We all know that charity begins at home – or, more accurately, charity begins in the nine-bedroom Mayfair mansion that is Guru’s current gaff of choice. And that is, indeed, just the beginning. The fleet of classic cars and personal runway are merely further proof of his generosity, which begins, and will probably remain, at home.
But sometimes people really do push their luck too far and give us philanthropists a bad name. Take the example of Curtis Gokey, a resident of Lodi City in California, who recently tried to sue the local authority for $3,600 in damages after one of its dump trucks crashed into his car.
Now this doesn’t sound unusual, but Gokey – an employee of Lodi City – was himself driving the dump truck when the accident happened.
After the city denied that claim because Gokey was, in essence, suing himself, he and his wife, Rhonda, decided to file a new claim under her name.
The city said the couple counted as one entity under Californian law, but Rhonda Gokey insisted she had “the right to sue the city because a city vehicle damaged my private vehicle”.
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In fact, her claim, currently pending at Lodi City Hall, is for the even larger amount of $4,800. “I’m not as nice as my husband is,” she told Associated Press.
To use American parlance, it appears this claim is full of garbage, much like Curtis Gokey’s truck.