The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is Attorney Peter Sullivan. He gets the award for the following.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Starbucks Corp. was sued for $114 million Friday over its recall last week of a coupon that entitled the holder to a free large iced drink being promoted by the giant Seattle coffee retailer.

Peter Sullivan, the lawyer who sued on behalf of a 23-year-old Starbucks regular who felt "betrayed" when her coupon was not honored, accused the company of fraud and said he will request class-action status to include the "thousands who were misled" by the offer.

On Aug. 23, Starbucks e-mailed the coupon for the free grande drink to selected employees with instructions for them to forward the coupon to friends and family. The offer was valid through Sept. 30.

But, Sullivan said, Starbucks got jittery and refused to honor the coupon after the company saw how widely it had been distributed. "I believe they were surprised by how successful the promotion was," the lawyer said.

Sullivan said he saw lines of coupon-carrying caffeine customers outside Starbucks coffee shops in New York in response to the promotion, and when they could not redeem the coupons "they felt let down and angry."

One of those people, Sullivan said, was his client, Kelly Coakley of Queens, who works as a paralegal and administrative assistant in another Manhattan law office.

The $114 million the lawsuit asks for approximates the average cost of one cup of Starbucks coffee a day for all of the people turned away for the 38 days the offer was valid, Sullivan explained. "That's a very conservative figure," he said.

He did not explain how they determined how many people had tried to redeem the coupon.

Starbucks isn't giving their side of the story, but if they didn't fufill the coupons they offered, the company is clearly in the wrong.

That doesn't excuse the greedy Mr. Sullivan. What is the purpose of this lawsuit except to enrich himself? Would the Starbucks customers share in the windfall? No they'll get coupons as Sullivan rakes in millions, that Starbucks customers will then have to pay for via higher prices. What a sweet deal for this shyster of an attorney as he screws everyone including the customers he's suing for. That's why Attorney Peter Sullivan is today's knucklehead of the day.

Hat tip- Overlawyered
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