A woman won almost £70,000 in damages after being left with a ‘ foreign accent’ when she was hit by a bus.
Laura Fettig was struck outside a Hilton hotel near Los Angeles International Airport in 2014.
The American sued after being left sounding 'European' following the collision.
She won the $85,000 (£68,000) pay-out during her trial - but a new set of lawyers filed a court motion to set aside the settlement.
Ms Fettig was told she can’t back out of the agreement she accepted, according to the California Second District Court of Appeal.
A motion claimed she was pressured into taking a “low-ball settlement that did not reasonably compensate her for the major injuries and damages she sustained" by her attorney, Jared Gross.
It added: “The motion accused Gross of subjecting Fettig to duress to accept the settlement."
Only around 100 people have been diagnosed with foreign accent syndrome since it was first discovered over a hundred years ago.
The condition is classified as when a person speaks with a different accent after suffering a stroke or a traumatic brain injury.
The Court of Appeal found that her case was plagued by other “weaknesses.”
“Fettig’s accusation against her lawyer does not enable her to rescind a contract with others innocent of the charge,” it read.
She is not the only person who has escape a crash and has been left with unusual issues.
In 2020, a right-handed businesswoman in Jamaica who survived a horrific car smash that killed her friend now has a British accent - and she is suddenly left-handed.
Deana-Rae Clayton woke from a coma to find she sounded English, despite never visiting the UK.
The 33-year-old told Mirror Online: "In my head I'm speaking patois but when it comes out of my mouth I sound British.
"I'm also left-handed too. I used to use just my right hand to write but now I can use both."
She added: "We were coming back from a party when the crash happened. The driver's side of the car took the impact so Christopher died and I was seriously injured as I was sitting behind him.
"When I woke up from coma I had no idea what had happened. The doctor told me I had been in a serious crash and when I started speaking I realised I sounded different.
"I have a MRI scan every three months to check the swelling on my brain hasn't worsened and my neurologist said it doesn't look like I'll lose my British accent.
"He said in all his years he has never seen this happen to a patient and I'm believed to be the only person in Jamaica with foreign accent syndrome."
