September 2006 Archives

U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge ruled that Former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft does not have absolute immunity in a lawsuit related to material witnesses filed by a student. The suit claims the student, Abdullah al-Kidd, who played football for the University of Idaho, was wrongly imprisoned in a computer terrorism case

The judge rejected Ashcroft's arguument to toss out the lawsuit because he was entitled to absolute immunity since his position at the Department of Justice was prosecutorial.

Al-Kidd claimed government wrongfully arrested him in the case against a fellow student, Sami Omar Al-Hussayen, in 2003. They both worked for the Islamic Assembly of North America.

A jury acquitted Al-Hussayen of using his computer skills to foster terrorism and of three immigration violations after an eight-week federal trial. But Al-Hussayen _ who was only months from finishing his doctorate study at the University of Idaho _ was eventually deported to Saudi Arabia.

Al-Kidd was never called to testify, but he spent two weeks in jail as a material witness and was later released to the custody of his wife with strict limitations on where he could travel.

His lawsuit claimed Ashcroft was personally liable for violating his rights because after the terrorist attacks Ashcroft "created a national policy to improperly seek material witness warrants, oversaw the execution of such warrants, and failed to correct the constitutional violations of conducting such actions," according court documents. Al-Kidd said the investigation and detainment not only caused him to lose a scholarship to study in Saudi Arabia, but that it cost him employment opportunities.

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A federal court jury in New Orleans rejected a claim that pain killer Vioxx caused the 2003 heart attack of Robert Garry Smith who took the drug for approximately four months before his heart attack. Merck has now won two out of three federal Vioxx cases to go to trial.

Merck had argued that Smith, belonging to Kentucky, had multiple risk factors for a heart attack including elevated blood pressure, a family history of cardiac problems, coronary artery disease and he was considered medically obese. Additionally, he shoveled snow, in cold temperatures, for almost an hour on the day of his attack.

Vioxx has already landed the company in over 14,000 court cases. Merck voluntarily withdrew Vioxx from the market after a clinical study showed that 18 months of taking the drug increased the risk of heart attack and stroke.

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Family members of three people slain by a teenage boy on a New Mexico ranch filed a lawsuit on Monday claiming the video game "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" contributed to the shootings. The $ 600 million suit is against Posey himself, Sony Corporation of America, Take-Two Interactive Software and Rockstar Games.

Posey admitted to shooting and killing his father, Delbert Paul Posey, and stepmother, Tyrone Posey, along with a stepsister in 2004. He was sentenced earlier this year to state custody until he is 21.

During the trial, prosecutors described Posey as a ruthless killer. But defense lawyers claimed the teen was subject to years of abuse by his father, and that the killings were committed in self-defense.

But the wrongful death suit blames "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City," claiming that Posey played it "obsessively" for several months before the killings. According to the suit, plaintiffs' lawyer Jack Thompson was told by a sheriff's deputy that the game and a Sony Playstation 2 were found at the ranch.

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U.S. District Judge Anthony Ishii has ruled that automakers can continue their lawsuit seeking to block strict vehicle emission standards adopted two years ago by California regulators.

The auto emission standards adopted by the California Air Resources Board were designed to cut greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light trucks by 25 percent and from sport utility vehicles by 18 percent starting in 2009. Ten other states have since adopted the California standard.

The automobile industry sued in U.S. District Court in Fresno, arguing that the state law amounts to an attempt to set new fuel-economy standards, something it says can be done only by the federal government.

Judge Ishii ruled the suit should go to trial Jan. 30.

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AOL is facing a lawsuit filed in a District Court in Oakland, California by three  subscribers who suddenly found records of their Internet searches widely distributed online. They are suing the company under privacy laws and are seeking an end to its retention of search-related data, an Associated Press report said.

This is believed to be the first lawsuit in the wake of AOL's intentional release of some 19 million search requests made over a three-month period by more than 650,000 subscribers, including the three plaintiffs, two unnamed Californians and Kasadore Ramkissoon of Richmond County, New York.

The lawsuit seeks class-action status and does not specify the amount of damages being sought.

AOL has apologized for the release, and fired a researcher, while their chief technology officer had resigned over this issue.

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The parents of the six children killed by a Labor Day weekend apartment fire are suing the landlord, Jay Johnson, alleging that he was negligent.

The lawsuit filed today by an attorney for Augusta Ramirez, her husband Anando and Maria Ramos -- who also lost her daughter in the fire -- says that the landlord failed to keep the building in a reasonably safe condition.

It also says that the apartment had no smoke detectors.

Authorities have said the fire was started by candle, which the Ramirez family was using because their electricity had been cut off.

Killed in the fire were six children between the ages of three and 14. Five of the children were siblings in the Ramirez family. The sixth was Ramos' daughter.

