November 2008 Archives

A resident of Tacoma, Washington, whose name was in the papers after a construction crane that he was manning, collapsed in Bellevue two years ago, is suing The Seattle Post- Intelligencer and it's parent company, Hearst Communications Inc., for defamation. He alleges that the newspaper defamed him by unnecessarily reporting on his criminal past and drug use in the weeks after the accident.
Warren Yeakey, 36, also alleges that the newspaper invaded his privacy and cast him in a negative light thus inflicting emotional distress on him. The lawsuit filed by his attorney in the Pierce County Superior Court last week also names Texas Newspaper Inc., which owns a stake in The Seattle P-I and the two reporters, Andrea James and John Iwasaki, who wrote the front page article in November 2006, as a defendants.
Yeakey's name was later cleared with regard to the collapse of the crane when state Department of Labour and Industries conducted investigations which revealed that a flawed engineering design had doomed the crane. Yeakey, the department ascertained, had operated the crane appropriately and could not be blamed for the collapse.
The crane Yeakey was controlling collapsed in Bellevue slamming into surrounding buildings and killing a resident, Matthew Ammon. Yeakey was injured in the crash.
The lawsuit states that the front page article in the paper, listed Yeakey's drug related convictions in the past and also detailed the terms of his last conviction in 2000, falsely implying that he was somehow responsible for Ammon's death. This story ran before the state department finished its investigation and did not highlight how Yeakey had 6,500 hours of experience operating cranes and how he had been off drugs for six years.
Although it's been two years, Yeakey's attorney, Matt Renda, stated that the hurt caused by the media coverage of the incident is still fresh in his client's mind.

In July, a New York based hip- hop artist got into a brawl with bouncers of a Tempe bar that left him with a broken eye- socket. Michael Aguilar, who performs under the name of 'Double- O', is suing Club Peso, the corporation that owns Cherry Lounge & Pit on Mill Avenue for damages that cover medical expenses and lost income..
Albert Flores, a Phoenix based attorney who is representing the singer stated that they expected the court to award Aguilar $500,000 to $1 million in damages.
In July, Aguilar and his band mate Jabari Evans better known by his stage name 'Naledge', had just finished their show at the bar when Aguilar got into a confrontation with a bouncer over a bottle of vodka. The fight which was caught on tape by a photographer hired for the event started with Aguilar pinning a bouncer to the floor. He was later pulled off by other bouncers who then proceeded to hit him with closed fists on his face resulting in damage to his eye socket.
Tempe police charged Aguilar with misdemeanour assault and disorderly conduct. On reaching home in New York, Aguilar did community service to avoid going to court. His charges were subsequently dropped.
Aguilar alleges that he still suffers from the injuries he received that night. He had to undergo surgery to heal his eye and plastic surgery to repair his face. Flores stated that his medical expenses came to around $70,000 and that he missed several concerts while he was recovering.

Doctors, who failed to diagnose a patient suffering from sepsis in time, are now facing a lawsuit that seeks unspecified damages. The patient, Tabitha Mullings, 32, was left a quadruple amputee as well as partially blind, after suffering from severe sepsis.
In a separate lawsuit, Mullings who is a mother of three, had passed the court officer's exam and was looking forward to a career in the court system. She is also suing the city and emergency medical services and the fire department for $100 million in damages.
On September 14, Mullings was admitted to the Brooklyn Hospital Center in Fort Greene complaining of serious pain. Doctors diagnosed her as having a kidney stone and discharged her. The following day, Mullings called 911 twice as she was still in severe pain but both times paramedics told her that she did not require hospitalization. It was only when her fiancée brought her back to the hospital that doctors diagnosed a severe septic infection. Mullings was put into a medically induced coma for approximately two weeks. During this time, the sepsis had progressed quite far and she lost blood circulation to all of her extremities. Thus both her hands and feet had to be amputated. She was also left legally blind.
The lawsuit alleges that the two doctors who interacted with her when she first visited the hospital, failed to perform blood tests or complete physical examinations on her despite the fact that she had tell- tale symptoms of nausea, and pain in her right flank.
In her Notice of Claim, Mullings alleges that paramedics failed to follow procedure when they did not hospitalize her after she made two 911 calls within 24 hours.    
She is represented by Sanford A. Rubenstein of Brooklyn.

A Gregg County family won a staggering amount, of $2.3 million in damages for an accident that took place in February 2005 when their car had a head on collision with another car on West Marshall Avenue, Gregg County, Texas.
The family of Martha Hillin Wallace was awarded the large amount for the accident in which the jury found Jamie Lee Cocker, who drove the other car, 97 percent responsible and Mom's Biker Bar, where Coker allegedly drank alcohol hours before the accident, 3 percent responsible. Despite being charged with involuntary manslaughter and being summoned for court hearings in 2006, Coker never appeared for the trial and has not been apprehended either. His wife, who was a passenger in the car he was driving, was also killed in the crash.
Gregg County Judge, Alfonso Charles stated that this amount was the largest award in his courtroom since he took the bench in 2002.
The award is unusual as the defendant has been absent from both the criminal and civil proceedings of the case. There is no evidence of how much Coker drank at the bar or whether he consumed more alcohol after leaving the bar.
J. Ryan Fowler, who represented the Wallace family stated that they faced problems as they weren't allowed to tell the jury anything about Cocker's criminal conduct.
The bar's responsibility amounts to $60,000.
Hank Bauer, attorney for Mom's Biker Bar stated that they were not going to appeal the decision.

