Car being towed (© James Porter/Getty Images)

Woman demands $500 billion after city impounds her car

6/9/2012

Negotiation 101: Start with a high number expecting your counterpart to work you down -- just don't start too high. That's exactly the mistake an Ohio woman made when she asked a court for $500 billion in damages for her impounded car (plus another $20 million in punitive damages). Michelle Mathis' car was seized after she was hospitalized following an accident. When she finally made it to the impound lot to retrieve it, she claims she was given the runaround and now believes it was sold because the impounders plain didn't like her. A judge didn't buy it, saying just because Mathis "had poor experiences with the towing of a vehicle" didn't warrant a lawsuit, let alone enough dough to make her the richest person in the world.

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