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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Investor Files $243,000 Ring Retrieval Suit Print

 

Sharon Bush & Gerald Tsai

Disputes over engagement rings appear to be getting more high profile with Wall Street investment manager Gerald Tsai now taking on a former sister-in-law of George W. Bush to whom he gave a $243,040 rock.

Tsai, 78, alleges Sharon Bush, 55, has refused to return the 11.07 carat diamond ring since they broke off their engagement in January and she is therefore liable for conversion, fraud and “replevin” (recovery of personal property claimed to be unlawfully taken). He bought the ring in December 2006 and says it is now worth $434,000.

“The transfer of the Ring by Plaintiff to Defendant was subject to the condition, agreed upon by Plaintiff and Defendant and implied by operation of law, that the Ring would be returned to Plaintiff by Defendant in the event that the marriage between Plaintiff and Defendant did not occur,” the complaint, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, says.

Bush, the ex-wife of Neil Bush, began dating Tsai in 2005 when they were both recovering from divorces. Neil Bush famously broke up with Sharon Bush by e-mail after 23 years of marriage.

Tsai's suit is a higher-priced version of a case filed last year by the ex-fiancé of Philadelphia TV news anchor Monica Malpass, who sued her for the return of a relatively modest $78,000 engagement ring. A recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court precedent supported the claims of Stephen Thorne and the case quickly settled.

Under Lindh v. Surman, 742 A.2d 643 (1999), the giving of an engagement ring is conditional on performance of a marriage ceremony, not acceptance of a marriage proposal, and the donor may recover it no matter who is at fault for the breakup.

New York law also tilts toward Tsai as a conditional ring-giver. A 1965 amendment to the state's Civil Rights Law allows a right of action to recover property when the “sole consideration” for the transfer of the property was “a contemplated marriage that has not occurred.”

In Goldstein v. Rosenthal, 288 N.Y.S.2d 503 (1968), a Bronx judge cited the Civil Rights Law in ordering the defendant to return an engagement ring to her ex-fiancé or pay him its agreed value of $2,450.

Tsai, who made his name as an investor in the 1960s, is seeking either a judgment declaring he is entitled to immediate possession of his gift to Sharon Bush or a judgment against her of $434,000 plus interest.

But Bush's attorney has already raised a fact-based defense, saying Tsai gave her the ring as a Christmas present, not as a token of their engagement. “We will vigorously defend this case,” promised Raoul Felder, best-known for representing celebrities in divorce cases. “The ring is hers.”

Tsai and Bush had once planned to marry at his estate in Rye, N.Y., on Valentine's Day of 2007. According to the New York Post, those plans fell apart after he refused to sign a prenuptial agreement guaranteeing her financial security if anything happened to him.

Felder slammed Tsai for filing his suit just days before this year's romantic holiday. “Valentine's Day is a day you give gifts to your sweetheart. It's not the day you demand Christmas presents back,” he told the Post.

By Matthew Heller
2/15/08


 
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Marsh v. Air Tran Airways
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Document: Complaint

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Subject: "Lassie" copyright
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Kardashian v. Old Navy
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RC_OnTrial

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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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