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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• 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

• Massachusetts appeals court says 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

• Oregon judge rules that a self-proclaimed "investigative blogger" is not "considered 'media' for the purposes of applying a negligence standard in a defamation claim." Obsidian Finance v. Cox

• 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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Injured Patron Sues Bar Over Perils of Pole-Dancing Print

Even if an Arizona woman who was injured while pole-dancing at a sports bar should have known of the perils of pole-dancing, the owners of the bar may still be liable for failing to install the pole correctly.

ReAnna Hedrick's negligence lawsuit over her accident at a Famous Sam's bar in Mesa, Ariz., appears to be one of first impression since there is no case law that addresses a business owner's liability for a pole-dancing injury to a customer. Cases involving bar patrons who fell while dancing on a counter or while riding a mechanical bull may not be exactly on point.

According to Hedrick's complaint, Famous Sam's constructed two special stages as part of a “Ladies Night” promotion on Sept. 3, 2008. In the middle of one of the stages was a ten-foot-long dancer pole.

After watching “other patrons spin/dance” around the pole, the suit says, Hedrick “took a few turns” herself. But as she was spinning on the pole, “it suddenly, and without warning, came loose, broke, and fell away from the ceiling[,] causing ReAnna to crash to the floor.”

As the pole fell, Hedrick says, she tried to hold onto the jagged top, which sliced off the top of her ring finger. She also suffered “severe injuries to her left side and shoulder” from the impact with the floor.

The suit seeks unspecified damages, alleging Famous Sam's created an unsafe condition and an “unreasonable risk of harm” to patrons by failing to, among other things, properly assemble and erect the pole and install “some form of safety padding or netting in the event of dance pole failure.”

A New York judge recently dismissed the somewhat similar case of Valerie Morris, who slipped and fell, allegedly on something wet, while dancing on top of a bar counter. The doctrine of primary assumption of risk “applies to leisure activities, including dancing,” Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Michael D. Stallman said in Morris v. Red Rock West Saloon.

Famous Sam's could argue that Hedrick voluntarily assumed the risk of injury by dancing on the pole but her case is distinguishable from Morris because she fell from a piece of equipment specially installed by the bar. While Morris testified she knew that “things get spilled” on bar counters, Hedrick says she did not know of the “improper assembly” of the pole.

Mechanical bull cases are similar to Hedrick's in that they also involve equipment rather than standard bar furnishings. But bar patrons commonly sign waivers of liability before they ride mechanical bulls.

Last month, a New York judge found such a waiver enforceable in dismissing a case brought by a man who was thrown off a mechanical bull at the Johnny Utahs bar in Manhattan. The waiver said, “I understand that riding the Mechanical Bull can be dangerous, and that the risk of injury is significant.”

“The entertainment value -- and, indeed, the concept -- of bull riding becomes meaningless without the inherent possibility of falling off,” the Alabama Supreme Court noted in Lilya v. Greater Gulf State Fair, 855 So.2d 1049 (2003).

Hedrick's suit says she “socialized” at Famous Sam's for about two hours before going on the pole but even if she was intoxicated, she could still recover damages for negligent assembly and construction. In addition to her “unsafe condition” theory, she argues that the owners were negligent per se because they failed to obtain a permit to build the stage and pole.

This story linked by:


By Matthew Heller
11/11/09


 
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