Lohan v. E-Trade
Actress Lindsay Lohan alleges a TV ad featuring a "milkaholic" baby named Lindsay used her name and personality for advertising purposes without her consent.
Irvin v. Mustafa
NFL Hall of Famer Michael Irvin files a countersuit against a woman who accused him of rape, alleging she is a "morally-bankrupt individual" who is trying to ruin his career.
Robbins v. Lower Merion SD
High-school student accuses a school
district of spying on him and other students
by remotely activating webcams contained in school-supplied laptops.
Peterson v. Grisham
10th Circuit finds John Grisham did not defame three Oklahoma law enforcement officials in a book about the wrongful convictions of two men for a rape-murder.
lc_search
LC_DayByDay

 Feb   March 10   Apr

SMTWTFS
   1  2  3  4  5  6
  7  8  910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031 
Julianna Walker Willis Technology
LC_BySubject
OnTheMap

rss

LC_ExtraPoints

• Owners of Who Dat?, Inc. sue the NFL and the New Orleans Saints for trademark infringement, seeking to protect the mark that "has become one of the most recognizable in all of America and quickly became well-known around the world."
Who Dat?, Inc. v. NFL Properties

• Army bomb disposal expert sues the makers of "The Hurt Locker" for plagiarizing his life story. The film is "nothing more than the exploitation of a real life honorable, courageous, and long serving member of our country’s armed forces, by greedy multi-billion dollar 'entertainment' corporations."
Sarver v. The Hurt Locker

• Former patient sues the Cincinnati hospital where he was sexually assaulted by a transgender nurse. The nurse's "employment while masquerading as a member of the female gender in a hospital environment involved an unreasonable risk of harm to others."
Evans v. University of Cincinnati

• Federal judge enjoins the City of Phoenix from enforcing a noise ordinance against "sound generated in the course of religious expression," finding the right of churches to ring bells outweighs "the City's interest in preserving the peace and tranquility of its neighborhoods."
St. Mark Roman Catholic Parish v. City of Phoenix

• 5th Circuit says a Texas city's junked vehicle ordinance applies to a cactus planter made out of wrecked Oldsmobile 88. "Irrespective of the intentions of its creators ... the car-planter is a utilitarian device, an advertisement, and ultimately a 'junked vehicle.'"
Kleinman v. City of San Marcos

• Oklahoma City bomber Terry Nichols notifies a federal judge that he has gone on hunger strike, saying he is "prepared to die if necessary because he is done allowing his body to be defiled by [ ] refined and dead foods."
Nichols v. Federal Bureau of Prisons

• Texas judge finds the makers of a film about Rin Tin Tin did not infringe on the trademarks of a breeder of German Shepherds. "Defendants['] title 'Finding Rin Tin Tin: The Adventure Continues" is a fair use of the term 'Rin Tin Tin.'"
Rin Tin Tin, Inc. v. First Look Studios

• Illinois appeals court says the contact sports exception to negligence liability does not apply to the case of an athletic trainer who was struck in the eye by a hockey puck while refilling water bottles. Michael Weisberg "suffered injuries as a result of alleged conduct that was not inherent to the sport of hockey."
Weisberg v. Chicago Steel




Alltop_125x125.jpg

ADVERT

Free no win no fee claims advice for personal injury.


$11M Awarded to Dancer in Extortion Case Print

Michael Flatley

An $11.1 million default judgment awarded to Michael Flatley in an extortion case is almost double what the "Lord of the Dance" star requested a few months ago.

In a court declaration filed Sept. 7, Flatley said he was entitled to at least $6 million in damages for the harm to his reputation and the emotional distress he suffered after Tyna Marie Robertson falsely accused him of raping her in a Las Vegas hotel room. She and her attorney, D. Dean Mauro, allegedly demanded $1 million from Flatley for their silence.

“Defendants' threats to subject me to false criminal charges and to 'ruin' me by spreading these false charges wherever I or the dance troupes perform 'for the rest of my life' ... caused me severe emotional distress,” Flatley declared.

