Mattel v. MGA Entertainment
California jury awards $100 million to Mattel in contract and copyright infringement damages against the maker of Bratz dolls. Mattel had sought as much as $2 billion.
Grubbs v. Wal-Mart Stores
Colorado man files the first suit over the recent salmonella outbreak, alleging he fell sick after eating contaminated jalapeno peppers bought from a Wal-Mart store.
Hasbro v. RJ Softwares
Game-maker sues the creators of "Scrabulous," alleging it is an online knockoff of Scrabble which copies "the essential and original elements" of the "venerable" board game.
• Four minors and their parents file a new challenge to the Hawaiian ancestry-only admissions policy of the Kamehameha Schools in Hawaii. The plaintiffs want to have a 9th Circuit opinion denying a virtually identical claim overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. Doe v. Kamehameha Schools
• Florida judge rules that ESPN did not defame promoter Don King in a documentary about his career. "[A]lthough the program might not constitute the best example of objective journalism, ESPN's conduct does not meet the standard of actual malice." King v. Walt Disney Co.
• 8th Circuit says Missouri prison officials did not violate a Native American inmate's religious rights by denying his request for a sweat lodge. "Providing inmates at a maximum security prison access to burning fires, red hot rocks, split wood, shovels, and deer antlers alone generate a unique and obvious set of security concerns." Fowler v. Crawford
• Santa Barbara judge finds Rob Lowe's former nanny did not defame the actor and his wife. "The Lowes ... have submitted no evidence of any defamatory statements that were not made in anticipation of this litigation." Lowe v. Gibson
• D.C. judge orders former White House Counsel Harriet Miers to testify before Congress about the forced resignations of nine U.S. attorneys. "The Executive’s current claim of absolute immunity from compelled
congressional process for senior presidential aides is without any support in the case law." Committee on the Judiciary v. Miers
• Indiana Court of Appeals says an employer is not liable for negligent hiring of a traffic controller who murdered two people in their home after leaving his jobsite. Cory and Jenna Clark "were not reasonably foreseeable victims who were injured by a reasonably foreseeable harm." Clark v. Aris, Inc.
• "Lolita Lawyer" sues American Express for providing information to law enforcement about his credit card transactions which led to his arrest for statutory rape in Canada. "As a direct and proximate result of such disclosures, Plaintiff was falsely arrested." James Colliton v. American Express
• 3rd Circuit throws out a $550,000 fine against CBS over the baring of Janet Jackson's breast. "[T]he FCC arbitrarily and capriciously departed from its prior policy excepting fleeting broadcast material from the scope of actionable indecency." CBS Corp. v. FCC
• Montana judge reinstates endangered species protections for the Northern gray wolf, which had been delisted by the Bush administration.
"Congress does not intend agency decision making to be fickle. When it is, the line separating rationality from arbitrariness and capriciousness is crossed." Defenders of Wildlife v. Hall
• Dissenting 7th Circuit judge says a condo owners' association discriminated against Jewish residents by barring them from displaying a "mezuzah" on their front door. "The Association might as well hang a sign outside saying 'No observant Jews allowed.'” Bloch v. Frischholz
Texas Auto Dealer Sued in Endurance Stunt Death
Richard Vega
In another case of alleged negligence in the staging of an endurance contest, the survivors of a Texas man are claiming an auto dealership drove him to kill himself after he had stood with his hand on a pickup truck for two days.
Richard Vega's family filed their wrongful-death action Jan. 25 -- coincidentally, the same day that the husband and children of a California woman sued a radio station in her death from water intoxication.
While Jennifer Strange competed in an on-air water-drinking contest, Vega, 24, was a contestant in the 2005 "Hands on a Hardbody" promotion sponsored by Patterson Nissan of Longview, Texas.
The dealership offered a Nissan pickup to the contestant who endured standing beside the truck with a hand on it longer than any other. After standing for 48 sleepless hours, Vega walked away from the contest, broke into a Kmart across the street and, with a shotgun taken from the store, shot himself in the head.
“The conditions of the contest caused Richard Vega to become temporarily insane and to take his own life,” the Gregg County District Court petition, which names Vega's widow, son and mother as plaintiffs, says.
The case is more of a stretch than that of Strange's family. While her fatal water intoxication was a direct result of the contest itself, Vega's suicide was an “intervening act” in the chain of causation.
