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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LC_ExtraPoints

• 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.




Alltop_125x125.jpg







Juror Misconduct Cited in P&G Satan Rumors Case Print

amwayFive Amway distributors who were held liable for spreading satanic rumors about Procter & Gamble have asked for the $19.25 million jury verdict to be thrown out, claiming jurors mistakenly awarded damages “in the form of attorney fees.”

Since the March 16 verdict, three of the 11 jurors have declared in affidavits that they found P&G had no case for any category of damages except “out of pocket” expenses. In his instructions to jurors, the trial judge said they could consider such expenses as P&G incurred to “correct the defendants’ false statements.”

In Lanham Act cases, only judges can award attorney's fees. But according to one juror's affidavit, “The out-of-pocket expenses category was presumed to be primarily attorneys' fees and litigation costs.”

Each juror estimated the attorneys' hourly rate -- “[W]e used our own experiences with attorneys and lawsuits,” another affidavit says –- and decided the appropriate compensation for 12 years of litigation. The awards ranged from $0 to $50 million, but averaged out to $19.25 million.

“[T]he jurors entered into a bizarre agreement concerning facts that were not in the record,” the defense says in a motion for a new trial.

The award against Randy Haugen of Ogden, Utah, and four of his Amway distributors was one of the largest for false advertising on record. In an April 1995 message posted on the Amvox internal phone-mail system, Haugen said P&G's president had appeared on a TV talk show and “stated that a large portion of the profits from [P&G] products go to support his satanic church.”

The affidavits -– which are attached to a motion for a judicial inquiry into possible jury misconduct -– certainly seem to explain how jurors could have awarded P&G damages despite the lack of any evidence that the rumors actually cost the company any sales.

“P&G could not prove a single lost sale at trial,” the misconduct motion says. “Lacking such evidence, the jury fashioned a damages remedy of its own in the form of attorney fees.”

The defense had proposed that the jury be instructed to consider “[a]ny reasonable and necessary out-of-pocket expenses that P&G incurred in preventing customers from being deceived.” But U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart rejected that wording, the defense says, leaving the jury

to speculate that attorneys’ fees and other legal expenses were necessary to correct the defendants’ false statements.

P&G's lawyers, meanwhile, have asked Stewart to apply the Lanham Act's provision for triple damages and increase the award to $57,750,000.

But a magistrate judge captured the flimsiness of P&G's case 10 years ago when he told the company, “[Y]ou could probably get three ladies from Snowville to say that maybe they didn't buy a bar of soap or something and that is going to be your damage claim.”

Other P&G v. Haugen Sources

By Matthew Heller
4/4/07



A retired New York cop has sued his former employer for failing to protect him from his wife, a fellow officer who allegedly shot him in a jealous rage after finding out he had cheated on her.

The New York Police Department is liable for the April 2006 shooting of Todd Jamison, the suit says, because supervisors knew of his wife's “violent propensities” and that there was a “pervasive risk” she was too dangerous to be trusted with a department-issue firearm.

Alison Spicer-Jamison allegedly used the weapon to shoot her husband four times in an ambush as he was driving his Mercedes in East New York. She had recently learned of his affair with an Onondaga County deputy sheriff.

The defendants violated Jamison's right to be free of punishment and were negligent in "failing to protect [him] from being gunned down about his body and suffering numerous injuries,” the federal complaint, which seeks $3 million in damages, says.

Jamison, who retired from the NYPD in 2005 and has been dubbed the “Casanova” cop by the tabloid press, has also sued Spicer-Jamison, his third wife, for divorce. She is awaiting trial for attempted murder.

UPDATE ... A New York judge stayed proceedings in the civil case until Nov. 16 pending the resolution of the criminal charges against Alison Spicer-Jamison.

By Matthew Heller
4/4/07


 
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.”
    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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