• 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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Cheating Husband's Suit Against Florist Wilts |
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 There will be no justice in Texas for a Houston man who wants 1-800-Flowers to pay for the anguish it allegedly caused him by providing proof of an extramarital affair to his wife, a federal judge has ruled.
Granting a motion to dismiss Leroy Greer's unusual breach of contract case, U.S. District Judge Nancy F. Atlas said the Terms of Use that apply to those who access 1-800-Flowers.com required the case to be filed in New York -– even though Greer ordered a dozen red roses for his girlfriend over the telephone, not through the website.
The Terms of Use include a forum selection clause under which New York courts are the exclusive venue for “all claims and disputes arising under the Terms of Use or in connection with this Web Site.” 1-800-Flowers is based on Long Island, N.Y.
Greer argued that enforcement of the forum selection clause would be “unfair and outside of good business practice specifically when related to a purchase of nominal gifts such as flowers versus an oil-related overseas transaction[ ].”
But Atlas found the clause applies to Greer because he accessed the 1-800-Flowers privacy policy online after being referred to it by a customer service agent and the privacy policy is part of the Terms of Use.
“Accessing the website constitutes the agreement to be bound by the Terms of Use, including its forum selection clause,” she said in her ruling.
Greer sued 1-800-Flowers in August, claiming the company breached its privacy policy by sending a card to his home address thanking him for his purchase and then, after his wife saw the card, faxing her a copy of his order. “Defendants' misrepresentation [of privacy] damaged Plaintiff by leading to a contested divorce with his wife,” the complaint alleges.
Atlas's decision may seem somewhat unfair since Greer's use of 1-800-Flowers.com was only incidental to his telephone contact with the sales agent.
“The Privacy Policy that refers to the Terms of Use Policy for 1-800-FLOWERS.com customers is only applicable and actionable in this instance because defendant directed Leroy Greer to the online policy as an assurance that 1-800-FLOWERS 'recognizes and respects the importance of maintaining the privacy of our customers ... and established this Privacy Policy as a result,'” he said in his opposition to the motion to dismiss.
But if Greer had not been directed to the privacy policy, he would not have a case -– however flimsy -- in the first place. So there's an element of sophistry in his argument that he should not be bound by the forum selection clause in that same contract.
Greer's attorney, Kennitra Foote, said she disagreed with the ruling, but "we will not be appealing. Instead, we have decided that New York is probably the better venue for this case so we will be filing there in the next couple of weeks."
By Matthew Heller
10/13/07 
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.”
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Motorist Who Flipped off Cop Gets $50K From City
The citation of a motorist for displaying his middle finger to a police officer -– what a judge described as a “somewhat innocuous” gesture -- turned out to be quite expensive for the City of Pittsburgh as it agreed to pay $50,000 to the bird-flipper.
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Spears v. Allergan, Inc.
Court: Orange County (Calif.) Superior
Subject: Botox death
Verdict: Defense
Patterson v. Hudson Area Schools
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.
more
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