• Owners of Who Dat?, Inc. sue the NFL and the New Orleans Saints for trademark infringement, seeking to protect the mark that "has become one of the most recognizable in all of America and quickly became well-known around the world."
Who Dat?, Inc. v. NFL Properties
• 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
 
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Strip-Search Hoax Lawsuit Goes to Trial |
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McDonald's Corp. could be heading for trouble if the burger giant allows a Kentucky jury to decide whether it is responsible for the sexual humiliation inflicted on a former employee as a result of a strip-search hoax.
An assistant manager at a McDonald's in Mt. Washington, Ky., detained Louise Ogborn, then 18, in her office for 3-1/2 hours in April 2004 after a caller masquerading as a police officer said an employee had stolen a purse from a customer. Following the caller's instructions, the manager's fiancé had Ogborn do calisthenics in the nude and perform oral sex on him.
Similar cases have settled before trial (see table below), but McDonald's has so far played hardball with Ogborn, who is seeking more than $200 million in damages from the company for negligence, assault and sexual harassment. Jury selection began Sept. 10 in Bullitt County Circuit Court.
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UPDATES
The jury Oct. 5 awarded Ogborn $6.1 million and another $1.1 million to assistant manager Donna Summers. "Louise has stood up for what happened to her and what McDonald's failed to do for three-and-a-half years, and this jury just vindicated her completely," her attorney said.
The Kentucky Court of Appeals affirmed the award to Ogborn in a Nov. 20, 2009 opinion.
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In a press release, McDonald's claimed Ogborn's injuries, “if any,” were caused by her own failure to realize the caller was not a police officer. During her deposition, a defense attorney suggested she was free to walk out of Donna Summers' office at any time -– even though she was naked and Summers' fiancé beat her for not complying with his demands.
But the entire incident was captured on DVD by a surveillance camera, giving the plaintiff incontrovertible evidence of the psychological terror she suffered. “I was scared for my life,” she testified in her deposition.
Before Ogborn's ordeal, moreover, 44 other McDonald's restaurants around the country had received strip-search hoax calls, allegedly from the same person. Yet according to their depositions, neither Summers nor Kim Dockery, another assistant manager, had heard anything about them.
Last week, Senior Judge Tom McDonald (no relation) ordered the company to disclose all information about those hoaxes and sanctioned the company for failing to disclose four other incidents. As part of the sanctions, McDonald's must give Ogborn material that normally would be protected by the attorney-client privilege.
“It is inconceivable to the court how somebody could not know of cases in which they were sued,” the judge said.
Ogborn's therapist has said she has suffered from panic attacks, severe insomnia and nightmares. With the discovery sanctions, an extremely sympathetic plaintiff, and the DVD recording, McDonald's could be risking a severe judgment by going to trial rather than settling the case.
The jury will also hear Summers' $50 million counterclaim against McDonald's.
| Case |
Disposition |
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Carouthers v. McDonald's Corp. (Muskingum County Ct. of Common Pleas, Ohio)
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Case settled in March 2001.
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Doe v. TJ Goodman Inc. (USDC, Utah)
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Case against McDonald's and franchisee settled in Aug. 2003.
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Catalano v. GWD Management (USDC, S. Ga.)
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Case against franchisee settled in Jan. 2007 after dismissal of claims against McDonald's.
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Thomas v. Blockbuster Video (Burleigh County Dist. Ct., N.D.)
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Jury awarded plaintiff $250,000 in damages against manager of video store in Jan. 2007.
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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
more
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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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