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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Miley Case Judge Steps Down Because of Asian Slur Print

A Los Angeles judge has stepped down from a case alleging Miley Cyrus discriminated against Asian Pacific Islanders with a facial expression after the plaintiff accused him of racial bias for using the word “Oriental” in a court hearing.

Superior Court Judge Robert L. Hess's language could hardly have been more politically incorrect in the context of Lucie J. Kim's' lawsuit against Cyrus, which alleges the teen idol slurred Asian Pacific Islanders by slanting her eyes when she posed for a photograph with a group of friends.

At a June 4 hearing, Hess expressed “grave doubts” about the merits of the case but gave Kim “one more chance” to amend her complaint and show Cyrus violated California's Unruh Civil Rights Act. He made his verbal faux pas while describing the photo at issue in the case.

The people in the photo, he said, included “Orientals and non-Orientals” and Cyrus's gesture “could be construed as mocking or disparaging of persons of Oriental ancestry.”

Kim filed court papers a week later in which she said Hess's “use of the word 'Oriental' is akin to using the word 'N---er' or 'Negro' when referring to African Americans” and “reflects racial bias” toward Asians.

In refusing to acknowledge that Cyrus' “act of slanting her eyes was a racially offensive gesture,” she argued, Hess “was influenced by [his] own bias against Asians.” That bias “prevent[s] this court from being fair and impartial in this case,” she said.

Hess recused himself last month and the case is now assigned to Judge Ronald Sohigian, who will hear Cyrus' demurrer to the amended complaint Aug. 26. Sohigian's view of the case, though, is unlikely to differ from his predecessor's.

The plaintiff's theory, Hess said, is “an extraordinary expansion of what I understand to be the case law in this area” and “would essentially subject persons to Unruh Act liability for anything that might offend, in practically any context.”

Kim claims Cyrus's slant-eyed gesture violated California's Unruh Civil Rights Act, which makes it illegal for a “business establishment of any kind whatsoever” to discriminate against anyone based on race, color, ancestry or national origin.

In the amended complaint, she cites the use of Cyrus' image on lunchboxes and backpacks, her registration of her name as a trademark, and appearances at the inauguration of President Obama and on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” as evidence that she is an establishment with “a permanent settled position in life and business.”

But Cyrus argues that Kim cannot salvage her case with “superficial changes” to the complaint. “[A] facial expression, which is protected by the freedom of speech, is not actionable under the Unruh Act,” she says in her demurrer, and “being offended by a facial expression seen on an internet news site does not constitute [a] denial” of access to a public accomodation.

UPDATES

  • Judge Sohigian scheduled a further hearing on the demurrer for Oct. 8, 2009.

  • Judge Sohigian sustained the demurrer and dismissed the case in a Nov. 20, 2009 ruling but denied Cyrus's motion for sanctions against Kim for filing a frivolous complaint.


  • Other Kim v. Cyrus Sources


    This story linked by:


    By Matthew Heller
    8/18/09


     
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