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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Media Storm Prompts Skier to Seek Gag Order Print

Buffeted by a media backlash, an injured skier suing an 8-year-old is seeking a gag order in the case to protect him from further public humiliation and address the “real threat” that he will not receive a fair trial.

David Pfahler has experienced what his attorney called “an electronic tar and feathering” since a Colorado newspaper published a story about his case. He and his wife sued Scott Swimm in September over a collision on a Vail Valley ski slope that injured his shoulder.

Gag orders are rarely granted in civil cases, but Pfahler argues one is warranted in his case because the media comments of Swimm's parents “combined with media commentary, and uninformed legal opinions as to the liability of minors on Colorado ski slopes, have caused the public to vilify and humiliate the plaintiffs.”

The Denver Post has quoted Swimm's mother saying of Pfahler, “It’s ludicrous. This man should be drawn and quartered.”

“It is positively inflammatory for a party to suggest that another party should be violently murdered for filing a civil claim,” Pfahler says in his motion for a gag order.

Stories about the case in the Denver newspapers, he notes, have generated “hundreds of reader comments ... almost all of which are negatively biased against the Pfahlers” and those postings,

in which readers (potential jurors) decry one party’s position before trial, are specific evidence that there is a reasonable likelihood that the ongoing media blitz poses a real threat that the Pfahlers will be deprived of a just resolution of their dispute.

The motion also provides a detailed account of the fateful collision, attaching the ski patrol's report as an exhibit.

“Pfahler never saw what was coming,” the motion says. “All he knows is that his legs were suddenly knocked out from under him, and that he was upended by the minor defendant who hit him at high speed from behind.”

The plaintiff also denies the Swimms' claim that he grabbed Scott by the ankles after they collided. “Mr. Pfahler was suffering at the time with what was later diagnosed as a 'massive rotator cuff tear,'” he says.

Some media accounts have said minors in Colorado are immune from civil suits. But Pfahler insists it is “settled Colorado law that the age of Scott Swimm is immaterial to his liability” and that his claims are “neither frivolous, groundless nor baseless.”

The Swimms have until Jan. 28 to respond to the motion. In the collision report, Scott's father says Pfahler "cut in front of my son. He was unable to stop in time."

UPDATE

  • U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael J. Watanabe denied the gag order motion. The publicity in the case "is not so great that a fair trial cannot be obtained," he said in a Feb. 4, 2008 order.

  •  

    Other Pfahler v. Swimm Sources

    By Matthew Heller
    1/17/08


     
    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.
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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.
      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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    RC_OnTrial

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    RC_OnTheDocket

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