Here is a well-known tale. An employee who has an injury at work sues the employer for damages. They prevail, and the business writes off the settlement; that is the end of it. What transpires then if a self-employed person attempts the same thing? If you're Peter Maxwell, you manage to pull off one of the brazen yet most impressive legal maneuvers in history.

Chino, California-based Maxwell owned a manufacturing business there. He made foam flooring on the factory floor where he worked for the company, but one day his sweater got caught in a mixer. Due to his serious injuries, he engaged a lawyer to assist him in suing his own boss. To represent the business in the lawsuit, he retained a different attorney. You'll be shocked to learn that they decided to settle for $122,500.

The IRS was not amused when the corporation claimed the settlement as a business expense. Maxwell received two bills from them—one as an employee and one as an employer—returning the money. Maxwell went back to court and was successful when the judge ruled that he was qualified for both the payout and the expensing write-off.

Nationality: United States

Occupation: Businessman

Lothar Malskat had many advantages. He was an outstanding artist, had a rather amazing name, and had survived the Second World War. That third component's flaw is that no one actually realized it. The church employed Malskat and Dietrich Fey, two art restorers, to repair some Gothic frescoes that had been exposed as a result of a bombing strike.

The restored frescoes became a source of German national pride after three years of labor. In fact, they appeared on two million postage stamps. For his work, Fey was praised as a genius and a hero. So Malskat filed a lawsuit against himself.

For the frescoes and many other works, Fey was receiving all the money and glory. However, they were all liars. Malskat was a fake artist, and Fey was claiming ownership of his creations. The issue was that when he outed himself and his boss, no one believed him. His only option was to file a lawsuit against himself in order to establish in court that he was indeed a creative genius capable of copying masterpieces.

He drew attention to contradictions in the purported restorations. He had covered a well-known actress's face in one. Some of the other figures were men who had been at neighboring construction sites. Even turkeys were included in one, which was not present in Germany at the time the paintings were scheduled to be completed. Malskat's efforts resulted in prison time. Despite his skill, his frescoes were destroyed, and he never found fame after his death. He did, however, bring everyone with him, so that was something.

Nationality: German

Occupation: Artist

Donald Trump is no stranger to lawsuits; in fact, he became so entangled in one that he sort of sued himself. The businessman introduced Trump Mortgage LLC, a new company that specialized in selling residential and commercial real estate loans, at a glam event in the spring of 2006 at Trump Tower. He gave the new company a floor at the 40 Wall Street headquarters of the Trump Organization. Two distinct organizations, both running under the Trump name. If you remember anything about Trump Mortgages, it probably wasn't around for very long.

Within 18 months, when the worst predictions of the industry insiders started to come true and property prices started to fall, Trump Mortgage collapsed, leaving some obligations unpaid and a shaky sales record that fell short of Trump's ambitious forecasts. Trump dissociated himself from the company's failure at the time, claiming that he was not involved in its management and that its personnel had delivered subpar work. The mortgage firm was forced to vacate the property by a judge after they failed to even respond to the complaint.

Nationality: United States

Occupation: Politician, businessman

This is one of those Times People Inexplicably Sued Themselves. A rare individual, Santiago Cirugeda, creates work that blurs the distinctions between architecture, performance, and visual art. In the 1990s, he started working on street architectural projects. One of these projects involved borrowing dumpsters, which he then used as platforms for playground construction when the city would only grant dumpster licenses but would not issue building permits for things like swing sets.

Later he thought of a revolutionary plan to increase the room in a house by adding onto it in a similar way. Graffiti was used to deface a home as part of his Scaffolding project. Then, presumably, to help in the eradication of that graffiti, he filed a lawsuit against himself to gain the right to erect scaffolding on the same structure. For a number of months, a room addition where people could reside was made out of the scaffolding that was linked to the structure.

Nationality: Spain

Occupation: Artist

If you've ever seen Free Trade chocolate for sale, you are aware that the chocolate industry, which was founded on the use of child slave labor, has a dark side. In actuality, the majority of the chocolate you consume was likely made with child slave labor. Investigating labor conditions in West Africa in the early 2000s, journalist Teun van de Keuken discovered this. He was so inspired by what he had learned and motivated to share it that he thought of a creative approach to shed light on the problem.

He consumed chocolate before turning himself into the police and claiming to have benefited from child enslavement. He hired a lawyer and sued himself after the courts were unimpressed and declined to pursue the case. In parallel, he founded Tony's Chocolonely, a firm that sells free-trade chocolate, and it is still operating today even though the courts declined to charge him.

