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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LC_ExtraPoints

• 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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Shaq Takes a Hack at Ex's "Fanciful" Harassment Case Print

NBA monolith Shaquille O'Neal says a cyberstalking lawsuit against him tells “a fanciful tale,” arguing that his alleged “oral abuse” of an ex-girlfriend was not “outrageous” and he didn't steal anything by allegedly hacking into her voice mails and text messages.

Vanessa Lopez, an Orlando, Fla., model, claims O'Neal harassed her after she ended their affair in September 2009. The Cleveland Cavaliers center used “extremely sophisticated software” to “spoof” her cell phone, she alleged in a complaint filed on her behalf by celebrity attorney Gloria Allred in January.

When a cell phone is spoofed, the number of the phone displays on the caller ID. If the cell phone provider uses caller ID to authorize access to voice mail, the spoofer can hack into the voice mailbox without using a password.

The spoofing of her communications, Lopez said, amounts to “conversion” — or theft — since it appropriated her property “to the use of O'Neal or to the use of another person not entitled to the use of the communications.”

O'Neal, of course, is better known for being hacked on the basketball court than hacking into cell phones. And in a motion obtained by On Point, he says Lopez's suit is a slam dunk for dismissal.

“Plaintiff's Complaint spins a fanciful tale that has absolutely no basis in fact or law,” O'Neal attorney Benjamine Reid writes in the motion.

Lopez cannot state a claim for invasion of privacy, Reid argues, because she does not allege O'Neal published any of her communications to the public at large. As for conversion, “voicemail messages and text messages are not personal property capable of conversion” and even if they were, "accessing voicemail messages and text messages would not deprive Plaintiff of any property interest."

Conversion claims have traditionally been limited to “tangible” property. And Reid cites cases in which courts ruled that telephone service and a screen name are not property capable of conversion. Teleco v. Southwestern Bell, 392 F. Supp. 692 (1974); Express One International v. Steinbeck, 53 SW.3d 895 (2001).

But New York's highest court recently ruled that a claim for conversion of electronic data is recognizable under New York law. “[T]he tort of conversion must keep pace with the contemporary realities of widespread computer use,” the court said in Thyroff v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., 8 N.Y.3d 283 (2007).

Thyroff undoubtedly is the future direction of the law in this country,” attorney Nick Akerman, an expert in computer crime, says on his website.

Lopez says she began dating O'Neal in 2004 and broke up with him after he accused her of being intimate with another man. “O'Neal told Lopez he would never leave her alone because they both loved each other,” the suit says, alleging he made “repeated harassing and heavy breathing calls” to her and caused others, including his sister, to threaten her.

“[T]he Complaint merely alleges oral threats,” O'Neal says in the motion to dismiss, and “Florida courts have been reluctant to find claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress based on allegations of oral abuse.”

The outrageousness standard is always a tough one to satisfy in emotional distress cases. But if the law is trending toward recognizing claims for conversion of electronic data, at least part of Lopez's case could survive the motion to dismiss.

O'Neal recently reached a divorce settlement with estranged wife Shaunie O'Neal.

By Matthew Heller
4/6/10


 
rc_insidestories
  • Jurors' Comments Fuel New Trial Bid in Bullying Case

    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.
    Read more...
  • Abuse Victim Can Sue Ex-DA Over 'Sexting' Messages

    A Wisconsin judge has protected a domestic violence victim from a rogue prosecutor, finding that she can sue him for sending her text messages in which he pressured her to have sex with him.
    Read more...
  • Four Loko Maker Says Users Knew of Health Dangers

    The maker of Four Loko has previewed its defense of a slew of product liability lawsuits, arguing that the physical effects of the energy drink's mixture of alcohol and caffeine — far from being an undisclosed risk to consumers — are precisely what made it so popular.
    Read more...
  • Mortician Sued for Speaking Ill of the Dead

    In a first-of-its-kind unprofessional conduct lawsuit, a woman has sued her former boss at a Michigan funeral home for making an indecent comment about the body of a dead man in front of her.
    Read more...
  • 'Next Friends' of Orcas Bid to Stop SeaWorld Slavery

    An animal rights lawsuit against SeaWorld for enslaving five killer whales at its aquatic theme parks in San Diego and Orlando may sink even though humans are representing the orcas as their “next friends.”
    Read more...
  • Jury Finds No Harm to Boy From Wrongful Circumcision

    In a blow to supporters of male “genital integrity,” an Indiana jury has ruled that a doctor did not injure a boy by circumcising him when he was an infant even though his mother wanted him to be left intact.
    Read more...
  • 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...
RC_OnFile

Marsh v. Air Tran Airways
Subject: Roaches on a plane
Document: Complaint

Classic Media v. J.G. Wentworth
Subject: "Lassie" copyright
Document: Complaint

Kardashian v. Old Navy
Subject: Publicity rights
Document: Complaint

McKee v. Laurion
Subject: Doctor defamation
Document: Opinion

Francis v. U.S.
Subject: Bear attack
Document: Decision

more

RC_OnTrial

Doe v. Discovery Day Care
Court: Miami-Dade Circuit
Subject: Child molestation
Verdict: $3,000,000

Hoback v. City of Chattanooga
Court: USDC, E. Tenn.
Subject: PTSD discrimination
Verdict: $680,000

more


RC_OnTheDocket

Brown v. Herbert
Date: 12/16/11
Court: USDC, Utah
Hearing: Motion to dismiss polygamy case

more