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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• Maryland appeals court says dog owners can be held strictly liable for pit bull attacks. "Because of its aggressive and vicious nature and its capability to inflict serious and sometimes fatal injuries, pit bulls and cross-bred pit bulls are inherently dangerous." Tracey v. Solesky

• Woman who has been diagnosed as a sex addict sues a school district for failing to prevent her from having sex with male students on the school bus when she was in 11th grade.
Barksdale v. Egg Harbor Township Bd. of Ed.

• Civil rights activist challenges Georgia's "stand your ground law." "By not defining what actions create a reasonable perception justifying the use of deadly force, the Act[] potentially deprives all Georgia[n]s of the right to life without due process of law." Hutchins v. Deal

• Former patient of a Rhode Island doctor sues him for featuring her in a book about drug addiction. "Plaintiff had expected, as any reasonable patient would, that her private conversations during her treatment sessions with the Defendant would remain private and confidential."
Lisnoff v. Stein

• Class action alleges the YMCA deceives consumers by representing that it practices "Christian" values while allowing its gyms to be used for gay sex trysts. "YMCAs around the country ... are currently being used as brothels for cruising, with the YMCA's knowledge and implicit consent."
Keister v. YMCA

• Social workers are not liable for a sexual assault on a 5-year-old boy by a 16-year-old male placed in an adoptive home. "To rule against the individual defendants in this case would definitely break new ground."
Doe v. Braddy

• Student sues college for refusing to grant her the "reasonable accommodation" of a single room after she complained about her roommate's exhibitionist behavior.
Blankmeyer v. Stonehill College

• School district can be sued over a guidance counselor's sexual relationship with a student who was over the age of consent. "The inherent imbalance of power between a guidance counselor in a public school and a student may render opportunistic sexual predation sufficiently shocking, even with a 'consenting' student over sixteen, to form the basis of a substantive due process claim."
Doe v. Fournier

• Utah judge finds a "credible threat" that Utah County officials will prosecute a polygamist and his wives for bigamy. The officials' acts "suggest that an actual prosecution of Plaintiffs is forthcoming."
Brown v. Herbert

• Louisville, Ky., strip club sues a competitor for displaying an electronic sign outside a convention center that said "Don't go to Godfathers, their girls are ugly and have crabs."
The Godfather v. Trixie's Lounge

• A lawyer cannot sue two women he dated for posting derogatory comments about him on liarscheatersrus.com. "[W]hen viewed within the larger context of the website on which they were posted, there can be no doubt that a reasonable reader would understand the comments to be opinion." Coulotte v. Ryncarz

• Oglala Sioux tribe sues beer makers and Whiteclay, Neb., bars for enabling alcohol abuse on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The illegal trade in alcohol has "caused devastating injuries to the Lakota people and massive financial damages to the [tribe]."
Oglala Sioux Tribe v. Schwarting




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Brothers Seek to Dismiss Holloway Kin's Suit Print

 

Deepak Kalpoe

A Los Angeles judge's decision on a jurisdictional issue suggests that two Surinamese brothers suspected in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway will be able to have their legal cake and eat it, too.

Deepak and Satish Kalpoe are pursuing a libel suit against Dr. Phil in Los Angeles for falsely portraying them “as being involved in the murder of Natalee Holloway,” while also seeking to avoid being sued for wrongful death by Holloway's parents in the same court.

The parents contend the Kalpoes “impliedly consented” to California jurisdiction by suing Dr. Phil on claims arising from and related to the subject matter, events, occurrences and transactions upon which [the wrongful-death] action is based.”

But Superior Court Judge Edward A. Ferns recently ruled the two cases were not “related” under court rules that allow cases to be combined for efficiency reasons.

“These actions do not arise from the same or substantially identical transactions, happenings or events; nor do they require a determination of the same or substantially questions of law or fact,” Ferns, who is handling the Dr. Phil case, said in a minute order.

The Kalpoes' attorney, Kristina M. Beck, cited the ruling in a motion she filed last week to quash the wrongful death suit. Holloway's parents, she argued, are not part of the defamation case and the alleged misconduct of the Kalpoes and Dr. Phil occurred in two entirely different places –- the Caribbean island of Aruba and California.

"Neither Deepak nor Satish has ever traveled to California, or anywhere within the United States, for business or pleasure," their mother said in a court declaration.

The Kalpoe brothers were seen leaving an Aruba nightclub with Holloway and a Dutch national, Joran van der Sloot, shortly before she disappeared while on a class trip in May 2005. Police arrested the Kalpoes but released them without charge.

Holloway's parents -- Beth Holloway Twitty and Dave Holloway -- claim the two cases in California are connected because the Kalpoes' suit involves Dr. Phil's republication of “numerous statements” made by Twitty to the media, “all of which relate to the events which are the subject of [the wrongful-death] action.”

“They are the ones who first filed a lawsuit in California,” Dave Holloway told the Meridian Star newspaper in Mississippi this week. “And now they say we can’t. Doesn’t make sense, does it?”

In an answer to the libel case filed Feb. 23, Dr. Phil said the widespread media coverage of the Kalpoes' arrest “serves to mitigate any damages allegedly suffered by them and bars or reduces their right to recover any damages.”

A New York judge last year dismissed the Holloway parents' wrongful-death suit against van der Sloot for lack of jurisdiction.

By Matthew Heller
3/1/07

 

Editor's note: On Point's RSS feed has moved to this link.

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RC_OnFile

U.S. v. Arpaio
Subject: Civil rights
Document: Complaint

Schultz v. Medina Valley
Subject: School prayer
Document: Non-Kumbaya order

Chopourian v. Catholic Healthcare
Subject: Sexual harassment
Document: Verdict

Jackson v. Paula Deen
Subject: Sexual harassment
Document: Complaint

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

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RC_OnTrial

Peterson/Pryde v. Thyden
Court: Montgomery (Va.) Circuit
Subject: Virginia Tech shootings
Verdict: $8 million

Sheridan v. Cherry
Court: L.A. Superior
Subject: Wrongful termination

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RC_OnTheDocket

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

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