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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• 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

• Massachusetts appeals court says 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

• Oregon judge rules that a self-proclaimed "investigative blogger" is not "considered 'media' for the purposes of applying a negligence standard in a defamation claim." Obsidian Finance v. Cox

• 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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Taser Jolted with $6.2M Wrongful-Death Award Print

taser1The day of reckoning may finally have arrived for the maker of Tasers as a California jury awarded $6.2 million to the family of a man who died after police repeatedly shocked him with the stun guns.

Out of more than 70 wrongful death or personal injury lawsuits involving Taser shocks, the case of Robert Heston is the first in which a jury has found Taser International (Nasdaq: TASR) liable. The verdict includes $1 million in compensatory damages and $5.2 million in punitive damages for negligent marketing of the Taser M26 product.

An autopsy showed dangerously high levels of methamphetamine in Heston's blood and Taser attributed his death to “excited delirium as a result of his chronic substance abuse, heavy use of methamphetamine, and an enlarged heart caused by his long-term drug abuse.” Heston, 40, died a day after being arrested at his parents' home in Salinas, Calif.

But “excited delirium” is not recognized as a diagnosis in official medical manuals and the federal court jury accepted the theory of Heston's parents that the repeated shocks from the Taser “electronic control device” caused him to have a heart attack.

“[A]s a consequence of the prolonged deployment of Taser ECDs prior to his death, Robert C. Heston suffered acidosis to a degree which caused him to have a cardiac arrest,” the jury ruled June 6, finding Taser liable for failing to adequately warn users of the potential effect of repeated shocks.

Acidosis is a buildup of lactic acid in the blood that can be caused by the rapid contraction and relaxation of muscles resulting from electric shocks.

The jury cleared four Salinas police officers of using excessive force and found Heston 85 percent responsible for his death, but the comparative negligence finding applies only to the compensatory damages, leaving a net award of $203,150 to Heston's estate and $5.15 million to his parents.

“I think Taser's going to have to rethink its litigation strategy and its warning policies,” plaintiffs' attorney John C. Burton said.

Taser has aggressively defended its products, asserting the “excited delirium” defense and even suing coroners who have cited Tasers in autopsy reports. Only last month, a judge ordered the Summit County, Ohio, coroner to remove any reference to Tasers in her reports on three men who died after confrontations with Taser-wielding police officers.

Taser attorney Mildred K. O'Linn argued there was not a “scintilla” of evidence proving the 50,000-volt Taser M26 caused Heston's death. But the jury's ruling has shot a big hole in the “excited delirium” theory.

Heston's father called police Feb. 19, 2005, saying he was “acting strangely.” He turned blue after officers shocked him multiple times with their Tasers -– even when he was lying face-down on the floor –- and died the following day.

The plaintiffs alleged that Taser negligently marketed the M26 by not providing adequate warnings that repeated shocks can cause cardiac arrest, especially in persons who are in an agitated or excited physical state.

Taser's stock fell more than 11 percent today, with analysts attributing the decline to the Heston verdict.

UPDATE

  • Taser's motions for a new trial and judgment as a matter of law are set for a hearing Sept. 26, 2008.


  • This story linked by:


    By Matthew Heller
    6/9/08


     
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