programme at his mother’s office, she gave him an A+ (nothing suspicious there…) The school changed his grade to an A, because it is the highest grade they recognised. Unbelievably, he sued the school and won, meaning the establishment had to alter his grade into something that didn’t exist.
Man runs over cyclist, sues family to fix damaged car
In 2004 Spanish Businessman Thomas Delgado hit 17-year-old Enaitz Iriondo in his Audi A8 at 100mph, killing him instantly. Despite the death of the teenager, the court found both parties at fault – Iriondo for not wearing reflective clothing while driving at night and Delgado for going way too fast to prevent an accident. Delgado’s insurance company then paid the boy’s family €33,000 and everyone thought that would be the end of it.
However, Delgado’s car sustained €10,000 in damage, and the businessman spent another €6,000 on rental cars while he was waiting for it to be repaired. So two years later he sued Iriondo’s parents Rosa and Antonio for €20,000 to cover the expenses and supposedly for his ‘pain and suffering’. In an interview with Spanish newspaper El Pais at the time, he said: “I’m also a victim in all of this, you can’t fix the lad’s problems, but you can fix mine,” and “It’s the only way I have to claim my money back.” Thankfully, after hundreds of people descended on the courthouse where the case was being held in support of Iriondo’s parents, Delgado dropped the case.
Man sues Walmart for wife’s untimely death by plastic bag
In 2013 a Nebraskan man William Freis sued Walmart for their ‘use of defective carrier bags’, as he believed one was resposible for the death of his wife Lynette. Supposedly, Mrs Freis was leaving the store with her purchases when one of the plastic bags containing her groceries broke. The contents landed on her feet, causing a cut. The cut got infected, and despite multiple rounds of antibiotics and surgery, she died from her injuries.
The lawsuit alleged that Walmart did not properly train its staff how to pack groceries for customers. The bag’s manufacturer Hilex Poly Co. was also a defendent in the suit. Whether or not Mr Freis won the $650,000 he requested is unknown.
Woman sues McDonalds because their coffee is too hot
Known formally as the Liebeck versus McDonald’s restaurant case, in 1992 79-year-old Stella Liebeck sued the food chain after suffering serious burns from their coffee. She purchased the beverage from a drive-thru in New Mexico and as she removed the lid the drink spilled onto her lap. She was wearing cotton sweatpants at the time, meaning the material absorbed the coffee and held it against her skin, causing serious burns to her groin, thighs and buttocks. As a result she was hospitalised for eight days and needed skin grafts. She was awarded the equivalent of £1.7 million.
Man sues Bank of America for more money than on Earth
After getting incredibly frustrated by the bad service at the Bank of America, in 2009 Dalton Chisholm sued the company for $1784 billion trillion dollars. To put it into context, the amount of money on Earth that year only totalled $60 trillion. The county judge called Chisholm’s request “incomprehensible” and basically told him to get lost.
And, finally…
Man sues Kanye West and Kim Kardashian for ‘joining Al Qaeda’.
In 2012, Johnathon Lee Riches sued Kim Kardashian and Kanye West for alleged ties to Al Qaeda. His proof? He claimed he stumbled upon the duo at an Al Qaeda training camp deep in the hills of West Virginia. While there he supposedly witnessed the pair burning the American flag and stomping on a picture of Obama, before Kanye performed for a crowd of trainees. To top it off, he also claimed that Kim is Al Qaeda’s new leader.
Unsurprisingly, Mr Lee Riches is now in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s ‘Most Litigious Man’ after filing more than 5,000 law suits in eight years.
