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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School Fights Disclosure of Raunchy E-Mails Print

E-mail correspondence between South Dakota school officials that displays photos of topless women has ignited a discovery dispute in the case of a former student who alleges a teacher sexually assaulted her.

The Mitchell School District has filed a motion for an order sealing the e-mails, arguing they are “irrelevant” to the claims of Brittany Plamp and public disclosure “may potentially impact the jury pool.” Plamp alleges a Mitchell High School teacher included in the correspondence, Andrew Tate, touched her inappropriately when she was a student in 2006.

“[I]t is anticipated the documents would be used by Plaintiff primarily to attempt to 'shock' the jury,” the district says.

One of the e-mails, entitled “Golf Attire,” was sent by School Board President Bob Eversen to Tate and Terry Aslesen, a former Mitchell High principal who now teaches there. Attached to the e-mail are photos of topless women playing golf.

But Plamp insists the emails “illustrate the insensitive attitude” of district officials toward sexual harassment and discrimination and therefore support her civil-rights claims.

“[T]his case involves a South Dakota school district accused of permitting sexual harassment and/or discrimination to occur within the hallways of its schools,” she says in her response to the sealing motion. “This is a case where the public should not be deprived of access to the information in [the] case.”

Plamp attached the e-mails as exhibits to a brief opposing the district's motion for summary judgment. In addition to the “Golf Attire” e-mail, she included a message, sent by Aslesen to Tate and two others, which has “Golf Tee's” in the subject line and, again, features bare-breasted women.

“[T]he e-mails are of a sexually inappropriate and harassing nature because they objectify women,” she argues.

Tate was a government teacher and girl's golf coach at Mitchell High. Plamp testified in a deposition that he assaulted her in his classroom, lifting her shirt to the bra line and feeling her “whole butt” during a conversation about her health and eating habits.

Trial in the case is set for June 24 in Sioux Falls. The school district says “no gain would be had in allowing the public access to the exhibits” and that it “anticipates filing a motion in limine to prohibit these documents from being utilized or referred to at trial.”

UPDATE

  • U.S. Magistrate Judge John E. Simko denied the motion to seal in an April 28 order.

  • A jury ruled July 2 that Tate committed a battery but the school district was not liable for his behavior.

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    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...
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      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.
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      Read more...
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