John Doe A v. Penn State
First Penn State scandal lawsuit says Coach Jerry Sandusky sexually abused a boy more than 100 times and the abuse was enabled by the school's "negligent oversight."
Bradley v. Lohan
Former Betty Ford Center employee sues Lindsay Lohan for assault, alleging the actress threw a phone at her and yanked her wrist while refusing to be breathalzyed.
N.D. v. New York Post
Hotel maid allegedly raped by French politician sues the New York Post for falsely reporting that she is a prostitute who "routinely traded sex for money" with male guests.
Reinhart v. Mortenson
Two Montana residents allege the author of "Three Cups of Tea" "fabricated material about his activities and work in Pakistan and Afghanistan" to sell the book.
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• Maryland appeals court says dog owners can be held strictly liable for pit bull attacks. "Because of its aggressive and vicious nature and its capability to inflict serious and sometimes fatal injuries, pit bulls and cross-bred pit bulls are inherently dangerous." Tracey v. Solesky

• Woman who has been diagnosed as a sex addict sues a school district for failing to prevent her from having sex with male students on the school bus when she was in 11th grade.
Barksdale v. Egg Harbor Township Bd. of Ed.

• Civil rights activist challenges Georgia's "stand your ground law." "By not defining what actions create a reasonable perception justifying the use of deadly force, the Act[] potentially deprives all Georgia[n]s of the right to life without due process of law." Hutchins v. Deal

• Former patient of a Rhode Island doctor sues him for featuring her in a book about drug addiction. "Plaintiff had expected, as any reasonable patient would, that her private conversations during her treatment sessions with the Defendant would remain private and confidential."
Lisnoff v. Stein

• Class action alleges the YMCA deceives consumers by representing that it practices "Christian" values while allowing its gyms to be used for gay sex trysts. "YMCAs around the country ... are currently being used as brothels for cruising, with the YMCA's knowledge and implicit consent."
Keister v. YMCA

• Social workers are not liable for a sexual assault on a 5-year-old boy by a 16-year-old male placed in an adoptive home. "To rule against the individual defendants in this case would definitely break new ground."
Doe v. Braddy

• Student sues college for refusing to grant her the "reasonable accommodation" of a single room after she complained about her roommate's exhibitionist behavior.
Blankmeyer v. Stonehill College

• School district can be sued over a guidance counselor's sexual relationship with a student who was over the age of consent. "The inherent imbalance of power between a guidance counselor in a public school and a student may render opportunistic sexual predation sufficiently shocking, even with a 'consenting' student over sixteen, to form the basis of a substantive due process claim."
Doe v. Fournier

• Utah judge finds a "credible threat" that Utah County officials will prosecute a polygamist and his wives for bigamy. The officials' acts "suggest that an actual prosecution of Plaintiffs is forthcoming."
Brown v. Herbert

• Louisville, Ky., strip club sues a competitor for displaying an electronic sign outside a convention center that said "Don't go to Godfathers, their girls are ugly and have crabs."
The Godfather v. Trixie's Lounge

• A lawyer cannot sue two women he dated for posting derogatory comments about him on liarscheatersrus.com. "[W]hen viewed within the larger context of the website on which they were posted, there can be no doubt that a reasonable reader would understand the comments to be opinion." Coulotte v. Ryncarz

• Oglala Sioux tribe sues beer makers and Whiteclay, Neb., bars for enabling alcohol abuse on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The illegal trade in alcohol has "caused devastating injuries to the Lakota people and massive financial damages to the [tribe]."
Oglala Sioux Tribe v. Schwarting




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Flatulent Paramedic's Suit Creates $300K Legal Stink Print

A Clarksville, Tenn., paramedic who says she was demoted after a coworker complained about hearing her pass gas has filed what may be a first-of-its-kind discrimination lawsuit against her employer.

Courts have previously considered cases in which a worker alleged the flatulence of another constituted harassment. “[T]he expelling of flatulence, while offensive, rude, and vulgar to people of either sex, is not tantamount to actionable harassment 'based on sex'” under federal law, a Minnesota judge ruled in Klein v. McGowan, 36 F.Supp.2d 885 (1999).

In the unusual case of paramedic Rita Cain, though, it is the wind-breaker who is suing for at least $300,000 in damages, alleging she was illegally punished for her flatulence.

Cain began working for Montgomery County Emergency Medical Services in 1992, rising to the rank of lieutenant. On March 29, 2010, another paramedic handed her the phone so she could speak to a 911 operator.

“Plaintiff experienced flatulence ('passed gas') which was heard through the phone by the E-911 operator,” she says in a complaint filed earlier this month. “This E-911 operator made an internal complaint about Plaintiff 'passing gas.'”

Within days of the incident, the suit says, Cain went on vacation. While she was off work, ambulance service Chief Wesley Klein demoted her. She also received a final written warning for passing gas — one step short of termination.

The suit challenges the demotion on the “disparate treatment” theory that Cain received “significantly harsher” discipline than male employees of the ambulance service have for “the same or worse conduct.”

“Male employees have had complaints of harassment and assault brought by other female employees and not been demoted, and have [ ] engaged in sexual activity with female subordinate employees in the workplace and not been demoted,” it says.

Cain also alleges her supervisors retaliated against her, denying her applications for two lieutenant positions because she had made an internal discrimination complaint.

One incident of flatulence hardly merits a demotion — or a complaint by a coworker who only heard Cain passing gas. No employer, after all, can possibly maintain a fart-free workplace.

But Cain must show the actions taken against her were “because of sex.” Just alleging that male employees were not demoted for “the same or worse conduct” is not enough since the law requires that the individuals to whom she compares herself must be “similarly situated in all material respects.”

“Factors relevant to this inquiry include whether the employees reported to the same supervisor, whether the employees were subject to the same standards and whether the employees had comparable education, experience and qualifications,” an Illinois judge noted in Gordon-Phillips v. Illinois State Police.

Montgomery County is also likely to offer a “legitimate, nondiscriminatory” reason for disciplining Cain that has nothing to do with her passing gas.

By Matthew Heller
7/19/11


 

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U.S. v. Arpaio
Subject: Civil rights
Document: Complaint

Schultz v. Medina Valley
Subject: School prayer
Document: Non-Kumbaya order

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Document: Verdict

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Document: Complaint

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RC_OnTrial

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Subject: Virginia Tech shootings
Verdict: $8 million

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Brown v. Herbert
Date: 12/16/11
Court: USDC, Utah
Hearing: Motion to dismiss polygamy case

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