• 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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Dirty Dancer Settles with Town -- to Tune of $275K |
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 A former Wyeth Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: WYE) manager says she wasn't expressing racial bias when she described herself as the “head nigger in charge” in front of an African-American employee -– she just had the phrase “fresh in my mind” after seeing the movie “Lean on Me.”
In the film, a school principal played by Morgan Freeman uses the phrase to convey his authority. “When I made the statement, I was referring to myself, and I did not intend to direct my comment at anyone but myself, and further never intended to hurt anyone who may have over heard the comment,” Patricia Stalter says in a court declaration.
Wyeth attached the declaration to a motion for summary dismissal of a discrimination suit filed by the African-American employee who overheard Stalter's comment. Joseph Gibson alleges he was subjected to a hostile work environment based on his race.
“A single offensive racial remark generally is insufficient to create a hostile work environment,” Wyeth argues in the motion.
According to Stalter, who worked at a Wyeth plant in Pearl River, N.Y., she saw “Lean on Me” in early October 2004. After she spoke about it with Francine Townsend, an African-American colleague, she says, “[S]ome of my African-American colleagues, including Townsend, used the 'HNIC' phrase to refer to me in jest on numerous occasions due to my position as a manager.”
On Oct. 26, 2004, Stalter had some trouble exerting her authority over two outside contractors who were visiting the plant. “Out of frustration,” she “blurted out to the contractors that I was the 'head nigger in charge ...”
“The phrase was fresh in my mind,” Stalter declares, “after having recently seen the movie 'Lean on Me' and having heard it from my colleagues recently ... I understand that it was inappropriate, and I deeply regret it.”
Gibson, who was at his desk about 20 feet away, has said that Stalter looked at him and said “Excuse me, Joe” before she made the “HNIC” comment -- which, if true, would suggest she wasn't being entirely spontaneous. She denies saying that in her declaration.
Courts have found the “routine” use of the word “nigger” in the workplace is evidence of discrimination, but Wyeth argues that Stalter uttered the type of “stray remark” which is not considered to be “severe or pervasive” enough to support a hostile work environment claim.
The company cited three cases (see ) in which courts found that “the use of the HNIC phrase is insufficient to demonstrate that a work environment is objectively hostile.”
Stalter got a written warning from Wyeth because of the “HNIC” incident and retired last April after nearly 36 years with the company. A Wyeth spokesman told the Journal News of White Plains, N.Y., that her retirement was not related to the lawsuit.
By Matthew Heller
11/13/08 
After a six-year legal battle over dirty dancing, a North Carolina town has agreed to pay $275,000 to a woman whom it had banned from its community center because of her “sexual gyrations.”
The settlement will come from the Town of Marshall's insurance fund in return for Rebecca Willis dropping her civil-rights suit, which had twice been reinstated by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
“I am very happy with this settlement and relieved that the lawsuit is finally over,” Willis said in a statement released by the ACLU. “Although I personally no longer desire to attend dances at the Town Depot, today’s $275,000 settlement should send a message to the Town that in the future, any government-sponsored events should allow for diversity and free expression by members of the community.”
The town could ill afford to risk a trial after the recent pasting it got from the 4th Circuit, which ruled in April that Willis had a triable equal protection claim against the town for treating her differently than other patrons of Friday night concerts at its community center who danced and dressed similarly.
“[A] reasonable jury could conclude that the Town’s actions, rather than being guided by concern for the public welfare, were actually motivated by a conscious desire to single her out for undeserved punishment,” the opinion said.
By Matthew Heller
11/13/08
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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'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.”
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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.
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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.
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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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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
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Brown v. Herbert
Date: 12/16/11
Court: USDC, Utah
Hearing: Motion to dismiss polygamy case
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