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.
lc_search
LC_DayByDay

 Jan   February 12   Mar

SMTWTFS
   1  2  3  4
  5  6  7  8  91011
12131415161718
19202122232425
26272829 
Julianna Walker Willis Technology
LC_BySubject
OnTheMap

rss

LC_ExtraPoints

• Roommate referral website does not discriminate by allowing users to list their preferences for roommate characteristics. "Holding that the [Fair Housing Act] applies inside a home or apartment ... would be a serious invasion of privacy, autonomy and security."
Fair Housing Council v. Roommate.com

• Student alleges a prank involving a bottle rocket and another student's anus backfired, causing him to fall off the deck of a frat house.
Helmburg v. Alpha Tau Omega

• 5th Circuit reinstates a jury verdict finding a man employed by an engineering firm was sexually harassed by a male supervisor. "The text message 'I want cock' could be taken as an explicit sexual proposition." 
Cherry v. Shaw Coastal

• The ex-wife of a man who fatally shot himself with a gun he had stolen cannot sue the gun's owner for wrongful death. "We conclude that public policy dictates that [Charles] Milot's criminal conduct acts as a bar to recovery."
Ryan v. Hughes-Ortiz

• Pennsylvania woman alleges her former employer discriminated against her because she wore a fake penis to assist her in her female-to-male transition. "Plaintiff's use of the prosthetic device was concealed and in no way interfered with the ability of Plaintiff to do her job." Davis v. J&J Snack Foods

• Son of a woman charged with murdering her husband cannot use the proceeds from the victim's life insurance policy to fund his mother's criminal defense. "[A]llowing the distribution of these proceeds to a third party who has clear intentions to transfer part of these proceeds to her, undermines the principles underlying the Slayer’s Act and federal common law."
In Re: Estate of Michael Burkland

• Seattle judge says an actress cannot proceed anonymously in her suit against the IMDb.com website for publishing her age. "[W]hile Plaintiff may face public ridicule and embarrassment if she elects to go forward under her real name, the injury she fears is not severe enough to justify permitting her to proceed anonymously."
Doe v. Amazon.com

• Family of an 11-year-old girl who was crushed by a boulder of ice says forest ranger negligence caused her death. Rangers "did not warn users of the risk of harm associated with the dangerous, unstable snow and ice" at the Big Four Ice Caves in Snohomish County, Wash. Tam v. U.S.

• 3rd Circuit dismisses a breach of data security case against a payroll-processing company. "Appellants' allegations of an increased risk of identity theft as a result of the security breach are hypothetical, future injuries."
Reilly v. Ceridian Corp.

• Oregon judge denies First Amendment protections to a blogger. "Defendant cites no cases indicating that a self-proclaimed 'investigative blogger' is considered 'media' for the purposes of applying a negligence standard in a defamation claim."
Obsidian Finance v. Cox

• A transsexual who was fired from her government job while she was in the process of becoming a woman wins her sex discrimination suit. "[A] government agent violates the Equal Protection Clause’s prohibition of sex-based discrimination when he or she fires a transgender or transsexual employee because of his or her gender non-conformity."
Glenn v. Brumby

• New York man sues a Texas fertility clinic for wrongful insemination, alleging it failed to obtain his consent before using a sample of his sperm to impregnate his ex-girlfriend.
Pressil v. Advanced Fertility

• Nebraska judge rules that school officials may have illegally disciplined students for wearing t-shirts in honor of a slain friend suspected of gang membership. "[Q]uestions of fact remain whether Plaintiffs’ speech occurred in a context likely to provoke gang violence or other disruptions of school activities."
Kuhr v. Millard Public Sch. Dist.




Alltop_125x125.jpg







Germ-Free Wafer Dispensers Spark Unholy Legal War Print

Proving that nothing is too sacred for a lawsuit, a Minnesota supplier of “churchware” products has sued a former executive for trying to sell a knockoff of its proprietary system for the germ-free dispensing of communion wafers.

"Purity" host dispenser

"Communalabra" host dispenser

The unholy legal war erupted after Douglas Henricksen touted his “Communalabra” Germ-Free Communion Host Dispensing System in a Wisconsin newspaper. The product, he told the New Richmond News, is a safe way to celebrate communion for those worried that cold or flu germs may be spread when the host is passed from hand to hand.

“Everybody I’ve showed it to has loved the product and loved the idea behind it,” he said.

The article didn't mention that Henricksen used to work for Nu-Life Products of West St. Paul, Minn., which sells the Purity dispenser system for about $450. In a complaint filed Dec. 30, Nu-Life portrays him as a Judas who stole its trade secrets and proprietary technology to develop his own dispenser after leaving the company.

“Nu-Life Products developed these common [sic] host dispensers at great expense and effort, and has sole and exclusive rights of ownership, use, and development as to these products,” the suit says.

