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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No Empathy from 4th Circuit Judge for Bias Victims Print

 

Judge Niemeyer

With his dissent in a sexual harassment case against a soccer coach, Judge Paul V. Niemeyer of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has demonstrated his complete inability to understand the dynamics of discrimination.

An en-banc panel of the 4th Circuit voted 8-2 earlier this month to reinstate the case of Melissa Jennings, who alleged coach Anson Dorrance created a hostile sexual environment in the women's soccer program at the University of North Carolina.

“Dorrance's persistent, sex-oriented discussions ... were degrading and humiliating to his players,” the majority opinion said, and “His conduct went far beyond simple teasing and qualified as sexual harassment.”

Among other things, the coach frequently questioned players about their sex lives, commented about their breasts and discussed his sexual fantasy of having an “Asian threesome.” At an evaluation meeting with Jennings, he asked her, “Who are you fucking?”

But to Niemeyer, this “sexual banter, while extensive and inappropriate,” did not amount to actionable harassment under Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972.

The “Who are you fucking” inquiry, he said in his dissent, “clearly did not focus on sex or include an overture to sex,” and, in “the world of competitive collegiate athletics ... coaches, by necessity, have a much more casual and personal relationship with their student-athletes.”

“We can hardly apply the standards of the classroom or the courtroom to the language of the athletic field,” Niemeyer concluded.

The ultra-conservative judge may be correct about the general context of collegiate athletics. But as Judge M. Blane Michael, writing for the majority, noted, Dorrance “was and still is the most successful women's soccer coach in U.S. college history” and had “tremendous power and influence” over his players' future in the game.

“The disparity in power between Dorrance and his players trapped players into responding to his questions and enduring the environment,” Michael said.

In that evaluation meeting, Jennings was literally trapped “in a dark hotel room, knee-to-knee, bed not made, sitting at one of those tiny tables” as Dorrance quizzed her about her sex life.

Since his appointment to the 4th Circuit by Bush I in 1990, Niemeyer has compiled a sorry list of judicial horrors (see table). Last year, he showed his blindness to the specific realities of discrimination when he affirmed the dismissal of the case of a black man who was fired from his job after complaining about a co-worker's racist remark. Jordan v. Alternative Resources Corp., 458 F.3d 332.

Only Judge Karen J. Williams, a similarly extreme conservative appointed by Bush I in 1992, joined Niemeyer in his dissent in Jennings v. University of North Carolina.

By Matthew Heller
4/25/07

 
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    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.
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  • Guest Can Sue Motel 6 Over Attack by Woman's Pimp

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Marsh v. Air Tran Airways
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Document: Complaint

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Kardashian v. Old Navy
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McKee v. Laurion
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Brown v. Herbert
Date: 12/16/11
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Hearing: Motion to dismiss polygamy case

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