This is an OLD story from 2001... she went to court and WON the lawsuit in 2002! Sure it cost hooters the price of a new car, but talk about cheap publicity!
From:
http://www.idiot.com/html/hooters.htm
May 7th, 2002
Unbelievable folks. This is an update to the waitress who thought she won a new Toyota vehicle. SHE WON the lawsuit! They settled. Jodee Berry, 27, will now get to pick the car of her dreams. I bet she picks a Rav4.
I cannot believe a judge fell for this. I cannot believe that people cannot take a joke anymore. I bet I will get sued for making these statements. It gets more difficult to have fun in this world. Lighten up. Take your yota and get lost, Jodee.
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and another:
Waitress Wins Toy Yoda Case.
A waitress sued a Hooters restaurant franchisee Gulf Coast Wings, Inc. because they gave her a toy Yoda doll as a contest prize instead of the Toyota car she was expecting. Jodee Berry won a contest to see who could sell the most beer at the Hooters in Panama City Beach.
She said the top-selling waitresses from each Hooters restaurant in the area were entered into a drawing to win a Toyota. Being the top seller, she believed she'd won a new car.
She was blindfolded and led to the parking lot, but when her blindfold was removed she found she was not the winner of a Toyota, but a toy Yoda doll from the "Star Wars" movies. Jodee didn't take the joke too well. After the stunt, Berry quit the restaurant and filed a lawsuit alleging breach of contract and fraudulent misrepresentation.
The former Hooters waitress here settled her lawsuit and can now, according to her lawyer, "pick out whatever type of Toyota she wants,"
The restaurant's manager said the whole contest was just an April Fools' joke.
I wonder who's laughing now.
Source: Mercury News, "Former waitress settles toy Yoda lawsuit against Hooters restaurant," May 9, 2002
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Posted on Fri, May. 10, 2002
New Toyota to replace toy Yoda
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
PANAMA CITY - A former waitress has settled a lawsuit against Hooters, which she said promised to award her a new Toyota but instead gave her a toy Yoda.
David Noll, an attorney for Jodee Berry, said Wednesday that he could not immediately disclose the settlement's details. He did say that Berry can now go to a local car dealership and "pick out whatever type of Toyota she wants."
Berry, 27, won a beer sales contest last May at the Panama City Beach Hooters. She believed she had won a new Toyota car.
She was blindfolded and led to the restaurant parking lot, but when the blindfold was removed, she found she was the winner of a toy Yoda Star Wars doll.
Berry quit the restaurant a week later and filed a lawsuit in August against Gulf Coast Wings Inc., the corporate owner of the local Hooters. The lawsuit alleged breach of contract and fraudulent misrepresentation.
The restaurant's manager, Jared Blair, said the contest was an April Fools' joke.
This settlement is unusual in that Hooters did not ask for a sweeping confidentiality agreement, Noll said.
"I think that's a recognition of the fact that there's been such an amazing amount of attention focused on this case," he said. "There's not a whole lot of reason to try to hide its existence."