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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Judge OKs Ex-Waitress's Suit Over Bestseller's Cover Print

The photo on the cover of “Nickel and Dimed” is not reasonably related to the subject matter of the nonfiction bestseller, an Illinois judge has ruled in refusing to dismiss a privacy suit against the book's publisher.

While working in 1986 as a waitress in Peoria, Kimmie Jo Christianson posed for Fortune magazine to illustrate an article about single mothers struggling to make ends meet. She sued Henry Holt and Co. last year after the same image appeared without her permission on the cover of “Nickel and Dimed.”

The book recounts author Barbara Ehrenreich's experiences working low-wage jobs such as waiting tables and the publisher argued that the First Amendment protects the cover of the book as much as it would the content.

But U.S. District Judge Joe Billy McDade said the photo of Christianson “does not depict any part of the story of Ms. Ehrenreich’s personal journey” and therefore fits within the publisher's “role of selling the book” rather than the author's role of telling a story.

“Defendants envision a world where a publisher can troll any medium for any individual’s personal image and use that image on the packaging for their publication -- free from the constraints that are faced by every distributor of every other product,” he ruled in a recent opinion. “This Court does not interpret the law as envisioned by Defendants.”

Christianson filed suit under the Illinois Right of Publicity Act, which says “[a] person may not use an individual’s identity for commercial purposes during the individual’s lifetime without having obtained previous written consent.” She alleges she only consented to having Fortune use her photograph.

Holt invoked two exceptions to the statute, but McDade said neither of them applied because the text of “Nickel and Dimed” does not “attempt to portray, describe or impersonate Plaintiff” and the use of her image on the cover has only the commercial purpose of “catch[ing] the eye of a prospective customer.”

On the First Amendment issue, McDade acknowledged that “The photograph and the book both concern the plight of the working poor in America.” But “at no point,” he continued,

is Plaintiff, her photo, or the restaurant where she appears ever part of the subject matter of the book ... [A]s a result, the book and the photo do not bear a reasonable relationship with each other.

In an earlier ruling, McDade commented, “Like it or not, customers judge a book by its cover and covers are often among the main reasons that today’s reader purchases a book.”

“Nickel and Dimed” has sold more than one million copies and been adapted into an off-Broadway play. Any damages to Christianson could be limited since, as McDade has noted, “she is not in the business of modeling or marketing the commercial value of her identity for book covers.”

Christianson says in her complaint that she never signed a written release "for the use of her picture in Fortune Magazine or for use in any other publication." She is also suing the Magnum photo agency and Ehrenreich.

UPDATE

  • The case was dismissed 7/14/08 as part of a settlement.

  • By Matthew Heller
    9/20/07


     
    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.
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    • Four Loko Maker Says Users Knew of Health Dangers

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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

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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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