Legal organization smacks lips at ridiculous lawsuits for 2019

A lawsuit over the tiny amount of lip balm at the bottom of a tube of Blistex has glided to the No. 1 spot on the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform’s list of the Top 10 Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of 2019, the Washington, D.C.-based organization announced Wednesday.

This year’s list also features lawsuits over labeling on vegan butter and Godiva chocolate, a quirky dance featured on the popular Fortnite videogame, and a poster advertising the television show Dexter that one woman said was scary, according to the list.

“While lawsuits over lip balm, chocolate or ice cream are funny, frivolous lawsuits are a serious problem that affect everyone,” Harold Kim, the institute’s chief operating officer, said in a statement. “A recent study found that the U.S. spends $429 billion on civil lawsuits — or more than $3,000 per household. That’s no laughing matter.”

To gauge the most ridiculous litigation this year, the organization asked followers of the Faces of Lawsuit Abuse Facebook page to pick which lawsuit they thought made the cut. The list reflects the posts with the most likes, shares, comments, clicks, and other engagements from November 2019 through early December 2019, according to the statement.