Philippe v. Wal-Mart Stores
Family of a Wal-Mart worker trampled to death in a "Black Friday" stampede sues the company for "creat[ing] an atmosphere of competition and anxiety amongst the crowd."
Mattel v. MGA Entertainment
Los Angeles judge permanently enjoins a toy company from making or selling Bratz dolls as a result of its infringement of the intellectual property of Barbie maker Mattel.
Wone v. Price
Widow of murdered attorney Robert Wone sues three men for wrongful death, alleging the knife used to stab him was "in [their] custody and control ... at all relevant times."
• New Jersey appeals court orders the unsealing of a settlement paid by a Giants Stadium vendor to a girl injured in a crash with a drunken fan. "We fail to discern the compelling interest that allows plaintiffs to shroud the amount and terms of the settlement in secrecy by settling the case prior to trial." Verni v. Lanzaro
• Michigan judge says a city of Detroit employee can sue for failure to accommodate her sensitivity to perfume. "Plaintiff may proceed [to trial] with her claim of disability based on the major life activity of breathing."
McBride v. City of Detroit
• Ex-wife of Henry Nicholas petitions to remove the co-founder of Broadcom Corp. as co-trustee of the family trust, alleging he whispered in her ear that "he was going to have [her] 'whacked.'" In the Matter of the Nicholas Family Trust
• Two National Guardsmen allege Wisconsin Dells police forced them to consume urine-soaked dirt and a plant after accusing them of public urination. Anderson v. City of Wisconsin Dells
• Los Angeles judge orders a man to pay his ex-wife $12.5 million in damages for infecting her with the HIV virus during their marriage when he knew or should have known he was HIV-positive. Bridget B v. John B
• Victoria's Secret users file another class action alleging the company's undergarments are defective, causing "allergic reactions, contact dermatitis, blistering, itching, hives, rashes, scarring, systemic reactions and other health concerns." Amaya v. Victoria's Secret Stores
• ABC asks the 2nd Circuit to overturn a $1.4 million fine for airing a woman's nude buttocks on an episode of "NYPD Blue." The FCC's "conclusion that the threshold indecency requirement was met here rested entirely on the notion that buttocks are a sexual or excretory organ. But buttocks are not a sexual or excretory organ." ABC v. FCC
• Cookbook author Missy Chase Lapine, allegedly slandered by Jerry Seinfeld, says she has "never felt so frightened and vulnerable as the day my daughter, 7 years old, came home from school and asked, "Mom, what is an assassin?" Seinfeld had joked on the "David Letterman Show" that "if you read history, many of the three-name people do become assassins.” Lapine v. Seinfeld
• North Carolina Court of Appeals refuses to issue an injunction requiring pop singer Clay Aiken to endorse a book about him. "Our courts cannot be used to force celebrities or their family or friends into making endorsements for another person's profit." Holleman v. Aiken
Rock Fan Claims Stubhub Just the Ticket for a Lawsuit
A class action suit alleging the online ticket broker StubHub aids and abets scalpers is shaping up as a test of a law that protects Internet service providers from liability for the illegal activity of their users.
The protection of Section 230 of the Communication Decency Act “extends to such websites” as StubHub and “[a] contrary finding would have severe consequences for the millions of people who buy and sell items on the Internet,” StubHub argues in a motion to dismiss the suit, which was filed in January by a frustrated Bruce Springsteen fan.
Sharon Fehrs says she was unable to buy tickets online to a Springsteen concert at the Portland (Ore.) Rose Garden when they went on sale through the official outlet, but discovered that StubHub “almost immediately offered on its Web site numerous premier tickets … at prices greatly exceeding the price at which the tickets were officially offered.”
“Defendants' conduct constitutes, at the least, the act of aiding and abetting a violation” of Portland's anti-scalping ordinance, the complaint alleges.
The ordinance makes it a crime for “any person to sell or offer for sale any ticket for an event at any municipally-owned facility, or for any event at the Rose Garden Arena, at a price greater than the retail price printed thereon or at a price greater than the original retail price.”
StubHub, which is now owned by eBay, collects a 15 percent commission from ticket sellers and a 10 percent commission from buyers while also providing shipping services for tickets. Co-founder Eric Baker said in a 2004 Stanford Magazine article, “I’m probably the one person from Stanford’s business school who decided to take his MBA and become a ticket scalper.”
