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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Record $46M Awarded for Manager's Firing Print


trashcoEvidence including a “smoking e-mail” has helped persuade a Cleveland jury to award a record $46.6 million to a former trash company manager who was fired after he refused to dismiss three employees, all of whom were about 60 years of age.

Ronald Luri, 55, alleged in his wrongful termination case that not only did Republic Services Co. (NYSE: RSG) retaliate against him for engaging in the “protected activity” of complying with age discrimination law, but it also blocked his efforts to find another job in the Cleveland area.

The jury award –- the largest in Ohio history -– includes $3.5 million in compensation for Luri's lost wages as general manager of Republic's Cleveland office and $43.1 million in punitive damages. “I stood up for the rights of my employees and I was penalized for it,” Luri told the Cleveland Plain-Dealer after the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas jury reached its verdict last week.

Jurors said the key evidence was an e-mail memo written by Luri's boss, Jim Bowen. A computer forensics expert testified that Bowen had post-dated the memo and added criticism of Luri's job performance two weeks after Luri filed the lawsuit in August 2007.

“They blocked every opportunity for him to get another job,” one juror said.

Bowen took over as Republic's Ohio area president in August 2006 and, according to the complaint, told Luri two months later to fire Frank Pascuzzi, George Fiser and Louis Darienzo, specifying that Pascuzzi, who was more than 60 years old, should be replaced as controller with “a substantially younger” employee.

Luri refused to fire the employees, warning Bowen, the suit said, that they could sue the company for age discrimination. Bowen terminated him in April 2007.

“A causal connection exists between the protected activity and the adverse [employment] action given that, among other things, Mr. Bowen specifically told Mr. Luri ... that he was being terminated because he refused to terminate Mr. Pascuzzi,” Luri alleged.

Republic, which is based in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., will appeal the verdict. It had argued that Luri filed his suit because of “nothing more than his badly bruised ego” -- he was passed over for the area president job in favor of Bowen.

“There was no merit for this jury to award this amount based on the evidence presented at trial,” a company spokesman said. “This case is far from over.”

The ratio of punitive to compensatory damages –- which is more than 12:1 –- may indeed be a little high. But the evidence-tampering alone deserved a stiff penalty.

As the Ohio Employer's Law Blog put it, “Nothing will anger a jury more than a company that looks like it is trying to cover [up] its actions, either by destroying damaging documents or creating helpful ones.”

A pending $6 billion merger with Allied Waste Industries will make Republic the second-largest trash hauler in the U.S. The company earned $290 million last year on revenue of $3.2 billion.

This story linked by:

By Matthew Heller
7/8/08


 
rc_insidestories
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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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    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

more


RC_OnTheDocket

Brown v. Herbert
Date: 12/16/11
Court: USDC, Utah
Hearing: Motion to dismiss polygamy case

more