After a hearing Dec. 7 at which the Irish dancer testified, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael L. Stern found “adequate support” for a judgment of $11,095,872. The record “conclusively establish[es] the falsity of Robertson's claims and Robertson's malicious, intentional and willful publication of these false accusations,” he said.

Where the additional $5 million came from is unclear. But Flatley's declaration reflected only general damage to his reputation and not “the specific amount of monetary harm” caused to his business.

Flatley is unlikely to recover much of the judgment from Robertson, a real estate agent and the single mother of a child whose father is Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher. She recently pleaded for extra child support from Urlacher, saying, “I only have $6 in my name to support my son.”

Mauro settled the case against him after the California Supreme Court ruled in July 2006 that his communications with Flatley were not protected under a free-speech law. Flatley v. Mauro, 39 Cal.4th 299.

This story linked by:

By Matthew Heller
12/14/07

 
rc_insidestories
  • "Upskirting" Victim Loses Privacy Suit Against Store

    A customer at a T.J. Maxx store in upstate New York has lost her lawsuit against the retailer for allowing a man to take photos up her skirt by using her as “human bait” in a sting operation.
    Read more...
  • Perfume Allergy Case Settles for $100,000

    A Detroit city planner with an allergy to perfume is savoring the sweet smell of legal success after the city agreed to pay her $100,000 and be more sensitive to the chemically sensitive.
    Read more...
  • Teen's Suit Puts Mug-Shot Publisher Against the Wall

    A new publication in Lincoln, Neb., milks mug shots for humor. But a teenager whose arrest photo appeared in Cuffed doesn't see the funny side of it and has sued the publisher for misappropriating his image.
    Read more...
  • BA Settles 'Reckless' Baggage Handling Suit

    Limiting its liability to a group of only 13 airline passengers, British Airways (NYSE: BAY) has settled a first-of-its kind lawsuit that accused the airline of being “inexcusably reckless” in its handling of passengers' baggage.
    Read more...
  • Judge Says "Gay" Still Defamatory in Texas

    What one court has called “a veritable sea change in social attitudes about homosexuality” has evidently not reached Texas where a judge ruled that an airport security guard can sue a radio show host for calling him “gay” on the air.
    Read more...
  • Mom Says Hospital Gave Her Wrong
    Baby to Nurse


    Because of a hospital's error, Jennifer Spiegel became an involuntary wet nurse to another woman's newborn son. Now she is suing the hospital for its malpractice in providing her with the wrong baby to breastfeed.
    Read more...
  • Case Over MySpace Page Chills Student Speech

    Several recent court rulings have been protective of off-campus student speech -– with the exception of a very shaky decision that a dissenting judge said “vests school officials with dangerously overbroad censorship discretion.”
    Read more...
RC_OnFile

Newdow v. Rio Lindo Union Sch. Dist.
Subject: Pledge of allegiance
Document: Opinion

Vance v. Rumsfeld
Subject: Detainee abuse
Document: Opinion

Stern v. Sony Corp.
Subject: Disabled gamers
Document: Opinion

Churchill v. Univ. of Colorado
Subject: Academic freedom
Document: ACLU amicus brief

KBR/Halliburton v. Jones
Subject: Sexual assault
Document: Petition for review

more

RC_OnTrial

Spears v. Allergan, Inc.
Court: Orange County (Calif.) Superior
Subject: Botox death
Verdict: Defense

Patterson v. Hudson Area Schools
Court: USDC, E. Mich.
Subject: Student harassment

more


RC_OnTheDocket

McClain v. Pfizer, Inc.
Date: 3/2/10
Court: USDC, Conn.
Hearing: Jury trial in case over unsafe lab conditions.

Sherman v. McDonald's Corp.
Date: 3/23/10
Court: Washington County (Ark.) Circuit
Hearing: Jury trial in case over nude photos.

more