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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• 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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Court OKs Woman's Suit over Affair with Priest Print

Striking a long-overdue blow against predatory clergy, a New York appeals court has for the first time recognized that a clergyman acting as a marital counselor who has sex with a parishioner can be sued for breach of fiduciary duty.

Like other states, New York does not allow claims for clergy malpractice and a Monroe County judge dismissed the breach of fiduciary duty claim of a woman who sued a Catholic priest for damages arising out of her adulterous relationship with him.

The Jane Doe plaintiff alleged the sexual misconduct of Father Peter DeBellis was a breach of the fiduciary duty that he owed her because he had held himself out as qualified to conduct marriage counseling, and she went to him for that purpose.

But a 3-2 majority of the Appellate Division, Fourth Department reinstated her case, aligning itself with other states which have found a fiduciary duty if the clergy member “held himself out as possessing the education and experience” of a professional counselor.

Doe's case, the opinion said, was distinguishable from Wende C. v United Methodist Church, 6 A.D.3d 1047 (2004), in which the same court said a parishioner could not sue her pastoral counselor over their sexual affair.

In Wende C., “the gravamen of the complaint was clerical malpractice, and the complaint in that case did not in fact allege the breach of a fiduciary duty or that the duty assumed by the defendant cleric therein was secular in nature,” the majority explained.

The two dissenting justices -– Robert G. Hurlbutt and John V. Centra –- cited language from Wende C. which said “there is no meaningful analytical distinction between a cause of action for breach of fiduciary duty by a cleric and one for clergy malpractice.”

Both Doe's case and Wende C., the dissenters said, “involve a claim or cause of action for breach of fiduciary duty based on sexual relations between a parishioner and her pastor during pastoral counseling, and neither pastor possessed any license or credentials as a therapeutic counselor.”

New York's highest court, the Court of Appeals, affirmed the Wende C. decision, but left open “for another day the question whether [a cause of action for breach of fiduciary duty] may arise between a cleric and a parishioner under very different circumstances, not present here.”

It may be time for the Court of Appeals to take another look at the issue and decide definitively whether a pastor must be a licensed counselor to be sued for breach of fiduciary duty or whether he merely has to hold himself out as a professional counselor.

The Appellate Division, Second Department rejected a similar breach of fiduciary duty claim in Langford v. Roman Catholic Diocese, 271 A.D.2d 494 (2000). But in a dissent, Justice Nathan E. Miller said that “the hallmark of fiduciary duty -- an imbalance of power between the parties -- is especially manifest in the relationship between priest and parishioner.”

“In recognizing Langford's cause of action to recover damages for breach of fiduciary duty,” he concluded,

it would, for the first time, pose a deterrent to other predatory members of the clergy who presently have too little reason to fear personal retribution for their conduct causing grave injury to their victims.

UPDATE

  • New York's highest court dismissed the case in a March 26, 2009 opinion. Applying the test it recently established in Marmelstein v Kehillat New Hempstead, 11 N.Y.3d 15 (2008), the Court of Appeals said, "The bare allegation that Jane Doe was 'a vulnerable congregant' is insufficient to establish that plaintiff was particularly susceptible to Father DeBellis's influence." As On Point discussed here, Marmelstein has effectively shut the door on adult parishioners in New York alleging they were sexually exploited by clergy.


  • By Matthew Heller
    6/5/08


     
    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

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    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

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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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