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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• 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

• Massachusetts appeals court says 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

• Oregon judge rules that a self-proclaimed "investigative blogger" is not "considered 'media' for the purposes of applying a negligence standard in a defamation claim." Obsidian Finance v. Cox

• 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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Good Samaritan Surgeon Not Immune from Suit Print

A divided North Dakota Supreme Court has found that the state's Good Samaritan law does not apply to a medical malpractice case against a surgeon who volunteered to assist a colleague in an emergency procedure.

Dr. Inder Khokha, a general surgeon at Mercy Medical Center in Williston, assisted in the removal of a kidney from Rosie Chamley in February 2004. During the operation, Chamley's vena cava was damaged and she died five days later at another hospital.

“We are of the opinion that Dr. Khokha, as a matter of law, had an expectation of remuneration ... and is precluded from claiming immunity under the Good Samaritan Act,” a 3-2 majority of the Supreme Court ruled in reinstating the wrongful-death claim of Chamley's husband.

But Justice Daniel J. Crothers warned in a dissent that the majority's ruling would discourage surgeons from offering help in an emergency and “reduces the chance the next patient in Rosie Chamley's situation will survive the operating room.”

Chamley was originally admitted to Mercy Medical Center for the removal of kidney stones. The emergency arose after she suffered excessive bleeding and her urologist, Dr. Salem Shahin, concluded that she required a kidney removal.

Khokha was waiting in the doctors' lounge to operate on another patient when Shahin requested his assistance.

North Dakota's Good Samaritan law protects a person from liability “for acts or omissions arising out of a situation in which emergency aid or assistance is rendered,” but does not cover “Any person rendering aid or assistance with an expectation of remuneration.”

The trial court found the immunity applied to Khokha and summarily dismissed William Chamley's case against him. Khokha testified that at the time of the surgery on Rosie Chamley he was “trying to save the patient's life ... and wasn't thinking of anything else.”

But District Judge Steven L. Marquart, sitting by designation, wrote for the Supreme Court majority that

the combination of Dr. Khokha's being a salaried employee of the hospital and performing the procedure in the hospital ... caused him to have an expectation of remuneration when he was rendering the aid.

Crothers accused the majority of “going outside the [Good Samaritan] statute and adding a test for the physical location where Dr. Khokha rendered services.”

“I cannot agree with my colleagues that Dr. Khokha should be stripped of immunity as a matter of law because he received the same pay for trying to save the life of another physician's patient as he would have, had he done nothing,” he concluded.

In a concurring opinion, Justice Mary Muehlen Maring urged the Legislature to amend the law “to define 'with an expectation of remuneration' such that the immunity defense is not available to persons who 'ordinarily receive remuneration' for rendering care to a patient in a hospital setting.”

UPDATE

  • A Minot, N.D., jury in August 2008 cleared Dr. Khokha of any liability in the death of Rosie Chamley.

  • By Matthew Heller
    5/13/07

     
    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.”
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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.
      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...
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