Nationality: Netherlands

Occupation: Producer of television and radio programs

Suing oneself is by no means a common practice in the contemporary world. You may locate the instance of Herbert Barber suing Herbert Barber all the way back in 1911. In the city of Warwick, Barber was a tax collector. He sued the town for $8,250.44 in damages when the town refused to pay him for his services. The town treasurer, who was in charge of seeing that he got paid, was one of the accused. Herbert Barber served as the town's treasurer.

And the plaintiff claims that more than forty days prior to the start of this action, specifically on the 22nd of August in the year 1910, Herbert Barber gave the town council of the town of Warwick a detailed account of his said claim, debt, and demand, and how it was contracted and incurred, and that neither the town treasurer nor the town itself has given him a just and proper satisfaction. To Barber's surprise, the case was dismissed since she did not prevail.

Nationality: United States

Occupation: N/A

In 2011, Barbara Bagley and her husband Bradley were traveling through Utah when Barbara lost control of the car. Details are vague because there was just one car involved, but Bagley's husband was killed when the car rolled. Following that, Bagley sued herself for carelessness in causing the death.

How then does this operate? Bagley brought the action on behalf of her late husband's estate. She sought compensation to cover the cost of the funeral, the loss of future financial support, the suffering her husband would have experienced, and her own suffering at his passing. The Bagley who was acting as the estate representative for her insurance provider was sued by the Bagley. In other words, she was suing her own insurance company, arguing that since the accident was her fault, she should be held liable through her insurance. She was clearly to blame for the collision, therefore her insurance company had no interest in paying.

The case was first dismissed, but Bagley later challenged the ruling. The appeals court actually overruled the first judge's ruling on the grounds that there was no prohibition on her suing herself in Utah law. What financial compensation, if any, she actually received as a consequence of the lawsuit is unknown. However, lawyers argued that since creditors had priority, Bagley should have received payment from the estate before the lawyers themselves, the hospital that treated her husband, and anyone else involved.

Nationality: United States

Occupation: Manager

You occasionally hear a tale about a prisoner who studies the law while incarcerated in an effort to help themselves use the legal system to get out of prison once more. Perhaps they want to review their own case or look for a precedent that will help them get a lighter sentence. It takes a lot of time and work, regardless of the situation. In his own legal actions, Robert Block didn't quite take that course.

Block filed a $5 million lawsuit against himself while serving a 23-year sentence at Indian Creek Correctional Center. His justification was that he had become inebriated and violated his own civil rights prior to being imprisoned. He committed a crime while intoxicated, which led to his imprisonment. He came to the conclusion that he owed himself $5 million for this breach of his rights. But because he was in jail, the state would have to pay the money because he couldn't work and support himself.

He intended to use $2 million to maintain himself throughout his 23 years in prison, with the remaining $3 million going to his wife and children as compensation for their suffering. And if the court required it, he would even be willing to pay it back once he was released. Sadly, the court dismissed it because it was thought to be frivolous.

Nationality: United States

Occupation: Fiction writer

Oreste Lodi went to court by himself in 1985. At least he tried to, however. He was suing because he was the recipient of a charity trust, according to his claim. The plaintiff Lodi demanded authority from the defendant Lodi. Even though it sounds complicated, it was thought that he was attempting to carry off some sort of tax scheme. After Lodi served himself with papers, the issue was that he remained silent. That meant his case was dismissed when he was almost given a verdict against himself. He then decided to challenge that judgment as a result of this.

The court concluded that the appeal didn't go very far and that there could be neither a winner nor a loser because the same person would be involved in both outcomes. The court's refusal to make Lodi pay court costs for bringing a pointless action was the only advantage he saw.

Nationality: United States

Occupation: N/A

The renowned main vocalist and lyricist for the band Credence Clearwater Revival is John Fogerty. Songs like "Fortunate Son" and "Bad Moon Rising" were hits for them. It would be difficult to locate a movie from the 1960s or 1970s without some reference to CCR on the soundtrack.

The song "The Old Man Down the Road" was released by Fogerty in the 1980s while he was recording his own solo album. It's a good tune with that distinctive Fogerty sound. In fact, the record label that still held the rights to his earlier work with his band CCR sued him because it featured so much of Fogerty's distinctive sound. Their claim that Fogerty's new song was too similar to "Run Through the Jungle," which he also penned and sang, served as the foundation for their complaint. Thus, they were basically suing John Fogerty on his behalf for defrauding him.

A jury ruled in 1988 that John Fogerty had not plagiarized himself by writing a song that resembled one he had already composed. By that point, according to Fogerty, he had already spent more on legal expenses than he had even made on the song. Fortunately, he prevailed in a lawsuit against his previous label years later to receive payment for his legal costs.

Nationality: United States

Occupation: Singer