Ask Dave Taylor: Tech and Business

Thursday

Sell a can of soda, go to jail?

Anyone who pays attention to the media can't help but bump into news about class action lawsuits brought against the largest and wealthiest of corporations in the United States. Some are undoubtedly legitimate and important, but others can only be described as frivolous, stupid or worse. And so the Washington Post is reporting that a team of lawyers are preparing to bring a class action lawsuit against soft-drink manufacturers like Coke and Pepsi for committing the heinous crime of having their products available for purchase in schools. Their logic? Soda on campus serves as an "attractive nuisance" and is therefore a liability under nuisance laws. I kid you not:

    Coke and Pepsi Liable for selling soda in schools?

If that's a legitimate lawsuit, what's next? A class action lawsuit against bloggers who don't use a spell-check program? :-)