The family of a man from Glendale, Arizona, who was killed by a schizophrenic patient in a Walmart parking lot in 2005, finally got some justice when a Maricopa County Superior Court jury awarded them $36 million in damages.
Ed Liu, 56, was a patient of ValueOptions Inc., the company that held the state contract to provide behavioural health care till last year. Since Liu had suffered from paranoid schizophrenia for over 20 years and couldn't even recall shooting Graham, it was decided that he was mentally incompetent to stand for trial for the death of Graham as well as Anthony Spangler, 18, also of Glendale. Instead, the company was held responsible for the deaths and were found by the jury to be 90 percent responsible.
The two victims were Walmart employees and were collecting shopping carts when Liu fired at them with a Glock semiautomatic pistol.
As per court evidence, Liu had not been visited by a medical practitioner for eight months before the incident took place. A nurse practitioner who had been charged with his care had informed the company that his condition was deteriorating yet they did not take any action. Eventually, Liu ran out of the medication he needed to function.
In May 2005, Liu called ValueOptions representatives telling them that he wanted to get back on his medications. Since he didn't keep his appointment they forgot about him and did not follow up on his case. In August of the same year he killed Graham and Spangler.
The story that evolved from the trial seemed to indicate that the healthcare provider had several opportunities to avoid this accident.
The state of Arizona and Liu were also named in the lawsuit. While the state paid $250,000, Liu's insurance policy also paid an undisclosed amount.
Spangler's family has also filed a lawsuit which is pending a hearing.

More than five companies, who produce drugs to combat symptoms of menopause, have decided to reach settlements with angry patients, who claim that their products cause cancer.
Bristol- Myers Squibb Co. and Solvay SA are amongst the seven companies whose drugs, Estrace and Estratest respectively, have landed them in a lawsuit with over 1,000 women who contend that the drugs caused them to develop breast cancer.
These estrogen- based drugs offer hormone replacement treatment for women with menopause to alleviate symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats and mood swings.
A 2002 study linked the use of these drugs with the prevalence of breast cancer amongst women certain age.
Zoe Littlepage, a Houston based attorney representing some of the women, stated that the trial did not include Wyeth and Pfizer Inc., the two largest manufacturers of HRT drugs. Bristol- Myers and Solvay face the most claims over their HRT drugs, more so than Wyeth or Pfizer.
The trial which has been going on for three months will be presided over by judge William Wilson of the U.S. District Court.

An Orrick, Missouri teenager, responsible for the vehicular assault of a wheel chair bound man, is seeking the dismissal of his lawsuit. Cody Kolosick, 17, is awaiting trial for driving into Todd Dickens, while he was crossing the street in a wheelchair after one of his kid's baseball game. The accident took place in June after which Dickens filed a lawsuit against Kolosick. However, in September, Dickens passed away. Kolosick's attorneys have argued that as per Missouri laws, an 'estate' cannot bring suit. The law further states that only a child or spouse can bring a suit.
Tricia Wartenbee who is listed as next of kin to one of Dickens' children is not legally married to him but has been living with him for several years.
The lawsuit seeks $25,000 in actual damages in addition to punitive damages. Kolosick's attorneys argue that awarding punitive damages against their client would violate his fifth and fourteenth amendments and Missouri constitutional amendments.
At the moment Kolosick's trial has been stalled as prosecutors may change his charges from vehicular assault to vehicular manslaughter. The next court appearance is scheduled for December 23 by which time doctors tending to Dickens will submit a report about whether Dickens passed because of the injuries he sustained in the alleged accident.

A Martinsburg couple have filed a lawsuit against their landlord, rental agent and housing realtors for racial discrimination. They hope to receive more than $20 million in damages. Larry Andrew McKinney- Bey and Dorice Sisco claim that their landlord, Suzanne Potter, rental agent, Michelle Sandri and the Potomac Housing Relators refused to them their security deposit after they moved out of the home they were renting due to racial discrimination.
They claim that the agent and home owner started treated them differently when they found out that they were an Asiatic- Black couple. They refused to comply with any request that they presented except what was absolutely necessary.
The plaintiffs further allege that because the home owner and the agent wanted them out of the house they began to charge them more than their monthly rent, sometimes even doubling and tripling their overdue fees. They could never pay their rent on time because they always received their checks after rent was due. They had explained this to the renters at the time of renting the house, however, the renters refused to accept this explanation hence their computer always calculated the additional fees.
The couple originally filed a suit in Berkley Circuit Court in October. However, since their lawsuit talks about violations of the Federal Fair Housing Act, the defendants in the case requested that it be moved to a federal court.
To read the complete story on the West Virginia Record website click here.

A Pittsburgh prison inmate was awarded $185,000 for the actions of three prison guards. Andre Jacobs alleged that his legal papers were improperly taken away from him in prison and that he was retaliated against for filing a grievance.
The plaintiff was forced to wear a stun belt for the trial and represented himself before U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti.
A jury of eight people found ruled in favor of the prisoner against three prison guards of the State Correctional Institution, Pittsburgh, namely, former Capt. Thomas McConnell, Lt Gregory Giddens who now works at SCI Mercer and Carol Scire, the superindent's assistant.
The damages will be divded between the three employees and is for mental harm, property damage and punitive damages.
To read the whole article click here.

After surviving a disastrous plane crash in September, Travis Barker, the former drummer for Blink 182 has filed a lawsuit against the plane's owners, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., and an airplane maintenance company seeking more than $25,000 in damages.
Barker and fellow traveller DJ Adam Goldstein were the only survivors of the crash. The two pilots of the plane, Chris Baker, Barker's assistant and Charles Monroe Still Jr, his bodyguard did not survive the crash.
After the crash, Barker and Goldstein suffered second and third degree burns and were admitted to the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctor's Hospital in Augusta, Georgia.
Barker is seeking damages for pain, suffering, disfigurement, loss of earnings as well as medical and legal expenses. His allegation is that the accident took place because of the negligence of the companies that operated and maintained the Learjet. In addition to these allegations, Barker also claims in his lawsuit that the pilots who died in the crash were inadequately trained.
Information from efluxmedia website. Click here to read the original article.

