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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Model Suing Steven Seagal Keeps Ace Up Her Sleeve Print

Attorneys for a model suing Steven Seagal for sexual harassment have sent a clear message to the actor that he can avoid any testimony about his allegedly “unique physiological reaction to sexual arousal” by settling the case.

The Louisiana property where Steven Seagal allegedly assaulted Kayden Nguyen

A $1 million lawsuit filed in Los Angeles earlier this week is packed full of graphic detail about Seagal's alleged abuse of Kayden Nguyen after he hired her to work for him as an “executive assistant” in February. He treated her as “his sex toy,” the suit says, alleging he assaulted her on three separate occasions in the house outside New Orleans where he was staying while filming a TV show.

Kayden Nguyen

William S. Waldo, an extremely experienced Los Angeles trial lawyer, wrote the complaint. In describing the second of the alleged assaults early on Feb. 24, he says Seagal “began a vicious sexual attack on Ms. Nguyen” after she gave him a leg massage, “forc[ing] his hand into Ms. Nguyen's vagina.”

“As Nguyen began sobbing,” the suit continues, “Mr. Seagal became sexually aroused and had a unique physiological reaction to sexual arousal.”

Here, though, the detail abruptly stops, with Waldo saying only:

Ms. Nguyen can and will describe in great detail Mr. Seagal's physiological reaction to sexual arousal. Other females who have been present when Mr. Seagal has become sexually aroused will be able to verify the truthfulness of Ms. Nguyen's factual knowledge about the characteristics of Mr. Seagal's unique physiological reaction.

Clearly, Waldo doesn't want to spare the prudish — or he wouldn't have included so much detail elsewhere in the complaint. The most likely explanation is that he is trying to leverage a settlement that will spare Seagal the acute embarrassment of having anyone testify about his alleged physiological quirk.

On the evidence of his acting career, Seagal doesn't embarrass easily. And his attorney, famed legal pitbull Marty Singer, has reacted to the suit with predictable outrage.

“The lawsuit filed by Kayden Nguyen against Steven Seagal is a ridiculous and absurd claim by a disgruntled ex-employee who was fired,” he said in a statement. “The claims in her lawsuit are a complete fabrication without a scintilla of truth.”

Singer also told RadarOnline.com that the suit is a violation of a confidentiality agreement and he would file a motion to compel private arbitration of Nguyen's claims. “It appears her lawyers are more interested in getting publicity than arbitrate the complaint,” he said.

The suit says Nguyen had a brief interview with Seagal in Los Angeles on Feb. 22 before he hired her and whisked her off to New Orleans. On the way to the airport, Nguyen says, the man she was replacing as executive assistant warned her, “You aren't allowed to speak about Steven Seagal,” but there is no mention of any employment agreement.

Waldo isn't showing any signs of backing down. “Please tell Steven Seagal two things,” he wrote Singer in an e-mail. “First, the cheap shot threats that might have intimidated other victims and their lawyers don't phase me. Save your ink. Second, Ms. Nguyen's claims are not going away. Five other victims called me yesterday.”

Nguyen alleges Seagal assaulted her in “a secluded house in the middle of nowhere” in Jean Lafitte, La., a small Cajun village about 20 miles south of New Orleans. As she was making her escape in a taxi cab on Feb. 28, she says, “Mr. Seagal followed a few steps behind, shining a flashlight with a gun attached to it.”

The suit seeks at least $1 million in damages for sexual harassment, illegal trafficking of females for sex, and wrongful termination. Singer told CBSNews.com that Nguyen was fired for using illegal drugs.

UPDATES

  • A hearing on Seagal's motion to compel arbitration has been set for May 27, 2010.

  • The case was dismissed July 13, 2010 after the parties reached a settlement.


  • This story linked by:


    By Matthew Heller
    4/16/10


     
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