Henricksen formed his own Nu-Life Church Supplies in December 2007. He has yet to manufacture a dispenser but, according to Nu-Life Products, he has told prospective employees and investors that his products are “expected to generate nearly $2 billion in global sales in the first 5 years.”

Nu-Life Products is seeking at least $75,000 in damages and a court order enjoining Henricksen from soliciting investors, from marketing or promotion of dispensers that are similar to its technology, and from any contact with its vendors.

The dispenser technology involves punching out communion wafers one at a time from the bottom of a cylindrical device. Nu-Life Products –- which also sells a line of wine-soaked wafers -- says its dispensers deliver 400 communion hosts without having to be refilled.

Communion purists aren't happy with the concept. “How is the communicant supposed to believe in the Most Precious Body of Jesus when he or she doesn’t see it before that machine dispenses it?” asks one blogger from Germany. “To the communicant, the communion bread would be no more worth than just an ordinary chewing gum.”

But Nu-Life Products claims its dispensers “provide a germ-free, safe and sanitary method to dispense communion hosts in a unique manner that protects against airborne contaminants, reduces the risk of potential health problems, and significantly reduces the time and personnel needed to provide communion.”

Henricksen, a graduate of Indianhead Technical Institute in Superior, Wis., says he got the inspiration for a dispenser more than three years ago while attending a church service where the pastor had a cold and parishioners were all coughing and sneezing. “I thought, ‘This is a breeding ground for passing germs,’” he told the New Richmond News.

The H1N1 flu scare, he believes, has brought the issue of worship hygiene “to a head. I guess I’m in the right place at the right time.”

Nu-Life Products' allegations could stop Henricksen in his tracks, but he insists they are bogus. "There's no trade secret information,” Minnesota Public Radio quoted him as saying. “There's nothing, zero. They're doing this because they owe me a lot of money.”

UPDATES

  • Judge James M. Rosenbaum ruled May 28, 2010 that the case was subject to arbitration.

  • With the case on appeal, court papers filed Sept. 9, 2010 show the parties reached a settlement.


  • By Matthew Heller
    1/5/10


     
    rc_insidestories
    • Jurors' Comments Fuel New Trial Bid in Bullying Case

      Jurors may have opened the door to a new trial in a Maryland school bullying case by saying they returned a verdict for the defense because they were afraid of setting a bad precedent for school systems throughout the country.
      Read more...
    • Abuse Victim Can Sue Ex-DA Over 'Sexting' Messages

      A Wisconsin judge has protected a domestic violence victim from a rogue prosecutor, finding that she can sue him for sending her text messages in which he pressured her to have sex with him.
      Read more...
    • Four Loko Maker Says Users Knew of Health Dangers

      The maker of Four Loko has previewed its defense of a slew of product liability lawsuits, arguing that the physical effects of the energy drink's mixture of alcohol and caffeine — far from being an undisclosed risk to consumers — are precisely what made it so popular.
      Read more...
    • Mortician Sued for Speaking Ill of the Dead

      In a first-of-its-kind unprofessional conduct lawsuit, a woman has sued her former boss at a Michigan funeral home for making an indecent comment about the body of a dead man in front of her.
      Read more...
    • 'Next Friends' of Orcas Bid to Stop SeaWorld Slavery

      An animal rights lawsuit against SeaWorld for enslaving five killer whales at its aquatic theme parks in San Diego and Orlando may sink even though humans are representing the orcas as their “next friends.”
      Read more...
    • Jury Finds No Harm to Boy From Wrongful Circumcision

      In a blow to supporters of male “genital integrity,” an Indiana jury has ruled that a doctor did not injure a boy by circumcising him when he was an infant even though his mother wanted him to be left intact.
      Read more...
    • Guest Can Sue Motel 6 Over Attack by Woman's Pimp

      A guest who paid for sex with a prostitute at a Motel 6 did not assume the risk of being attacked several hours later by the prostitute's pimp, a Pennsylvania judge has ruled in an unusual premises liability lawsuit against the motel operator.
      Read more...
    RC_OnFile

    Marsh v. Air Tran Airways
    Subject: Roaches on a plane
    Document: Complaint

    Classic Media v. J.G. Wentworth
    Subject: "Lassie" copyright
    Document: Complaint

    Kardashian v. Old Navy
    Subject: Publicity rights
    Document: Complaint

    McKee v. Laurion
    Subject: Doctor defamation
    Document: Opinion

    Francis v. U.S.
    Subject: Bear attack
    Document: Decision

    more

    RC_OnTrial

    Doe v. Discovery Day Care
    Court: Miami-Dade Circuit
    Subject: Child molestation
    Verdict: $3,000,000

    Hoback v. City of Chattanooga
    Court: USDC, E. Tenn.
    Subject: PTSD discrimination
    Verdict: $680,000

    more


    RC_OnTheDocket

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

    more