Pic courtesy ugotsoul from flickr.com

An Ethiopian Baltimore- Washington International Airport (BWI) taxi driver who was arrested and later unsuccessfully prosecuted, just because he had complained to the Maryland Transportation Authority police about a shuttle bus that was blocking his exit, was awarded $305,000 in damages by a Baltimore jury.
In April 2005, Dawit Seyoum, a native of Ethiopia who is currently residing in Hyattsville, Maryland, suffered tears to his right bicep and tendons in that arm. According to his attorney, Cary J. Hansel III, the incident has resulted in a severe impingement of that arm.
The judgement which includes economic, non economic and punitive damages will allow Dawit to undergo surgery to improve his arm.
To read the complete article click here.

Eight years after a tragic gym accident left a young man wheelchair bound he is finally getting some justice. In 2001, Harold Leon Bostick, a native of Pennsylvania, became a quadriplegic when weightlifting equipment crashed onto his neck. After a long fight for justice, Bostick was finally awarded $18.6 million in damages recently.
This hard fought victory does not console the 39 year old who longs to return to the life he had before the accident.
A former marine who holds degrees in chemical engineering, business and law, Bostick suffered from temporary amnesia after his accident at Gold's Gym in Venice. The accident, caused by a Flex Equipment Co. Smith machine, took place because the safety stops weren't installed on the machine.
After this, Bostick sued Flex and Gold's Gym. He settled with Flex and its insurer, Atlantic Mutual for $1 million. However, Atlantic Mutual never responded to Bostick's offer. Later a Superior Court jury found Flex liable and awarded Bostick more than $14.6 million. Peeved at having to pay a such a large amount when they could have settled for less, Flex then gave Bostick permission to sue Atlantic Mutual for bad faith for refusing to settle earlier in the case. Gold's Gym settled with Bostick for $7.3 million.
Last week, after seven years of litigation, a U.S. district Court jury ordered the insurance company to make a payout of $11.3 million.
To read the complete article by Joanna Lin on the Los Angeles Times website, click here.

Pic courtesy pbo31/ Patrick Boury from flickr.com

A funeral director who assaulted a deputy coroner and a hospital worker in Berks County, Pennsylvania, was asked to hand over his financial records to an attorney representing the victims by a judge of the county. President Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl gave Kevin M. Bean 30 days to comply with the order.
In January last year, Bean, 49, was convicted in a jury trial for the assault of Second Deputy Coroner Wally A. Woytovich and Margaret M. Marino on March 16, 2006.
The recent court order was issued after attorney for the plaintiffs, Jay N. Abramowitch argued that Bean was attempting to delay the trial for the civil case so as to be able to hide his assets.
As a result of Abramowitch's argument the judge has ordered that if Bean fails to give an answer within the specified period then he will be held in contempt of court.
Schmehl previously ruled that Bean is liable for damages and ordered that a jury trial be held to determine the amount to be awarded to the victims for their expenses, their pain and anguish and any other expense that the jury deem necessary in order to punish Bean.
Bean assaulted the two in Reading Hospital after his wife, Kristin M, 39, was found hanging from the rafters in a gristmill nest to their home in Lower Heidelberg Township.
Bean punched Woytovich in the face when he told him that he could see his wife's body but not touch it. Marino tried to help Woytovich but Bean punched her and threw her against a wall.
Bean is serving a one to four year sentence in county prison followed by eight years of probation.
Bean completed his minimum sentence on Feb 8 this year but the parole board refused to release him as he had not participated in court ordered treatment for mental health and domestic violence. He also denied committing an offence.
Even if he was to be released he would have to remain in prison because Governor Ed Rendell has issued a moratorium on paroles for violent offenders until their crimes were reviewed. His decision was announced in September after four police officers were killed in Philadelphia by men on parole.

A former top official at Staten Island University Hospital who filed a defamation lawsuit against the hospital suffered defeat when jurors in Long Island federal court denied his claims.

Former executive vice president Joseph A.Psani filed a case against SIUH claiming that he had been made a scapegoat in a Medicaid fraud case. Jurors declined to award Pisani damages, fidning that the SIUH had not libelled him as he had alleged.

In his lawsuit Pisani alleges that the hospital, its president, Anthony C.Ferreri and its chief executive officer, had publicly humiliated him when they announced a $76.5 million settlement with Eliot Spitzer, then state attorney general, over fraudulent billing practices from 1998 to 2000. As a result of the settlement, Pisani was relieved from hi $480,000 position as executive vice president of Westchester County Health Care Corp. where he was working at the time of the SIUH settlement in May 2005.

For further details of the case read the complete article on SILive.com here.

A woman of the Sikh religious sect from India who allegedly suffered racial, religious and sexual harassment at her work place won a civil case against her former employers recently. After a three year legal battle Sukhbir Kaur, reached a settlement agreement with her former employers which also included a clause that forced them to change their employment policies.
The National Wholesale Liquidators (NWL) agreed to make changes to their employment policies that would rid the company of discrimination and pay monetary damages to Kaur and eight other victims of harassment worth $255,000.
Kaur alleged that her manager harassed her because she was a Sikh, a woman and an Indian. He told her on several occasions to remover her traditional turban because she would 'look sexier' without it.

