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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Trademark Rights Spark Battle over Burning Man Print

One of the founders of Burning Man has disturbed the harmony of the annual self-expression extravaganza, claiming in a trademark infringement suit that his ex-partners have cheated him out of his share of licensing revenues.

John Law helped transform the annual bonfire gatherings on a San Francisco beach into the multimillion dollar behemoth that Burning Man is today. More than 39,000 people paid at least $250 for admission to the 2006 Burning Man in Nevada's remote Black Rock desert.

But the suit filed Jan. 9 in San Francisco federal court alleges Law has not gotten his just rewards as co-founders Larry Harvey and Michael Mikel have taken control of the revenue stream from the licensing of the Burning Man trademark.

“Plaintiff is informed and believes and thereupon alleges that within the last year, Harvey announced that he ... always believed the [mark] was his alone,” the complaint says.

Law claims the trademark rights actually belong to Paper Man, a company he formed with Harvey and Mikel in 1997 as part of an agreement dissolving their partnership. Paper Man, he says, is supposed to license the rights every year to Black Rock City, the entity which operates the Burning Man festival.

But Harvey and Mikel are also Black Rock City board members and, according to Law, have paid him nothing from license fee revenues. “Harvey's and Mikel's positions with BRC and the Burning Man event created interests in Harvey and Mikel that conflicted with their interests in [Paper Man],” he argues.

No doubt mindful of Burning Man's noncommercial ideals, Law has cast the suit in an altruistic light. The trademark, he suggests on a blog, should be released into the public domain “where ANYONE can then BE Burning Man.”

“If it’s a real social movement with 'legs' and a destiny greater than being simply an awesome tailgate party then those who really are part of it and support it will never mistake the event, and their involvement in it, with 'Burning Man condoms' or 'Burning Man antacid tablets,'” he adds.

Black Rock City doesn't sound too keen on that idea. "Making Burning Man freely available to individuals who would only use it to make money would go against everything all of us have worked for over the years," spokeswoman Marian Goodell said in a statement. "We will not let that happen."

The complaint, moreover, requests a series of financial remedies, among them that Law should be paid his share “of the fair market licensing fees ... for all past uncompensated and under-compensated uses” of the Burning Man mark, trade dress and logo.

That share could total in the millions of dollars -– the fair market value of a license for the 2006 Burning Man, Law estimates, could be as high as $1 million. With those kinds of numbers, Law's lawsuit may ultimately be more about money than the “destiny” of Burning Man.

UPDATE

  • The case settled in March 2008 after U.S. District Judge William Alsup dismissed several of Law's claims.

  • By Matthew Heller
    1/12/07

     
    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...
    • Abuse Victim Can Sue Ex-DA Over 'Sexting' Messages

      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.
      Read more...
    • Four Loko Maker Says Users Knew of Health Dangers

      The maker of Four Loko has previewed its defense of a slew of product liability lawsuits, arguing that the physical effects of the energy drink's mixture of alcohol and caffeine — far from being an undisclosed risk to consumers — are precisely what made it so popular.
      Read more...
    • Mortician Sued for Speaking Ill of the Dead

      In a first-of-its-kind unprofessional conduct lawsuit, a woman has sued her former boss at a Michigan funeral home for making an indecent comment about the body of a dead man in front of her.
      Read more...
    • 'Next Friends' of Orcas Bid to Stop SeaWorld Slavery

      An animal rights lawsuit against SeaWorld for enslaving five killer whales at its aquatic theme parks in San Diego and Orlando may sink even though humans are representing the orcas as their “next friends.”
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    • Jury Finds No Harm to Boy From Wrongful Circumcision

      In a blow to supporters of male “genital integrity,” an Indiana jury has ruled that a doctor did not injure a boy by circumcising him when he was an infant even though his mother wanted him to be left intact.
      Read more...
    • Guest Can Sue Motel 6 Over Attack by Woman's Pimp

      A guest who paid for sex with a prostitute at a Motel 6 did not assume the risk of being attacked several hours later by the prostitute's pimp, a Pennsylvania judge has ruled in an unusual premises liability lawsuit against the motel operator.
      Read more...
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