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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Nurse's Beliefs at Issue in Forced IUD Removal Case Print

No “conscience clause” for health care providers who oppose abortion appears to protect a physician's assistant at a New Mexico clinic from liability for intentionally removing a patient's IUD without her permission.

Sylvia Olona allegedly told the patient, “I personally do not like IUDs. I feel they are a type of abortion” and recommended that she use a “non-abortion” form of contraception such as a depo provera shot or the pill.

In a federal suit filed earlier this month, the patient, Ashley Van Patten, alleges Olona committed a civil battery upon her and violated her “constitutional right to choose her form of contraception.” The complaint also names the Presbyterian Medical Services (PMS) Family Health Center in Rio Rancho, N.M., as a defendant.

A New Mexico law allows a health care provider to “decline to comply with an individual instruction or health-care decision for reasons of conscience.” A Bush Administration “conscience rule” which allows medical personnel to refuse to perform procedures they find morally objectionable took effect Jan. 19, Bush's last day in office.

But if Van Patten's allegations are true, Olona went far beyond the scope of both the state and federal rules by imposing her beliefs on a patient.

“Defendant Olona stated, 'Everyone in the office always laughs and tells me I pull these out on purpose because I am against them, but it’s not true, they accidentally come out when I tug,'” the complaint says.

Van Patten visited the PMS clinic on Jan, 17, 2007 for an adjustment of her IUD. According to the suit, she felt a “sharp pain in her uterus” as Olona performed the procedure and Olona then announced, “Uh oh, I accidentally pulled out your IUD.”

“[H]aving the IUD come out was a good thing,” she allegedly assured Van Patten, going on to express her dislike of the device.

“I don’t know how you feel about abortion, but I am against them,” Olona said. “What the IUD does is take the fertilized egg and pushes it out of the uterus.” Given the choice of “non-abortion” contraception, Van Patten opted for a depo shot.

The suit disputes that the removal of the IUD was accidental -- “The pain Ms. Van Patten felt when Defendant Olona was doing the procedure was consistent with the pain experienced when an[ ] IUD is intentionally removed.” It also accuses PMS of negligently supervising Olona “when it had knowledge of her practice of removing IUDs from patients without their permission.”

The right to choice of contraception derives from such U.S. Supreme Court decisions as Griswold v. Connecticut and Roe v. Wade. Conscience clauses have arisen largely in response to Roe, but protect health care providers who object to performing a procedure –- not those who, as in Olona's case, perform a procedure and allegedly violate a patient's rights while doing so.

Olona is described in the suit as a certified nurse practitioner but the New Mexico Medical Board lists her as a physician's assistant.

UPDATE

  • Van Patten dropped the choice of contraception claim involving Olona's alleged anti-abortion views from an amended complaint filed May 18, 2009.


  • By Matthew Heller
    1/23/09


     
    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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    • Four Loko Maker Says Users Knew of Health Dangers

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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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