A professor of Sussex County Community College is suing her institution claiming that she was sexually harassed and then denied a promotion and wrongfully dismissed by a superior when she refused his advances.
Darla Silverman is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages from the college. Silverman has named the college, its president, Constance Mierendorf, vice president, Harry Damato and associate professor of psychology, Richard Linden as defendants in her lawsuit.
Hired by the Newton school as an assistant professor of psychology in 2000, Silverman alleges that in the first two years of her appointment, Linden made several inappropriate advances to her. As she was not tenured yet and he was the only other member of the department who could have a say in whether she could get tenure, she did not confront him. She alerted Damato instead, who just told her to be patient with Linden.
In 2002, Silverman and Linden attended a conference together in Catskills during which they were given adjoining hotel rooms. At one point Linden entered her room and tried to forcibly hug and kiss her while telling her that he was in love with her. Silverman spurned his advances after which his behaviour towards her became very negative. He harassed her and humiliated her in front of students and colleagues.
Two of her colleagues who witnessed Linden's behaviour wrote a letter to the human resources department of the college in 2004. The former vice president dismissed the allegation and directed the pair to have minimal contact.
The injustice continued when in 2006 Silverman was passed over for a post that she was obviously qualified for. Later the person they hired quit the job owing to an illness after his first day. Silverman was then given the post but her designation was altered and she received less pay. She was classified as an executive assistant to the vice president even though her duties were the same as those of a dean. She took the job hoping to be promoted in 6 months to a year.
In 2007, Mierendorf became SCCC president but did not make Silverman a dean. In April when she resigned her post, the college made her former position a dean and hired a colleague of Mierendorf from Raritan Valley Community College in Somerset County.

Acne medication Accutane manufactured by pharmaceutical maker, Hoffman- La Roche has put the company in trouble yet again. Three Florida based residents who used the medication as teenagers developed acute long term Inflamatory Bowel Disease (IBD). The plaintiffs, represented jointly by law firms Hook Bolton, Seeger Weiss and Beggs & Lane, alleged that the manufacturer failed to provide adequate warning of the possible condition to the three patients who developed IBD as soon as they began using the product in their teens.
An eight person jury in Atlantic City found the pharmaceutical company guilty and awarded compensatory damages of $12.8 million to be divided between the three individuals.
This trial, which lasted five weeks, is one of several that links the use of Accutane to IBD. Nutley, NJ based Roche is fighting cases all over the country over allegations that Accutane was a cause of severe bowel maladies.
Kelly Mace, 25, of Pensacola, along with Jordan Speisman, 27, of Gainesville and Lance Sager, 28, of Ft Lauderdale were prescribed the drug nearly a decade ago to relieve adolescent acne. All three succumbed to various forms of IBD as a result of which, Mr Speisman will undergo a surgical removal of his colon while all three of them face an elevated rick of colon cancer in the future.
To read a complete account of the negligence of the pharmaceutical company that was forewarned about the dangers of the medication, click here.

A Wayne, NJ resident, who blew the whistle against the township last year, has filed another lawsuit against a lawyer who represented the township in the case last year. The defamation lawsuit alleges that lawyer Eric L. Harrison, bad- mouthed him while talking about the settlement to the media. Jeffrey DelVecchio is suing both Mount Olive, his former employers, and Harrison for falsely stating that his job as building inspector was terminated because of his rude and insubordinate behaviour.
DelVecchio has stated in his lawsuit that these defamatory statements violated the settlement agreement reached by both parties last year and also caused him mental anguish, stress, humiliation, pain and suffering. For this he is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
In October 2007, DelVecchio won a $130,000 lawsuit against Mount Olive under the Conscientious Employee Protection Act also known as the whistle- blower law alleging that he had been removed from his job in retaliation for reports he filed in 2005 about supposed violations of construction codes in the building of a Best Western hotel in Budd Lake. 

Eight female former prisoners of the Crane Correctional Facility were awarded $8.45 million in damages for the rape and sexual harassment they suffered in the 90s by guards at the facility in Coldwater, Michigan.
This is the second multimillion dollar verdict against the Michigan Department of Corrections in a huge civil case alleging widespread abuse in Michigan prisons.
The case is being heard in batches in front of Washtenaw Circuit Judge Timothy Connors, since more than 500 female prisoners have alleged that they were sexually abused by prison guards in the 90s.
The first verdict was handed out in February when 10 current and former prisoners were awarded $15.4 million in damages for sexual abuse by corrections officers at Scott Correctional Facility in Plymoth.
Deborah LaBelle, the lead attorney for the case stated that these prisoners had been deeply damaged by the hands of the state.
A third trial will be held in 2009 against Western Wayne Correctional Facility which was closed in 2004.
The verdict from the first trial is being appealed.

The Kentucky based Ku Klux Klan organization, whose members were brought to trial for the brutal assault of a latino teenager, may go bankrupt after being ordered to pay $2.5 million in damages.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, who sued the supremacist organization on behalf of the teenager, fought the case with the sole motive of reducing them to penury.
On Friday, a jury ordered the grand wizard of the Imperial Klans of America, Ron Edwards, and two of its former lieutenants to pay 19 year old Jordan Gruver $1.5 million for lost wages and medical expenses and Edwards to pay $1 million in punitive damages. 
Edwards plans to appeal the verdict and menacingly stated that the KKK would continue to remain active.
The trial came about as a result of a violent assault against Gruver, who is of Panamanian decent, at a fair in 2006. As a result of the attack, Gruver suffered a broke jaw, bruised ribs and permanent nerve damage to his left arm. He also suffers from post- traumatic stress syndrome.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, founded by Morris Dees who represented Gruver in this trial, is a unique organisation that has set a precedent in the U.S. for crippling and bankrupting some of the most virulent hate groups. It has successfully brought about a $7 million verdict against the United Klans of America in 1987 for the lynching of Michael Donald in Mobile Alabama, a $12.4 million verdict against the White Aryan Resistance in 1990 for the brutal murder of an Ethiopian student in Portland and a $6.3 million verdict against the Aryan Nations in 2000.