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An art broker is suing Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses for $1.15 million, claiming that Rose reneged on a deal to pay $2.36 million for a portrait of John Lennon by Pop Art master Andy Warhol. Instead, according to the lawsuit filed Sept. 11 in Los Angeles Superior Court, Rose has paid $1.21 million and is refusing to pay more.

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A settlement of $ 2.15 million was reached in a class action suit involving strip searches that were conducted on thousands of inmates at the Will County Jail. Some of these people had been arrested for minor misdemeanor or traffic violations.

Last December, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman ruled that jailers violated the rights of many inmates in Will County Jail by strip searching them. He ruled the searches could be allowed only when jail officials had reasonable suspicion to believe an inmate was carrying contraband, such as drugs or weapons.

Several thousand former inmates will share the $2.15 million settlement.

A federal judge is considering whether tobacco companies should be tried on the question of whether they deceived smokers for years about the safety of "light" cigarettes.

The case, filed in 2004, is part of the latest legal assault against tobacco companies. After the companies successfully warded off many lawsuits by people claiming to have been injured by smoking, more cases have been filed against the companies for defrauding consumers by selling light cigarettes.

In this case, known as Schwab after the lead plaintiff, Barbara Schwab, the lawyers asserted that cigarette makers had deceived smokers into thinking that light cigarettes, representing 45 percent of the market, were safer or less addicting.

While many of these so-called light cases have been unsuccessful, the Schwab case follows an opinion last month by a federal judge in the District of Columbia, who found that cigarette companies had engaged in decades of fraud and racketeering, including misleading smokers and concealing information about the health risks of light cigarettes.

A federal judge has  upheld a $22 million award to 32 retirees of Exxon Mobil Corp. in Baton Rouge who claimed an investment firm needlessly risked their money with questionable investments.

Securities America Inc. and financial planner David McFadden of Baton Rouge have until Nov. 1 to ask the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to set aside the award issued by an arbitration panel, said Jim Swanson, an attorney representing the retirees.

Read our previous post about the award.

Alexandria Lipton, 25, and Kristen McRedmond, 27, filed a lawsuit in New York Supreme Court against the Sutton Place Bar and Restaurant, accusing their former bosses of ordering female employees to be weighed as part of a scheme to keep track of their weight.

The two women claim they were humiliated and sexually harassed by their boss, who kept tabs on waitresses' poundage by ordering some of them onto a scale in the restaurant's office.

The two ex-employees are represented by attorney Rosemarie Arnold, who said Redmond physically resisted when a beefy manager tried to pick her up to get her on the scale while another manager looked on.

Arnold said no men were subjected to being weighed; only female workers were singled out for the weigh-ins.

The lawsuit seeks $15 million for each of 11 counts.

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Former Utah Jazz forward Karl Malone has been sued by his former business partner, Sidney Ray Davis of Soda Springs. Davis claims that Malone offered him a $25,000 bribe to take the blame for an illegal elk hunting trip.

He also alleges that Malone's brother-in-law threatened violence if Davis did not cooperate.

Malone's lawyer denied that the player attempted bribery or intimidation and on Aug. 21, Malone's attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the case in Idaho's 6th District court. A ruling is expected later this month.

The allegations are related to the investigation into a 1998 hunting trip Malone took with Davis, who was a licensed outfitter at the time. Davis did not have a elk tag for Malone.

Malone was interviewed by Fish and Game officials, but never charged in the case.

In a viral marketing initiative, Starbucks sent an email to its employees with a coupon for a free 'grande' iced drink, suggesting that they forward it to 'friends and family'.

But when they noticed how many people were showing up claiming their free drinks, they quickly pulled the offer, a month before it was originally due to expire.

They are now facing a lawsuit for 'betrayal' and 'fraud' and claims of $114million.

Peter Sullivan, a New York attorney, has launched a class-action suit against the company on behalf of all the people denied a free drink. However, currently the only plaintiff actually involved is a paralegal named Kelly Coakley.

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A lawsuit was filed in federal court in Boston against the marketing services company Webloyalty.com for consumer fraud. The suit alleges that Webloyalty charged unwitting customers of major online retailers for memberships in a discount program that had no real benefits.

The suit relates to a program in which the Norwalk, Conn.-based Webloyalty.com used a popup window offering discount coupons on future purchases. This window then collected credit card information from companies whose consumers entered their e-mail addresses for the coupons.

Webloyalty billed the consumers for monthly membership fees of $9 or $10 for which they got no benefit, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit claims Webloyalty kept the fees and paid its retailer clients a fee for each customer who "signed up" for the discount membership.

Consumers were unaware they were being charged, as emails that informed consumers that they would have to cancel the program within 30 days if they wanted to avoid a monthly charge were usually ignored as spam, or shut out by spam blockers, the suit alleges.

