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

• 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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Tenant's Gripe Tweet Too Vague to be Libel, Judge Says Print

A Chicago judge has dismissed the first libel case involving a single Twitter posting, finding that an apartment renter's gripe about her landlord was too vague and imprecise to be construed as defamatory.

Horizon Realty Group, which manages 15 buildings in Chicago, filed the libel suit in July after Amanda Bonnen wrote in a Twitter post, “Who said sleeping in a moldy apartment was bad for you? Horizon realty thinks it's okay.” The suit seeks at least $50,000 in damages, alleging the Tweet was “wholly false” and damaged Horizon's reputation.

The case raises the issue of whether Tweets are “pointless babble” that an average reader would not take literally. “When one considers Ms. Bonnen's allegedly defamatory tweet in the social context and setting in which the statement was published, its nature as rhetorical hyperbole is apparent,” Bonnen argued in a motion to dismiss.

In October, a Los Angeles judge refused to dismiss a Twitter-libel case against rocker Courtney Love, who described a fashion designer as an “asswipe nasty lying hosebag thief” in a series of Tweets.

But after a hearing last week, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Diane J. Larsen found Bonnen's Tweet was “nonactionable as a matter of law” and granted the motion with prejudice -– which means the case cannot be amended and refiled.

Larsen did not issue a detailed ruling but Bonnen attorney Leslie Ann Reis says the judge “found the Tweet to be vague, imprecise, having no [factual] context in that it was not sufficiently connected to the plaintiff, and could be innocently construed.”

Illinois law allows judges to find a statement is not defamatory if it is capable of being reasonably interpreted in an “innocent” way. “This really wasn’t a case about Twitter,” Reis tells On Point. “It was a case about defamation and whether the content of Ms. Bonnen’s Tweet fit the legal definition of defamation under Illinois law.”

Reis's comments suggest Larsen did not put much weight on the broader argument about the “social and literary context” of Twitter postings in general.

Bonnen's Tweet was certainly less personal than Love's Twitter-tirade against designer Dawn Simorangkir, aka “Boudoir Queen,” which consisted of no fewer than 10 allegedly defamatory tweets posted within the space of 21 minutes.

“She provides no background for her statement, nor does she accuse Plaintiff of any action,” Bonnen said in her motion. “She simply speculates about 'Horizon realty's' thoughts without any context.”

According to Horizon, no mold was ever found in Bonnen's apartment in the Buena Terrace building. In a brief opposing dismissal, the company argued that the term “moldy” is libelous and “the 'mere opinion' rationale Bonnen asks this Court to adopt should not serve to save a person making a libelous statement from responsibility.”

Bonnen struck the first blow in the legal battle, filing a housing law class action against Horizon in June. Another Chicago judge denied a motion to dismiss that case in November.

In another Twitter-libel case, the creator of the Cookie Diet weight-loss program has sued reality TV star Kim Kardashian for describing the diet as “unhealthy” in a Tweet. Dr. Sanford Siegal alleges Kardashian had a “commercial motive” to defame him because she is a paid spokesperson for the Quick Trim diet.


By Matthew Heller
1/29/10


 
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