A Clearwater, Florida, based Company which was accused of defraudeding the owner of a crane company in Illinois lost its trial on Tuesday when a six- member jury ruled against it for taking a prepayment for a crane lease without giving anything in return.
This complaint is one of several against Global Funding LLC by angry customers. Some of these complaints are under investigation by four government agencies.
Marty Vogel, whose owns a business called 'The Crane Guy', stated that after he sent Global Funding a check for $4,183.46, the company stopped taking his calls and never returned his money. Managing Member of Global Funding, Jeffrey Maricle on the other hand, stated that his wife faxed and e-mailed Vogel after he signed a contract proposal and sent money, but Vogel failed to supply credit information needed to underwrite a lease.
The Florida Attorney General's Office is currently investigating at least 45 complaints made by other customers who claim that the company failed to return advance payments when equipment lease deals turned sour.
Marcile says he was simply following standards set by the industry when he kept some or all of his customer's advance payments for leases that were never carried out because the customers did not keep their side of the bargain. His company shut down at the end of October this year as lending sources dried up with the slump in the economy.
After deliberating for an hour, the jury found Global Funding LLC guilty of breach of contract, breach of duty of good faith and fair dealing and fraud.

A shop class teacher is set to face a lawsuit for an incident that took place three years ago, when he drove a forklift with defective brakes into a station wagon that was up on lifts, injuring two high school students who were working underneath.
The two Morro Bay High School students, Melissa Olson and Michael Van Heuver were trapped under the vehicle and suffered several injuries. They originally filed separate lawsuits against Roberts but their cases have been consolidated for the trial which will be held in January next year.
Olson's attorneys allege that she has been left with two damaged discs and is in constant pain while Van Heuver's attorney, Louis Koory, alleges that despite undergoing ulnar transplant surgery his client is still undergoing physical therapy.
David Cumberland, attorney for the San Luis Coastal Unified School District and for Roberts has stated that both the school district and Roberts have accepted responsibility for the incident.
While Van Heuver is asking for $75,000 in damages for medical expenses incurred to date and more than $100,000 to cover future medical damages, Olsen is asking for $37,271 for medical expenses, $4,000 for wage loss and more than $3 million for future medical expenses.
The lawsuit alleges that even though Roberts knew that the main brake of the fork lift was faulty and that its emergency brake didn't work, he still decided to drive it that ill fated day.

 

A student of the University of Delaware is filing a lawsuit against people who posted vulgar information about her on a gossip website called juicycampus.com. The identity of the plaintiff is being kept secret to protect her against further humiliation and her name has been stated as Jane Doe in the lawsuit. The identities of her detractors are yet to be ascertained. The plaintiff alleges that these people identified her by name and posted vulgar and false claims about her sexual history on the website. Apart from claiming damages for psychological impairment, emotional distress, loss of reputation and distraction from her school work, she is also asking for a public apology and for the comments to be removed from the site.
The anonymous posters did not stop at name calling and stated allegations about the plaintiff as fact. At least one of them (assuming they were different people) posted that Doe slept with three men on one night.
Such allegations are commonplace on the website which encourages students to post salacious gossip about their classmates anonymously.
The two year old site claims to provide absolute anonymity to people who visit it. They do not have a registration procedure and they don't ask for any information.
Jane Doe's lawsuit does not name the website as a defendant and many feel that they are equally responsible for Doe's defamation as they failed to enforce the terms of use of the consumer- fraud laws that require users to agree not to post abusive, obscene or defamatory content.
This legal battle is going to be hard fought and expensive since Doe needs to fight several legal battles before she can get the names of her detractors. Her first battle will be with the website to identify the name of their internet service provider. Next she will have to fight with the service provider to get the name of the account holder.

 

Kansas University basketball player, Sherron Collins can now heave a sigh of relief after a lawsuit filed against him was dropped. Jessica Brown, 36, alleged that Collins exposed himself and rubbed against her while they were travelling together in an elevator at Jayhawker Towers on the KU campus where she worked. She was seeking more than $75,000 in damages for mental and physical problems.
Brown dropped her case recently on the condition that Collins drop his counterclaim against her, accusing her of defamation.
Throughout the ordeal, Collins maintained that he was innocent.
Douglas County District attorney declined to file criminal charges against Collins as Brown had failed to provide sufficient evidence to support her claim.

A Russellville man, convicted for the fatal drunk driving crash that resulted in the death of two members of a family, will now face a civil trial from the survivors of the crash.
Larry Welch, 55, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for each of the two counts of involuntary manslaughter he was convicted for in August this year. On Novemebr 4, 2007, Welch swerved off his lane into oncoming traffic and crashed into the passenger side of a car driven by Eric Olsen. As a result of the accident, Jean Olsen, 45, and her son Tobias Olsen, 17, were killed. Eric Olsen, 42, and his daughter Johanna Olsen, 15, survived the crash. Welch will also serve two five year sentences on two counts of second degree assault for injuring the other passengers in the vehicle.
The surviving Olsen's are seeking at least $25,000 in damages on each of the four counts mentioned as well as unspecified punitive damages on four other counts.