"The lawsuit is frivolous. It completely misrepresents the manner in which Webloyalty.com conducts its business," Rick Fernandes, the company's founder and chief executive said in a statement. "We intend to vigorously defend ourselves and expect to prevail."

The consumers were customers of such companies as Staples.com, Petco.com, Priceline.com, and FTD.com, the lawsuit says.

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A federal jury Friday awarded $380,000 to Kristine Buffone, 32, who had sued Rosebud Restaurants, claiming that she was discriminated against when she became pregnant.

Kristine Buffone, 32, who worked at La Rosetta restaurant, said she was removed from the work schedule when her pregnancy became noticeable in July 2003. Buffone, a manager at the restaurant, had planned to work until her due date in November 2003.

Buffone's attorney, Eugene Hollander said his client testified that a supervisor told her: "You're getting too big -- we have to get you out of here."

There was also testimony that a restaurant cook said: "'No one wants to see a pregnant lady while they're eating dinner. It's disgusting,'" Hollander said.

Buffone said a manager took her off the schedule in July 2003 and that an executive instructed her to start family and medical leave. "There was absolutely no issue with Kristine's performance,'' Hollander said.

The jury awarded Buffone $55,000 in back pay, $75,000 in compensatory damages and $250,000 in punitive damages.

The family of 29-year-old Adam Avalos, who was killed while in the Doña Ana County Detention Center, has sued the County for wrongful death, negligence, negligent supervision and violations of civil rights.

Avalos’ widow, Sylvia, is seeking unspecified damages, and says that jail officials were negligent when they held Avalos together with violent inmates.

Avalos was found stabbed and beaten to death April 2 inside the Doña Ana County Detention Center. He was in jail on a probation violation.

Dominic Montoya, 30, a murder convict, has been charged in Avalos’ death.

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A Superior Court jury awarded the wife and son of a police officer who died after being  shot at while on duty, $3.6 million in damages. Of this $ 2.5 million is to be paid by two companies who manufactured the bullet-resistant vest that the officer, Tony Zeppetella was wearing. The felon who shot Zeppetella is liable for the remaining part of the damages, the jury ruled.

Officer Zeppetella was shot by Adrian Camacho, a prison parolee who had drugs in his car and wanted to avoid returning to prison.

A wrongful death suit was filed by Zeppetella's wife and son against Second Chance Body Armor, Inc. and Toyobo Co. Ltd, manufacturers of the protective vest that allowed one of the 13 bullets fired at him to penetrate his chest. The suit claimed that the companies were aware that the vest's ability to stop bullets deteriorated with exposure to heat, humidity and light, and the companies did not let their customers know.

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Caren Sharpe of Crestwood had sued the St. Louis College District for sexual harassment she suffered in an incident in which a campus police officer aimed an unloaded gun at her.

A jury has awarded $850,000 to Sharpe - $400,000 in compensatory damages for emotional distress and $450,000 in punitive damages.

In February 2004, Sharpe was working as a secretary for the police chief at the Meramec campus in Kirkwood when an officer whom, she said, had sexually harassed her in the past pointed a handgun at her and said, "if I can't have you, no one can," and pulled the trigger. There were no bullets in the gun. The officer, who was later fired, testified the incident was a joke. Sharpe said she took it seriously.

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Donna Trevino, the birth mother of a 3-year-old developmentally disabled child who died in foster care filed a $5 million lawsuit on Tuesday against county officials, the agency that placed the boy and the foster parents charged in his death.

Trevino, a Middletown woman whose son had been removed from her home because of allegations of neglect, is seeking $5 million. The foster parents, Liz and David Carroll Jr. are jailed on charges that include involuntary manslaughter in the death of Marcus Fiesel.

The lawsuit claims the defendants were negligent in failing to adequately supervise the placement and treatment of the boy.

Prosecutors say the Carrolls wrapped the boy in a blanket and packing tape, and left him in a closet while they went to a family reunion in August. The boy, Marcus Fiesel, was dead when the Carrolls returned two days later.

Prosecutors believe David Carroll burned the boy's body and may have dumped some of the remains in the Ohio River. They allege the couple made up a story about the child wandering off.

Besides the Carrolls, the defendants in the suit in Butler County Common Pleas Court are the county commissioners, the county's Children Services department and Lifeway for Youth Inc., the private agency that placed the child. Amy Baker, a woman who lived with the Carrolls and has been credited with helping investigators, also is a defendant.

Butler Children Services removed Marcus Fiesel and the two other children from Trevino's home in April.

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A recent article in the New York Times by Julie Creswell says that class-action lawsuits filed on behalf of shareholders in the wake of the collapse of companies like Enron and WorldCom have mostly not materialized, although over 80 companies are being investigated for backdating of stock options.

