• Army bomb disposal expert sues the makers of "The Hurt Locker" for plagiarizing his life story. The film is "nothing more than the exploitation of a real life honorable, courageous, and long serving member of our country’s armed forces, by greedy multi-billion dollar 'entertainment' corporations."
Sarver v. The Hurt Locker
• Former patient sues the Cincinnati hospital where he was sexually assaulted by a transgender nurse. The nurse's "employment while masquerading as a member of the female gender in a hospital environment involved an unreasonable risk of harm to others."
Evans v. University of Cincinnati
• Federal judge enjoins the City of Phoenix from enforcing a noise ordinance against "sound generated in the course of religious expression," finding the right of churches to ring bells outweighs "the City's interest in preserving the peace and tranquility of its neighborhoods."
St. Mark Roman Catholic Parish v. City of Phoenix
• 5th Circuit says a Texas city's junked vehicle ordinance applies to a cactus planter made out of wrecked Oldsmobile 88. "Irrespective of the intentions of its creators ... the car-planter is a utilitarian device, an advertisement, and ultimately a 'junked vehicle.'"
Kleinman v. City of San Marcos
• Oklahoma City bomber Terry Nichols notifies a federal judge that he has gone on hunger strike, saying he is "prepared to die if necessary because he is done allowing his body to be defiled by [ ] refined and dead foods."
Nichols v. Federal Bureau of Prisons
• Texas judge finds the makers of a film about Rin Tin Tin did not infringe on the trademarks of a breeder of German Shepherds. "Defendants['] title 'Finding Rin Tin Tin: The Adventure Continues" is a fair use of the term 'Rin Tin Tin.'"
Rin Tin Tin, Inc. v. First Look Studios
• Illinois appeals court says the contact sports exception to negligence liability does not apply to the case of an athletic trainer who was struck in the eye by a hockey puck while refilling water bottles. Michael Weisberg "suffered injuries as a result of alleged conduct that was not inherent to the sport of hockey."
Weisberg v. Chicago Steel
• 3rd Circuit rules that a couple can sue Google for trespassing on their property while photographing it for the Street View feature. "[T]he Borings have alleged that Google entered upon their property without permission. If proven, that is a trespass, pure and simple."
Boring v. Google
 
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Pants Plaintiff Faults Judge for Clearing Cleaner |
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Soo and Jin Nam Chung
Indefatigable lost suit pants plaintiff Roy C. Pearson has returned to the legal fray, arguing that the trial judge mistakenly cleared his dry cleaners of liability for “the plain meaning” of their “Satisfaction Guaranteed” sign.
“The court effectively substituted a guarantee of satisfaction with 'reasonable' limits and preconditions for the unconditional and unambiguous guarantee of satisfaction the defendant-merchants chose to advertise for seven years,” Pearson says in a motion for reconsideration. “That was a fundamental legal error.”
Pearson, an administrative law judge, also seeks $425,000 in fees for his “excellent legal work under trying circumstances” -- which indicates his unbridled chutzpah since the defense has requested only $83,000 in attorney's fees.
After a two-day trial, D.C. Superior Court Judge Judith Bartnoff last month rejected Pearson's $54 million suit for unfair trade practices and fraud, finding that a “reasonable consumer” would not interpret “Satisfaction Guaranteed” to mean Custom Cleaners should have compensated him for his pants in any way he saw fit.
“Nothing in the law supports [the] position” that the sign is an unconditional guarantee, she said in her decision awarding judgment to the owners of Custom Cleaners, Soo and Jin Nam Chung.
But according to Pearson, the “reasonable consumer” test “is of no relevance when considering a term that is as clearly defined in the law as 'Satisfaction Guaranteed.'” If the Chungs' guarantee was conditional, he says, the sign should have said something like, "Satisfaction Guaranteed, IF we agree your dissatisfaction is legitimate and we agree to the compensation you demand."
By not including such limitations, the motion concludes,
The defendants guaranteed ... that there would be no debate on the question of their liability or plaintiff’s satisfaction – i.e., the plaintiff-customer would always be right.”
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UPDATE ... Judge Bartnoff denied the motion for reconsideration July 16.
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The case has turned Pearson into something of a legal pariah, with critics calling for him not to be reappointed to the bench or to be disbarred. “Plaintiff attempted to turn a case most appropriately brought in small claims court into a multi-million dollar nightmare,” defense counsel Christopher Manning said in his motion for attorney's fees.
All the signs are, however, that Pearson is intent on continuing his quixotic fight no matter what. He turned down a request from Manning last week that he consider giving up, for the Chungs' sake and his own.
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Other Pearson v. Chung Sources
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Perfume Allergy Case Settles for $100,000
A Detroit city planner with an allergy to perfume is savoring the sweet smell of legal success after the city agreed to pay her $100,000 and be more sensitive to the chemically sensitive.
Read more...
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Teen's Suit Puts Mug-Shot Publisher Against the Wall
A new publication in Lincoln, Neb., milks mug shots for humor. But a teenager whose arrest photo appeared in Cuffed doesn't see the funny side of it and has sued the publisher for misappropriating his image.
Read more...
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BA Settles 'Reckless' Baggage Handling Suit
Limiting its liability to a group of only 13 airline passengers, British Airways (NYSE: BAY) has settled a first-of-its kind lawsuit that accused the airline of being “inexcusably reckless” in its handling of passengers' baggage.
Read more...
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Judge Says "Gay" Still Defamatory in Texas
What one court has called “a veritable sea change in social attitudes about homosexuality” has evidently not reached Texas where a judge ruled that an airport security guard can sue a radio show host for calling him “gay” on the air.
Read more...
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Mom Says Hospital Gave Her Wrong
Baby to Nurse
Because of a hospital's error, Jennifer Spiegel became an involuntary wet nurse to another woman's newborn son. Now she is suing the hospital for its malpractice in providing her with the wrong baby to breastfeed.
Read more...
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Case Over MySpace Page Chills Student Speech
Several recent court rulings have been protective of off-campus student speech -– with the exception of a very shaky decision that a dissenting judge said “vests school officials with dangerously overbroad censorship discretion.”
Read more...
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Motorist Who Flipped off Cop Gets $50K From City
The citation of a motorist for displaying his middle finger to a police officer -– what a judge described as a “somewhat innocuous” gesture -- turned out to be quite expensive for the City of Pittsburgh as it agreed to pay $50,000 to the bird-flipper.
Read more...
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Spears v. Allergan, Inc.
Court: Orange County (Calif.) Superior
Subject: Botox death
Verdict: Defense
Patterson v. Hudson Area Schools
Court: USDC, E. Mich.
Subject: Student harassment
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McClain v. Pfizer, Inc.
Date: 3/2/10
Court: USDC, Conn.
Hearing: Jury trial in case over unsafe lab conditions.
Sherman v. McDonald's Corp.
Date: 3/23/10
Court: Washington County (Ark.) Circuit
Hearing: Jury trial in case over nude photos.
more
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