The violent behavior of a bully has prompted the parents of a girl in a Kentucky High School to file a federal lawsuit against the school system seeking damages. Jerica Moore, 17, a student of Lawrence High School in Ashland, Kentucky, sustained head injuries on August 12, 2008, both from a candlestick as well as a fist.
In their lawsuit, Jerica's parents allege that they had warned the principal on August 11 that such an incident would take place and he did not put into place any measures to protect their daughter, leading to this attack.
Following the incident, Jerica sustained injuries to her head that were so severe that they had to be stapled. Her medical expenses came up to around $10,000.
Prior to this incident, the parents of Megan Hanshaw had also warned the principal that their daughter was in danger of being attacked by a borderline schizophrenic student who had allegedly told Megan to 'watch her back'. Megan was later punched in the face resulting in a deviated septum and an eye contusion. Megan's parents are also filing a lawsuit along with the Moores seeking damages.
The defendants have responded by stating that the intentional conduct had come from parties over whom they had no control or liability. They have also made it clear that they cannot cover civil damages under the doctrines of sovereign immunity, governmental immunity and qualified immunity.
At present, the case is pending in the Ashland Division of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
Information from: http://www.huntingtonnews.net/local/081114-rutherford-localcivilrighssuit.html

Mailers sent out by Winter Springs, Florida, Commissioner Robert Miller, have landed him in a defamation of character and libel suit after he published false statements about Thomas Binford, treasurer of one of his rival's campaigns.
Miller's two mailers featured editorial cartoons that showed his rivals in bad light. On the back of the mailers, he stated that Thomas Binford, Jean Hovey's campaign treasurer, had been fined $4,000 by the Florida Election Commission. This statement was incorrect and was what landed him in a lawsuit.
Binford, who operates a paralegal business in Winter Springs, is representing himself in the case and has termed Miller's statements scandalous, false and libellous, damaging his reputation as a businessman in the community.
The two mailers that Miller circulated citywide encourage voters to support Gilmore and Poe. They further draw citizen's attention towards a 2006 Political Action Committee that was formed to hold a recall election against then commissioners Don Gilmore and Michael Blake. Miller filed a complaint against the PAC after the elections and ensured that the group was fined $4,000 on 10 counts of violation of election laws. While Binford was the secretary of the PAC at the time, he wasn't the one who was fined. George Markward, the PAC's chairman and treasurer was the one who got fined.
Miller has not been served the lawsuit yet. Once that is done he will have 20 days to respond.
Information: Seminole Chronicle, Florida

A 16- year- old boy of Panamanian descent who took a violent beating from two well known Ku Klux Klansmen, at a county fair in Brandenburg is filing a lawsuit against them with the help of the Southern Poverty Law Center. As a result of the incident in July 2006, Jordan Grover had a broken jaw and left forearm, two cracked ribs and several cuts and bruises.
Civil rights lawyer Morris Dees, whose Alabama based Southern Poverty Law Center is seeking damages on behalf of Gruver is suing the Imperial Klans of America for millions in a bid to win damages large enough to put the organization out of operation.
The two Klansmen indicted in the case are 'Imperial Wizard' Ron Edwards and 'Grand Titan' of the Ohio Klan, Jarred R. Hensley. Two others, Joshua Cowles and Andrew W. Watkins have settled out of court.
Gruver alleges that Edwards, Hensley and Watson confronted him and insulted him with racist abuses while they were on a recruitment drive at the fair. Edwards and Hensley then went on to knock him to the ground and repeatedly kick him.
Edwards, who is representing himself, stated that he was going to prove that he did not commit any violence and also, that he never taught his fellow Klan members to go out and commit violence. He also stated that he always stayed within the law.
Hensley, who is also representing himself, stated that he thought the legal system was corrupt and that he had only come to court because the law told him to.
The lawsuit also alleges that Edwards, the supremacist group's founder, uses money from the Klan's income from dues paid by Klansmen and money they earn as donations to the income they generate from merchandise, as his own personal funds.
Information from: CNN website.

Pic courtesy Image Editor from flickr.com

Amritpal 'Paul' Dhaliwal and his brother Kulbir who survived a tiger attack at the San Francisco Zoo last year, have filed a lawsuit against the zoo amongst others, claiming that their civil rights had been violated. The attack which took place on Christmas day last year resulted in the death of Carlos Sousa Jr., 17, a friend of Paul, while Paul and his brother were seriously injured. The police fired at the animal after it attacked Sousa, killing it. The Siberian tiger, named Tatiana, attacked the three boys after escaping from her enclosure.
The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco comes after a claim for monetary damages was denied by city attorney Dennis Herrera. In denying the claim Herrera's office stated that there was no indication that the city and county were liable for the attack. They directed the brothers to file a claim with the San Francisco Zoological Society, the non-profit organization that runs the zoo.
The brothers contend in the lawsuit that they suffered severe injuries and emotional trauma as a result of the attack.
Sousa's family is also expected to sue the city and the zoo.