Creswell observes that lawyers are turning to what are called derivative suits, in which a shareholder sues on behalf of the company and settlements usually consist of corporate governance changes and legal fees.

So far, at least 57 companies have been sued in this way; some 15 class-action securities cases have been filed.

Proponents argue that the derivative lawsuits give shareholders a chance to force changes at the company, but critics counter that they do little more than produce fees for lawyers.

While legal fees are typically low in derivative suits, there have been a handful of high-profile cases where they amounted to millions.

Lawyers who filed a derivative suit involving accusations of insider trading by Lawrence J. Ellison, CEO, Oracle, received more than $22 million in fees and expenses for brokering an unusual settlement, which included Mr. Ellison making a $100 million contribution to charity.

Read our post on the Larry Ellison settlement.

Academy Award-winning rap group Three 6 Mafia requested the dismissal of a lawsuit filed against them by man who claimed he was severely beaten at a concert in 2003.

Ramone Williams,22 of McKeesport, PA  claimed in his July 2005 suit he was beaten during a concert at a now-defunct Pittsburgh nightclub on Aug. 26, 2003, when he was 19.

Williams said he was admitted into the Rock Jungle night club, despite being underage. When fans of Three 6 Mafia started acting out the lyrics to "Let's Start a Riot", Williams alleges he was thrown to the floor, hit with a chair, stomped on and kicked in the face, fracturing his left jaw. He won a default judgment against the club, which later closed.

A motion, filed by the group’s lawyer, John E. Hall, challenged Williams’ complaint, saying there is no "genuine issue of material fact" and that Three 6 Mafia’s lyrics are protected under the First Amendment to the Constitution.

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A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by a group that claimed that tobacco companies should pay $60 billion spent by Medicare on smoking-related illnesses.

United Seniors Association Inc., a Virginia-based lobbying group for senior citizens, sued three tobacco companies last year, claiming they intentionally hid cigarettes' addictive properties and should be held liable for Medicare's expenditures since August 1999 to treat illnesses related to smoking.

The lawsuit named as defendants Philip Morris USA, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., both individually and as the successors to the American Tobacco Co., Lorillard Tobacco Co. and Liggett Group Inc.

In a hearing in June, the companies asked U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns to dismiss the lawsuit, saying they had not been found liable for the medical bills and United Seniors had no standing to bring the lawsuit.

United Seniors had claimed that under the Medicare as Secondary Payer law, they could seek to recover government losses on behalf of taxpayers.

In his order filed Monday, Stearns said the case was a reprise of claims brought by the federal government in the 1990s against tobacco companies.

"These efforts by the government came largely to naught, with most courts rejecting the government's various theories of tobacco company liability," he wrote.

Stearns also pointed to a similar case in Florida, in which an appeals court said the plaintiff must prove a defendant's responsibility to pay Medicare costs before trying to recover them under the Medicare as Secondary Payer law.

Stearns' decision confirms that these types of lawsuits lack merit, Martin L. Holton III, deputy general counsel for litigation at R.J. Reynolds, said in a statement.

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The mother of a 14 year old Ohio girl who was jailed for 12 days for failing to testify against a man accused of having sex with her has sued the county prosecutor and sheriff.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court, seeks $12 million in damages for the 12 days the girl was held at the Summit County jail in May.

The girl was released after the 9th Ohio District Court of Appeals ruled she should not have been held without a hearing or placed in an adult jail. She had been isolated from adult inmates.

She then testified against 20-year-old Galo Sanchez-Pesantes, who was acquitted by a jury of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.

The lawsuit claims the girl was illegally held as a material witness, subjected to a strip search, denied access to education and visitors, and "offensively touched" while being handcuffed and shackled.

The defendants are Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh and two of her assistants, along with Sheriff Drew Alexander, jail Chief Steven Finical and unnamed sheriff's deputies.

Common Pleas Judge James Murphy, who ordered the girl held in jail after she failed to appear in his court to testify, has immunity from the lawsuit.

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A federal judge overturned $51 million in compensatory and punitive damages that had been awarded to Gerald Barnett, who suffered a heart attack after taking Vioxx, deeming the amount "excessive."

Judge Eldon Fallon of the U.S. District Court in New Orleans also ordered a new trial.

Earlier this month, a New Orleans jury ruled that Merck had been negligent for failing to adequately warn doctors about risks associated with the drug. The jury also found that Merck "knowingly misrepresented or failed to disclose" information about Vioxx to doctors treating the 62-year-old Barnett. Barnett was awarded $50 million in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages.

Barnett took Vioxx for 33 months before suffering a heart attack in September 2002, and for two years afterward.

Merck said in a statement that it will file a motion requesting the new trial also include all liability issues.

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