• Boston judge refuses to require Massachusetts to include materials that deny the Armenian genocide in the public school curriculum.
"[T]he decision as to what to teach about ... the Armenian genocide must be made by elected officials, educators, and teachers rather than by federal judges."
Griswold v. Driscoll
• Kentucky Court of Appeals upholds a $3.7 million jury award against a school board for ignoring a student's complaints that several teachers had molested her. Plaintiff Lynne Maner "presented sufficient evidence that the Board was deliberately indifferen[t] in its failure to act." Maner v. Fayette County Board of Education
• 6th Circuit revives the racial bias case of an African-American couple who sued a hotel for refusing to host their wedding reception. "There is a genuine issue of material fact in this case as to whether ... the Hotel denied them the right to enter into a contract because of their race." Keck v. Graham Hotel Systems
• San Francisco judge rules that a city did not violate a hiker's rights by failing to protect her from an attack on public land by a rancher's cattle. "[P]laintiffs have not alleged facts supporting a claim that the City was deliberately indifferent to a known or obvious danger" to Jo Dee Schmidt. Schmidt v. Hoover
• Divided New York appellate court says a golfer is not liable for striking another golfer in the eye with an errant drive. The defendant's failure to yell "Fore" before hitting the ball "does not rise to the level of creating a dangerous condition over and above the usual dangers inherent in participating in the sport of golf." Anand v. Kapoor
• Sioux tribal members file a class action seeking their share of as much as $900 million held in trust by the federal government as compensation for the "taking" of the Black Hills of South Dakota. The plaintiffs have split from other Sioux who refuse to take the money, insisting on the return of the land.
Different Horse v. Salazar
• Texas Court of Appeals says a gas station owner is not liable for the negligence of an attendant who accidentally shot a customer while showing him a gun. The attendant's "actions were not merely a misuse of his authority; they were utterly unrelated to his duties."
Glass v. Williams
• San Francisco judge denies Chevron Corp.'s request for $485,159 in court costs from impoverished Nigerian villagers who sued the company for human rights violations. "The economic disparity between plaintiffs, who are Nigerian villagers, and defendants, international oil companies, cannot be more stark."
Bowoto v. Chevron
  
|
|
9th Circuit Tackles "Vexatious" ADA Suit Litigant |
 |
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrestled this week with the issue of whether a frequent filer of disability discrimination suits against restaurants and other businesses in California is a vexatious litigant.
One member of a three-judge panel sounded like he was willing to give Jarek Molski some benefit of the doubt. “Frequency isn't the test,” Judge J. Jerome Farris said during oral arguments on Molski's appeal of a December 2004 court order declaring him a vexatious litigant. “If he's being discriminated against often, he's got frequent complaints.”
Since 2003, Molski, a paraplegic confined to a wheelchair, has filed more than 350 suits in California, most of which have settled for an average of $4,000.
But Judge Ronald M. Gould questioned how Molski could go from one establishment to another in a single day and claim to have suffered the same physical injuries as a result of barriers to disabled access at each one of them.
“If a person put their hand on a burner on a stove and they burned it, they wouldn't be likely to put their hand back in the exact same place two or three hours later,” Gould reasoned.
A Los Angeles trial court judge issued the vexatious litigant order in Molski's case against Mandarin Touch, a Chinese restaurant. The order requires him to seek court permission before filing any new complaints.
Last month, another 9th Circuit panel granted Molski a new trial in his case against a coffee-shop that allegedly denied him reasonable access to its men's room. But appellate relief from the vexatious litigant stigma would really give him something to celebrate.
Here are some excerpts from the audiotape of the oral arguments:
Thomas C. Frankovich (counsel for Molski): The only thing that the court can say in terms of vexatiousness is the number of cases.
Judge Kevin T. Duffy: The only thing? How about that [demand] letter that went out from your outfit?
Frankovich starts reading from the letter.
Duffy: Counsel, that's in the record. Believe it or not, we've read it. OK?
......................................................................................
Judge Gould: Let's assume every single case brought is a valid [Americans with Disabilities Act] claim in the sense that there was some non-compliance with the ADA. Can the litigation still be harassing?
Robert H. Appert (counsel for Mandarin Touch): It stretches one's credibility to think that Mr. Molski would make transfer after transfer onto a toilet, particularly when he has testified in depositions that he uses a catheter and in order to relieve himself, he merely needs to empty his bag.
|
Other Molski Case Sources
|
|
|
-
No Prayer Now for Preacher's Suit Over "Religulous"
Less than three weeks after being sued for defrauding two former parishioners of $600,000, a Florida preacher dropped his $50 million lawsuit alleging the Bill Maher documentary “Religulous” falsely portrayed him as a charlatan, On Point has learned.
Read more...
-
Man Burned at Burning Man Assumed Risk
Get too close to the Burning Man fire and you assume the “obvious and inherent” risk of being burned, a California appeals court has ruled in dismissing a personal injury lawsuit against the operators of the iconic countercultural arts festival.
Read more...
-
Lawyer's 'Prove Me Wrong' Offer No Joke to Student
A Texas law student may have taken a $1 million “prove me wrong” challenge seriously, but the criminal defense lawyer who made the challenge on a TV news show appears to have done so with enough tongue in cheek to avoid liability for not paying up.
Read more...
-
Jury Chills Rights in Strip Search Case
A jury has reached a chilling decision in the civil rights case of a Southampton, N.Y., woman, clearing four police officers in the exclusive resort community of liability for performing a strip search on her after a minor marijuana bust.
Read more...
-
Toxic Bra Suits Won't be Combined in Ohio
A rash of lawsuits against Victoria's Secret alleging defectively manufactured underwear is continuing with eight new cases filed in the past two months. But in a setback for plaintiffs, a judicial panel has refused to consolidate all the litigation in Ohio.
Read more...
-
Wedding Fiasco Suit Really Takes Cake
Sandra Newsom's wedding disaster lawsuit may -– literally –- take the cake. The New York woman has sued a cruise ship operator for ruining her wedding reception by serving a coconut-containing cake to which she had an allergic reaction.
Read more...
-
Woody Allen Got $5M After Judge Shredded Defense
A week before American Apparel agreed to pay Woody Allen $5 million for misappropriating his image, a judge had shredded the clothing company's First Amendment defense based on its CEO's “mental processes,” On Point has learned.
Read more...
|
Capitol Records v. Thomas
Court: USDC, Minn.
Subject: Digital music downloading
Verdict: $1.92 million
ASPCA v. Ringling Bros.
Court: USDC, D. Col.
Subject: Illegal "taking" of elephants by circus
more
|
|
Howard K. Stern v. Rita Cosby
Date: 7/7/09
Court: USDC, S. N.Y.
Hearing: Motions for summary judgment in defamation case.
Goldberg v. Paris Hilton Entertainment
Date: 7/9/09
Court: USDC, S. Fla.
Hearing: Jury trial in breach-of-contract case.
more
|
|