“There's a question of causation and, even more, foreseeability,” agrees the Vega family's attorney, Blake Bailey of Tyler, Texas.
But Bailey believes the dealership was negligent in not providing contestants with psychiatric or medical monitoring when it “knew or should have known that the terms of the contest would cause the contestants to lose control of their mental faculties.”
Contestants got one five-minute break an hour and were given high-energy drinks to keep them going. Communist interrogators used a similar technique, the suit says, to break down U.S. prisoners during the Korean War.
“If you put people in a position where they lose mental capacity ... it's foreseeable that they would put themselves or someone else at risk,” Bailey argues.
Patterson Nissan had contestants sign liability waivers but, according to Bailey, Texas courts routinely find that such waivers are not clear enough to be enforceable.
“Hands on a Hardbody” was the subject of a 1997 documentary –- its DVD release sports the tagline, “You Lose the Contest When You Lose Your Mind.” The endurance record, set by the 2000 winner, is 126 hours.
Citing the Vega tragedy, the dealership cancelled the 2006 contest but Vega's profile is still available on its Web site. Asked “How long do you think you will last?” he replied: “To the end.”
By Matthew Heller 1/30/07
Endurance Stunt Backer Settles Case over Suicide
A Texas auto dealership has settled a wrongful-death lawsuit involving its “Hands on a Hardbody” fatigue endurance contest after a judge ruled that it owed a duty to prevent sleep-deprived contestants from harming themselves. more
Woman Wins $1.5M in STD Transmission Case
In what may be one of the larger verdicts of its kind, an Iowa jury has awarded $1.5 million to a woman who sued a man for infecting her with a sexually transmitted disease after telling her he was disease-free. more
Judge OKs "Ambush" Interview Case vs. CNN
A Florida judge's ruling in a wrongful-death suit against CNN and talk-show host Nancy Grace is the second defeat for a TV network this year in a case involving a suicide that allegedly resulted from “ambush” journalism. more
Porn Star Name Suit Heading for Dismissal?
A Houston woman who alleges an actress in a porn film stole her name has admitted she has no “ownership interest” in the name Syvette Wimberly, perhaps dooming her hopes of winning an unusual privacy case. more
$6M Reverse Religious Bias Award Cut to $1M
A California judge has reduced a $6.5 million jury verdict to $1.3 million in the “reverse” religious discrimination case of a former employee of a temporary agency who claimed she was denied a promotion because of favoritism toward members of a religious group. more
8th Circuit Throws Out Switched-at-Birth Case
The medical malpractice case of two women who were switched at birth was thrown out by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after an oral argument in which the plaintiffs' attorney never really recovered from an early blunder. more
Reporter Sues Prankster for Poaching His Byline
A sports writer has good reason to be aggrieved with a Nebraska football fan who put his name on a hoax Internet story. But Oklahoma's publicity rights law may not support his claim for misappropriation of a byline. more
Disabled Woman Sues Over Drive-Thru Access
A discrimination suit filed by a hearing-impaired Nebraska woman against McDonald's may hinge on whether it is reasonable for the fast-food chain to slow down the processing of drive-through orders to accommodate the disabled. more
Skier's Suit Against Boy, 8, Settles for $25,000
A Pennsylvania man who became a lightning rod for anti-plaintiff hysteria after he sued an 8-year-old boy over a skiing accident has won a measure of vindication as the boy's parents agreed to a $25,000 settlement. more
Teacher, Nurse Blame Others for Mindless Acts
Lawsuits filed by a Connecticut teacher who appeared on the “Howard Stern Show” and an Ohio nurse who sent a homophobic e-mail to a gossip website are both examples of using the courts to avoid the consequences of unprofessional behavior. more
Cop Wins $40,000 Award Over Tainted Coleslaw
A Nebraska jury has served up a $40,000 award to a police officer and his family whose fast-food meal at a KFC/Taco Bell combo restaurant included a “special” coleslaw that an employee had contaminated with his urine and saliva. more
Kramer v. Allergan, Inc. Subject: Botox Liability Document: Verdict Form
Mattel v. MGA Entertainment Subject: Bratz Doll Rights Document: Verdict Form
Amnesty Int'l v. McConnell Subject: Warrantless Wiretapping Document: Complaint
Troyer v. TMZ Productions Subject: Invasion of Privacy Document: Permanent Injunction
Rodriguez v. Rodriguez Subject: Celebrity Divorce Document: Petition
