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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• 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.




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Herpes Case Verdict Compared to Acquittal of O.J. Print

The jury which awarded $6.7 million to a woman who claimed a former sex partner infected her with herpes punished the defendant for his wealth, his attorney said in asking a judge to throw out a verdict he compared to the double-murder acquittal of O.J. Simpson.

“Past verdicts similarly have cried out with obvious injustice,” Robert M. Frisbee argued. “O.J. Simpson's criminal trial was one. The 'hot coffee' verdict against McDonald's is another.”

Frisbee client Tom Redmond, the 77-year-old founder of a hair care products company, had a romantic relationship with Patricia Behr for nine months. In January, a Riverside County (Calif.) Superior Court jury found him liable for failing to tell her he had herpes before their first sexual encounter in October 2003.

The verdict included $4 million in compensatory damages for future medical expenses and pain and suffering, $2.75 million in punitive damages –- and a 2004 BMW which the jury found Redmond had given Behr as a gift not a loan.

It didn't matter to the jury, Frisbee said in a motion for a new trial, that Behr continued to have unprotected sex with Redmond even after he allegedly advised her of his infection in February. Or that he took her “on exotic trips, bought her fancy clothes, and treated her like Cinderella.”

The jury's attitude, he said, was, “We're going to make her rich because defendant is, we don't like him, and we have the power to do it.”

Behr -- the mother of actor Jason Behr -- claimed she had herpes symptoms in March 2004 when she noticed a rash on her leg. But Frisbee said that “the worst that happened to plaintiff (aside from being disappointed in her desire to marry a wealthy man) is that she had sex with the defendant ten times without knowing he had herpes.”

He noted that, according to Behr's own medical expert, she did not have her initial outbreak until February 2005 –- 10 months after her last sexual encounter with Redmond –- and the typical initial outbreak is 30 to 90 days after exposure to the herpes virus.

“It cannot really be said when her infection occurred, but it is highly improbable that it occurred prior to February 2004, when Behr says Redmond told her he had herpes,” Frisbee said.

Behr attorney Shaun M. Murphy has said the verdict was “a clear message to all persons infected with a sexually transmitted disease that this type of behavior simply will not be tolerated.” Frisbee had a very different spin:

Perversely, if this verdict is allowed to stand, it would work to defeat California's policy discouraging the spread of STD[s]. Why would a person of means ever tell a partner about having an STD if a verdict like this might result? Better to take the .02 chance [of transmitting the disease] and hope for the best. If this plaintiff had herpes before their affair, which is just as likely  the case, all defendant did was paint a target on [h]is back whenever he told her about his herpes.

Frisbee appealed to Retired Judge William E. Burby to act as the “13th juror” and “set it [the verdict] right.” A hearing on the motion is scheduled for April 17.

UPDATE

  • An ex-boyfriend of Behr's alleged she infected him with herpes many years before she met Redmond.


  • Other Behr v. Redmond Sources


    By Matthew Heller
    3/2/09


     
    rc_insidestories
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      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.
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    • 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...
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