Pic courtesy Domenico Photography from flickr.com 

 

Two troopers of the State police of Uniontown, Pennsylvania will have to pay $12.5 million in damages for the death of a 12-year-old boy at their hands after they shot him while he fled after crashing a stolen vehicle. The father of the Uniontown boy was awarded the damages in the jury trial that was presided over by U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti in Pittsburgh.
This settlement brings to an end the appeal of a $28 million jury verdict handed out earlier this year in favour of Michael Hickenbottom, father of Michael Ellerbe, the boy killed in the shootout.
Earlier this year, a federal jury ruled that Trooper Samuel Nassan and Cpl. Juan Curry had used unnecessary violence against the boy as he ran away from them on Dec. 24, 2002, after crashing a stolen sport utility vehicle. The jury had then awarded $4 million in compensatory damages and $24 million in punitive damages against the troopers following which attorneys representing the two policemen appealed. This was the appeal that was settled this week.
The settlement is protected by a confidentiality agreement, barring anyone involved with the case from commenting on it.
Throughout the trial, both troopers have maintained that Ellerbe ran with his hand in his pocket and ignored repeated commands to show his hands and stop running. They further stated that during the course of the chase, Curry accidently fired his weapon. Hearing this, his partner says he mistook it to mean that a shot had been fired at Curry. Hence he fired a single round at Ellerbe. Three medical experts testified that Ellerbe was hit in the back.
For further details about the case read the article by Jennifer Harr on the Herald- Standard website.

A group of investors who purchased property in the Trump International Hotel & Tower Las Vegas are filing a lawsuit against the company to get their money back. The group of hotel- condo buyers have alleged that Trump Ruffin Tower I LLC, a company that lists billionaire Donald Trump as its managing member, defrauded them by selling them condos that were promised to them at a different size but were as much as 100 square feet short of the original dimensions.
The eight investors are seeking class action status for their lawsuit which was filed in a District Court and will soon be heard by a federal judge.
The investors also allege that they were lured into buying the units based on securities violations, a lack of disclosure and fraud.
Enticed by talk of high-yield returns on the rental units that would cover mortgage payments and other costs associated with buying the property, the group was sold the property on its rental-income potential, stated Ricardo Ehmann, attorney representing the plaintiffs. In addition to this the investors were not informed of the risks involved in purchasing the property as required by federal law.
To learn more about the case read Valerie Miller's article on www.lvbusinessexpress.com

A Missouri Court of Appeals in Kansas City recently exchanged it's own punitive reward amount for one determined by a trial judge, setting a precedent under the Missouri Human Rights Act by awarding a plaintiff $3.75 million in punitive damages.
Federal anti-discrimination laws restrict damages against large companies at $300,000 but the Missouri Human Rights Act did not do so in this case. Since the lawsuit began however, Missouri Legislature has limited punitive damages to $500,000 or five times the amount of compensatory damages, whichever is greater.
Auto parts supplier TNT Logistics of North America Inc was asked to pay $6.5 million in punitive damages to their former employee Kendra Lynn in 2006 by a Jackson County Jury. A judge later ruled that, that amount was excessive and reduced it to $450,000.
TNT argued to reduce that amount to $250,000. The appeals court ruling on Friday said $6.75 million was excessive but that $450,000 in itself was not sufficient. Thus they settled on an amount of $3.75 million noting that the company did not try to correct the actions of its errant supervisor creating a hostile work environment for Lynn. The plaintiff has to accept the decision in three days. Kirk D. Holman, who represents Lynn stated that he was happy with the decision.
In her 2004 lawsuit Lynn alleged that her shift supervisor, Michael Gill, repeatedly made vulgar and sexually graphic comments to her. Her complaints to her superiors about this went unheeded and she was placed on a 2 a.m. shift instead. After working at TNT as an assembly line scanner for 16 months and earning positive evaluations, Lynn was fired in January 2004.
Evidence showed that TNT never interviewed or disciplined Gill that the company had even tried to conceal its handling of Lynn's complaints.
Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com

Matt Blunt, the governor of the state of Missouri, involved in a defamation lawsuit, failed to convince a Jackson County Circuit judge to dismiss the charges against him. Allegedly, Blunt ruined a staff member's reputation to cover up the destruction of public records. Judge Michael Manners did not accept the argument that Blunt had the authority to make derogatory remarks while performing his job. Such a stance would undermine public policy as expressed in the state's whistleblower- protection laws as well as in laws that encourage government accountability.
The judge wrote that, the state not only needed to encourage high ranking public officials to speak out on issues of public interest but also needed to support lower ranking public employees to blow the whistle on instances of misconduct by their superiors.
Scott Eckersley, the governor's former deputy legal counsel, filed the lawsuit. His allegations stem from a controversy that arose in the summer of 2007 over the destruction of e-mail messages in Blunt's office. Supposedly, Eckersley had warned Blunt's aides in mid September last year that destroying those e-mails was illegal following which he was fired. The e- mails that were destroyed ascertained that Blunt's staff had tried to use the Missouri Highway Patrol to discredit a political opponent and used state workers and state equipment to coordinate political attacks.
Blunt and his aides have denied that Eckersley ever suggested that they stop deleting e-mails. They maintain that Eckersley was fired in late October last year for his poor job performance. After firing him they also distributed packets of information to news houses containing memos that accused Eckersley of doing private legal work on state time, viewing adult websites on his state computer and allowing personal problems to interfere with work. Eckersley claims that Blunt and his staff did this to humiliate him and discredit his name as they were afraid he would publicly accuse them of destroying official records.
Eckersley eventually sued Blunt and his aides, seeking damages for injury to his reputation and wrongful dismissal. The lawsuit is also seeking damages for violation of the state's open-records law and of the state's whistleblower law, according to which disciplinary action against a state employee who discloses illegal conduct is prohibited.
Blunt's attorneys have stated that, as governor, Blunt has complete immunity against being held liable for any allegation he makes.
Manners disagreed, writing that, such an argument restricts the public's right to know, only encompassing the official version projected by high government officials. To allow a public official to defame his critics also undermines the objectives of whistleblower laws, he ruled.
Information from an article written by Kit Wagar on The Kansas City Star website.

