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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Motorist Who Flipped off Cop Gets $50,000 From City Print

The citation of a motorist for displaying his middle finger to a police officer -– what a judge described as a “somewhat innocuous” gesture -- turned out to be quite expensive for the City of Pittsburgh as it agreed to pay $50,000 to the bird-flipper.

David Hackbart flipped the bird at Sgt. Brian Elledge during an altercation over a parking space with another motorist in April 2006. After prosecutors dropped disorderly conduct charges, he sued the city in February 2007, arguing that Elledge retaliated against him for “engaging in constitutionally protected speech.”

The settlement of the case followed a judge's ruling granting summary judgment to Hackbart on the issue of whether his free-speech rights were violated. It averted a trial on the remaining issues of whether the city had a policy of citing people for displaying middle fingers and what damages Hackbart should recover.

“The gesture has become somewhat innocuous, and without more, Hackbart’s display of his middle finger did not constitute fighting words and is entitled to the full protection of the First Amendment,” U.S. District Judge David S. Cercone ruled.

As part of the settlement, the city also agreed to “provide additional training to all officers on the Constitutional rights of an individual to use profane language and gestures.”

In October 2006, the Pennsylvania state police settled a similar case. But the City of Pittsburgh hung tough during nearly three years of litigation, arguing, among other things, that giving the finger to a police officer was not the reason for Hackbart's citation.

Elledge's “objective reasons for writing the citations were because Plaintiff was obstructing traffic and refused to move when told,” it said in a brief, and “It makes no difference to the existence of probable cause if Sgt. Elledge incorrectly wrote the citation for disorderly conduct, rather than for obstruction of traffic.”

Cercone flatly rejected that argument because Elledge “did not issue a citation for a violation of the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Code. Nor did Elledge mention such criminal conduct in the disorderly conduct citation.”

The citation said, “Disorderly Conduct. Driver made an obscene gesture towards me. Flipped me off while driving by. Also flipped off another driver.” Cercone also noted that the city's “own training materials instruct that the middle finger gesture is not obscene for purposes of disorderly conduct.”

In a deposition, Elledge admitted that Hackbart's gesture was not illegal. "I have occasionally, yes, given people the finger," he said.

Comparing dispositions in civil cases may be a dubious exercise. But the settlement of Hackbart's case appears quite generous considering the City of Boise, Idaho recently agreed to pay only $150,000 to a man who alleged police sodomized him with a taser and tasered him on the buttocks during an arrest.

Gerald Amidon filed his excessive force suit in November and the City of Boise may have limited its liability by settling after only three months of litigation. Pittsburgh taxpayers should be questioning why it took their city so long to see the light.

UPDATE

  • An Oregon motorist who was cited for flipping off a Clackamas County sheriff's deputy has filed a similar lawsuit.



  • This story linked by:


    By Matthew Heller
    2/18/10


     
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