• Boston judge refuses to require Massachusetts to include materials that deny the Armenian genocide in the public school curriculum.
"[T]he decision as to what to teach about ... the Armenian genocide must be made by elected officials, educators, and teachers rather than by federal judges."
Griswold v. Driscoll
• Kentucky Court of Appeals upholds a $3.7 million jury award against a school board for ignoring a student's complaints that several teachers had molested her. Plaintiff Lynne Maner "presented sufficient evidence that the Board was deliberately indifferen[t] in its failure to act." Maner v. Fayette County Board of Education
• 6th Circuit revives the racial bias case of an African-American couple who sued a hotel for refusing to host their wedding reception. "There is a genuine issue of material fact in this case as to whether ... the Hotel denied them the right to enter into a contract because of their race." Keck v. Graham Hotel Systems
• San Francisco judge rules that a city did not violate a hiker's rights by failing to protect her from an attack on public land by a rancher's cattle. "[P]laintiffs have not alleged facts supporting a claim that the City was deliberately indifferent to a known or obvious danger" to Jo Dee Schmidt. Schmidt v. Hoover
• Divided New York appellate court says a golfer is not liable for striking another golfer in the eye with an errant drive. The defendant's failure to yell "Fore" before hitting the ball "does not rise to the level of creating a dangerous condition over and above the usual dangers inherent in participating in the sport of golf." Anand v. Kapoor
• Sioux tribal members file a class action seeking their share of as much as $900 million held in trust by the federal government as compensation for the "taking" of the Black Hills of South Dakota. The plaintiffs have split from other Sioux who refuse to take the money, insisting on the return of the land.
Different Horse v. Salazar
• Texas Court of Appeals says a gas station owner is not liable for the negligence of an attendant who accidentally shot a customer while showing him a gun. The attendant's "actions were not merely a misuse of his authority; they were utterly unrelated to his duties."
Glass v. Williams
• San Francisco judge denies Chevron Corp.'s request for $485,159 in court costs from impoverished Nigerian villagers who sued the company for human rights violations. "The economic disparity between plaintiffs, who are Nigerian villagers, and defendants, international oil companies, cannot be more stark."
Bowoto v. Chevron
  
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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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UPDATE
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.
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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.
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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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No Prayer Now for Preacher's Suit Over "Religulous"
Less than three weeks after being sued for defrauding two former parishioners of $600,000, a Florida preacher dropped his $50 million lawsuit alleging the Bill Maher documentary “Religulous” falsely portrayed him as a charlatan, On Point has learned.
Read more...
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Man Burned at Burning Man Assumed Risk
Get too close to the Burning Man fire and you assume the “obvious and inherent” risk of being burned, a California appeals court has ruled in dismissing a personal injury lawsuit against the operators of the iconic countercultural arts festival.
Read more...
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Lawyer's 'Prove Me Wrong' Offer No Joke to Student
A Texas law student may have taken a $1 million “prove me wrong” challenge seriously, but the criminal defense lawyer who made the challenge on a TV news show appears to have done so with enough tongue in cheek to avoid liability for not paying up.
Read more...
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Jury Chills Rights in Strip Search Case
A jury has reached a chilling decision in the civil rights case of a Southampton, N.Y., woman, clearing four police officers in the exclusive resort community of liability for performing a strip search on her after a minor marijuana bust.
Read more...
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Toxic Bra Suits Won't be Combined in Ohio
A rash of lawsuits against Victoria's Secret alleging defectively manufactured underwear is continuing with eight new cases filed in the past two months. But in a setback for plaintiffs, a judicial panel has refused to consolidate all the litigation in Ohio.
Read more...
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Wedding Fiasco Suit Really Takes Cake
Sandra Newsom's wedding disaster lawsuit may -– literally –- take the cake. The New York woman has sued a cruise ship operator for ruining her wedding reception by serving a coconut-containing cake to which she had an allergic reaction.
Read more...
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Woody Allen Got $5M After Judge Shredded Defense
A week before American Apparel agreed to pay Woody Allen $5 million for misappropriating his image, a judge had shredded the clothing company's First Amendment defense based on its CEO's “mental processes,” On Point has learned.
Read more...
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Capitol Records v. Thomas
Court: USDC, Minn.
Subject: Digital music downloading
Verdict: $1.92 million
ASPCA v. Ringling Bros.
Court: USDC, D. Col.
Subject: Illegal "taking" of elephants by circus
more
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Howard K. Stern v. Rita Cosby
Date: 7/7/09
Court: USDC, S. N.Y.
Hearing: Motions for summary judgment in defamation case.
Goldberg v. Paris Hilton Entertainment
Date: 7/9/09
Court: USDC, S. Fla.
Hearing: Jury trial in breach-of-contract case.
more
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