But in the motion to dismiss, StubHub says it provides only a “marketplace where third parties, not Defendants, offer for sale tickets.” And it invokes the “broad immunity” of Section 230, which says that “no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.”
“Congress created Section 230 specifically to immunize website operators like eBay and StubHub from claims seeking to hold them liable for the actions of third parties who use their websites,” the motion says.
The defense has previously come in handy for eBay. In Gentry v. eBay Inc., 99 Cal.App.4th 816 (2002), a California appeals court found the auction website immune under Section 230 from claims that it should be liable for a user's sales of fake sports memorabilia.
Multnomah County Superior Court Judge Marilyn E. Litzenberger is scheduled to hear the motion to dismiss April 3. In an opposition brief, Fehrs has urged her to follow the lead of a San Francisco judge, who ruled in 2000 that a plaintiff could overcome Section 230 by showing
actual, rather than constructive, knowledge of illegal sales, and some affirmative action by the computer service, beyond making its facilities available in the normal manner, designed to accomplish the illegal sales. Stoner v. eBay Inc.
“[T]he breadth of the immunity sought by defendants is not as broad as they assert and is very much fact bound,” Fehrs argues.
In a quirk of legal fate, Crystal Bear won a $6 million jury award against her sister in an SUV rollover case. Now she has accepted $200,000 from her sister's insurers as payment in full to heal their wounded relationship. more
Ex-Manager Sues Hilton Hotel over Orgy Viewing
A former manager of the upscale restaurant at the Hilton Minneapolis who allegedly walked in on upper management having an orgy has filed a lawsuit that probably stretches liability for “undirected” sexual harassment beyond its limits. more
Does Anti-Plagiarism Site Benefit the Public?
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear a copyright infringement case next week that may turn on whether Turnitin, an Internet service designed to catch plagiarists, really provides a “substantial public benefit.” more
Soccer Mom Fires Gun Rights Suit at Sheriff
A pistol-packing soccer mom has sued a Pennsylvania sheriff for recklessly revoking her concealed-weapons permit after she openly wore a handgun at her 5-year-old daughter's soccer game. more
Dreadlocked Juror Case Ties S.C. Court in Knots
A divided South Carolina Supreme Court has ordered a new trial in an auto accident case because defense counsel did not offer a “race-neutral” reason for striking an African-American man with dreadlocks from the jury. more
'Douchebags' Suits Face Protection for Opinion
Two lawsuits involving the book “Hot Chicks with Douchebags” raise the novel question of whether calling someone a “douchebag” is a defamatory statement of fact or a mere vulgarity that cannot be proved true or false. more
'Known Risk' Makes U.S. Liable for Bear Attack?
The failure of wildlife officials in Utah to warn campers of the “known risk” of a specific bear makes them liable for the fatal mauling of an 11-year-old boy, the parents of Samuel Ives argue in court papers. more
Is There Room on Web for Two "Funky" Chicks?
In a colorful legal battle between “personal” bloggers, “Funky Brown Chick” will have to show more than surface similarities between her eponymous website and “funkyblackchick.com” to prevail on her trademark infringement claims. more
Manager Blames Movie for Use of Racial Slur
A former Wyeth Pharmaceuticals manager says she wasn't expressing racial bias when she described herself as the “head nigger in charge” in front of an African-American employee -– she just had the phrase “fresh in my mind” after seeing the movie “Lean on Me.”
more
Dirty Dancer Settles with Town -- to Tune of $275K
After a six-year legal battle over dirty dancing, a North Carolina town has agreed to pay $275,000 to a woman whom it had banned from its community center because of her “sexual gyrations.”
more
Careless Cart Loading Alleged in Death Case
Florida premises liability law appears to be generous enough toward plaintiffs that Home Depot could be held liable for the death of a customer who was allegedly struck by an overloaded shopping cart being pushed by another customer.
more
Chambers v. God Subject: Access to Courts Document: Notice of Appeal
Nelson v. American Apparel Subject: "Sham" Arbitration Document: Opinion
A class action suit alleging the online ticket broker 
