• Owners of Who Dat?, Inc. sue the NFL and the New Orleans Saints for trademark infringement, seeking to protect the mark that "has become one of the most recognizable in all of America and quickly became well-known around the world."
Who Dat?, Inc. v. NFL Properties
• Army bomb disposal expert sues the makers of "The Hurt Locker" for plagiarizing his life story. The film is "nothing more than the exploitation of a real life honorable, courageous, and long serving member of our country’s armed forces, by greedy multi-billion dollar 'entertainment' corporations."
Sarver v. The Hurt Locker
• Former patient sues the Cincinnati hospital where he was sexually assaulted by a transgender nurse. The nurse's "employment while masquerading as a member of the female gender in a hospital environment involved an unreasonable risk of harm to others."
Evans v. University of Cincinnati
• Federal judge enjoins the City of Phoenix from enforcing a noise ordinance against "sound generated in the course of religious expression," finding the right of churches to ring bells outweighs "the City's interest in preserving the peace and tranquility of its neighborhoods."
St. Mark Roman Catholic Parish v. City of Phoenix
• 5th Circuit says a Texas city's junked vehicle ordinance applies to a cactus planter made out of wrecked Oldsmobile 88. "Irrespective of the intentions of its creators ... the car-planter is a utilitarian device, an advertisement, and ultimately a 'junked vehicle.'"
Kleinman v. City of San Marcos
• Oklahoma City bomber Terry Nichols notifies a federal judge that he has gone on hunger strike, saying he is "prepared to die if necessary because he is done allowing his body to be defiled by [ ] refined and dead foods."
Nichols v. Federal Bureau of Prisons
• Texas judge finds the makers of a film about Rin Tin Tin did not infringe on the trademarks of a breeder of German Shepherds. "Defendants['] title 'Finding Rin Tin Tin: The Adventure Continues" is a fair use of the term 'Rin Tin Tin.'"
Rin Tin Tin, Inc. v. First Look Studios
• Illinois appeals court says the contact sports exception to negligence liability does not apply to the case of an athletic trainer who was struck in the eye by a hockey puck while refilling water bottles. Michael Weisberg "suffered injuries as a result of alleged conduct that was not inherent to the sport of hockey."
Weisberg v. Chicago Steel
 
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Bar Exam Flunker Sues over Gay Marriage Question |
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A law student who narrowly failed the Massachusetts bar exam is suing the state for $9.75 million, claiming he only flunked because he refused to answer a question about the breakup of a same-sex marriage.
“Defendants purposely compelled Plaintiff to accept Defendants' irreligion/religion of 'Secular Humanism,'” Stephen Dunne, 30, says in a pro se complaint that is not likely to pass even a threshold legal test.
Dunne scored a 268.866 on the bar exam, just below a passing grade of 270. The exam included a question which presented the hypothetical of Jane and Mary, two lesbian attorneys who share their home with two children and signed a prenup agreeing to divide any marital property equally if they divorced.
Applicants were told that after Jane found out Mary was having an affair with Lisa, Mary decided to end the marriage in order to live in her house with the children and Lisa. "What are the rights of Mary and Jane?" the exam asked.
According to Dunne, a former infantryman in the U.S. Army, he only failed the exam because his faith-based views on homosexuality compelled him not to answer the question.
"Plaintiff reasonably believes that the Defendants have denied his bar application based on his refusal to support and promote homosexual marriage and parenting," the suit says.
The question, of course, required Dunne to do no such thing, only testing his knowledge of domestic relations law in the only state in the nation where same-sex marriage is legal. Dunne seeks a court order declaring the question an "invidious violation of all applicants' constitutional rights," but a judge should declare the suit an invidious waste of the court's time.
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UPDATE ... Dunne has amended his complaint to reduce his damages claim to $9.75. “The lawsuit is not about money,” he told the Boston Herald. “It’s about equity and justice, and I wanted to be very clear about that.”
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By Matthew Heller
7/7/07
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"Upskirting" Victim Loses Privacy Suit Against Store
A customer at a T.J. Maxx store in upstate New York has lost her lawsuit against the retailer for allowing a man to take photos up her skirt by using her as “human bait” in a sting operation.
Read more...
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Perfume Allergy Case Settles for $100,000
A Detroit city planner with an allergy to perfume is savoring the sweet smell of legal success after the city agreed to pay her $100,000 and be more sensitive to the chemically sensitive.
Read more...
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Teen's Suit Puts Mug-Shot Publisher Against the Wall
A new publication in Lincoln, Neb., milks mug shots for humor. But a teenager whose arrest photo appeared in Cuffed doesn't see the funny side of it and has sued the publisher for misappropriating his image.
Read more...
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BA Settles 'Reckless' Baggage Handling Suit
Limiting its liability to a group of only 13 airline passengers, British Airways (NYSE: BAY) has settled a first-of-its kind lawsuit that accused the airline of being “inexcusably reckless” in its handling of passengers' baggage.
Read more...
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Judge Says "Gay" Still Defamatory in Texas
What one court has called “a veritable sea change in social attitudes about homosexuality” has evidently not reached Texas where a judge ruled that an airport security guard can sue a radio show host for calling him “gay” on the air.
Read more...
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Mom Says Hospital Gave Her Wrong
Baby to Nurse
Because of a hospital's error, Jennifer Spiegel became an involuntary wet nurse to another woman's newborn son. Now she is suing the hospital for its malpractice in providing her with the wrong baby to breastfeed.
Read more...
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Case Over MySpace Page Chills Student Speech
Several recent court rulings have been protective of off-campus student speech -– with the exception of a very shaky decision that a dissenting judge said “vests school officials with dangerously overbroad censorship discretion.”
Read more...
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Newdow v. Rio Lindo Union Sch. Dist.
Subject: Pledge of allegiance
Document: Opinion
Vance v. Rumsfeld
Subject: Detainee abuse
Document: Opinion
Stern v. Sony Corp.
Subject: Disabled gamers
Document: Opinion
Churchill v. Univ. of Colorado
Subject: Academic freedom
Document: ACLU amicus brief
KBR/Halliburton v. Jones
Subject: Sexual assault
Document: Petition for review
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Court: Orange County (Calif.) Superior
Subject: Botox death
Verdict: Defense
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Court: USDC, E. Mich.
Subject: Student harassment
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McClain v. Pfizer, Inc.
Date: 3/2/10
Court: USDC, Conn.
Hearing: Jury trial in case over unsafe lab conditions.
Sherman v. McDonald's Corp.
Date: 3/23/10
Court: Washington County (Ark.) Circuit
Hearing: Jury trial in case over nude photos.
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