A Northbrook man, undergoing a trial for his alleged sexual abuse of a child is suing the parents of the victim and the Lake Forest Day camp where he worked, for defamation.
David Goodman, 22, a former camp counsellor accused of sexually abusing a child has stated in a lawsuit filed by him last month in Cook County Circuit court that he never abused the 5 year old and that the Banner Day Camp where he worked, defamed him by sending out 1500 e-mails about the case.
Goodman alleges that as a result of the case his reputation has been injured and he has suffered severe emotional distress, humiliation and embarrassment.
Asking for over $50,000 in damages, Goodman pleaded not guilty on February 4 to four counts of criminal sexual assault of a child and four counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. Goodman had to turn himself in, in December last year after a warrant was issued against him for the act that allegedly took place in the summer of 2007.
For the complete article click here.

 

Accused of sexual harassment, Todd Shemarya, agent to Hollywood's most talked about couple, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie also allegedly, insulted his clients, made jokes about their sexual habits and kept some of the gifts intended for them.

Heather Devlin, Shemarya's former assistant claims that the agent subjected her to an incessant barrage of sexual, racist and religious comments and often walked around his office in the buff, exposing himself to the staff in his office. She also claims that the agent had a habit of showing staff an August 1997 issue of Playgirl magazine which contained nude pictures of his client Brad Pitt, so that he could ridicule the size of Pitt's penis.

The sexual harassment and wrongful dismissal claim also states that Shemarya gave preferential treatment to gay employees who were willing to sleep with him. Devlin states that she was fired because she refused to help the agent acquire further gifts that were meant for the actors and also because she had, had a fight with Shemarya's boyfriend at the time.

Shemarya has denied all of Devlin's claims and has called her a disgruntled employee who he fired a year ago.

Represented by lawyer Keith Fink, famous for bringing wrongful dismissal cases against celebrities, Devlin is stated to be seeking unlimited damages.

Information from The Independent website.

Pic courtesy Kalley Z from flickr.com

The mother of a teenager killed in an accident, is filing a Texas wrongful death lawsuit based on the dram shop laws in the state, against Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar, for serving too many alcoholic beverages to the man responsible for her child's death.
On October 14 this year, Michael Nason left the bar in an inebriated state and crashed his pickup truck into a car killing Adreanna Norrid and Courtney Mengwasser, two high school students who were passengers in the vehicle. Nelson was also killed in the accident and his passenger, as well as the driver of the vehicle he collided into were seriously injured.
Ercilia Velora Norrid, Adreanna's mother, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Wingsport LP, which owns Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar, alleging dram shop liability against them claiming that they were responsible for continuing to serve Nelson alcohol when his blood alcohol level was three times the limit in Texas.
Dram Shop Laws exist in several states of America, Texas being one of them, which enable people to make a bar liable for serving alcohol to a visibly inebriated person or to a minor which subsequently kills or endangers the life of another person. The laws are designed to protect the public from the irresponsible serving of alcohol to minors or to intoxicated individuals irrespective of whether the people injured by the accident had a connection with the bar prior to the accident.
Norrid's family is seeking up to $7 million in damages for past and future mental anguish, loss of their loved one, funeral expenses, medical expenses and other damages.
Information from aboutlawsuits.com

 

Pic courtesy powerbooktrance / Terry Johnston from flickr.com

Earlier this year a sexual harassment lawsuit was filed against Dov Charney, the founder and chief executive of fashion giant, American Apparel, by a former employee.
Mary Nelson alleged that Charney created a hostile work environment by appearing in his underwear during several meetings with her including one at his home and by using sexually explicit language. Nelson's lawsuit brings Charney's tally up to four. He has doggedly maintained his innocence through all four trials.
More recently it was revealed that American Apparel Inc. agreed to pay Nelson $1.3 million in damages on one condition. She was to keep the settlement a secret and continue participating in the arbitration proceeding which would have a preordained outcome allowing Charney to be proved innocent. The plaintiff however, refused to agree to the terms of the settlement.
To read the whole article subscribe to The Wall Street Journal's website by clicking here.

Pic courtesy legalizeLA from flickr.com

 

A Gilmer man's accidental death during a boating accident on Lake Cherokee in July this year has resulted in a big lawsuit with both parties involved hurling accusations at each other. Initially Terry Ellison, a passenger on one of the boats, filed a lawsuit against the boat operator, Michael Wilcox, 22, and the boat owner Mike Wilcox as well as against the second boat driver Corbin Crane, 17, and the boat owner Curtis Crane. Ellison broke his collarbone in the collision. Another passenger on Wilcox's boat, Chris Carpenter, 26, was killed in the accident and his parents Temple and Sandra Carpenter have joined the civil lawsuit against the operators and owners of the two boats.
The Carpenter's claim Wilcox and Crane operated their boats in a negligent manner and that Mike Wilcox and Curtis Crane were also negligent in entrusting their boats to their sons.
Apart from the loss of companionship, mental anguish and funeral expenses, the Carpenters are also seeking damages equivalent to the value of their son's future financial contributions to them.
The Wilcoxes and the Cranes are both defendants in this case and have requested for the venue to be changed from Rusk County as they had already received a lot of negative publicity in the area and did not feel they would receive a fair and impartial trial.

Information from the news- journal website.

Pic courtesy Analog Weapon/ Nic Stage from flickr.com

Infamous Jason Wahler, star of the MTV reality show Laguna Beach, had to payout $5,000 in damages recently for a disagreement he had more than two years ago with a tow truck driver. Dario Stevenson alleged that Wahler punched him in his face and then proceeded to hurl racial abuses at him. The Los Angeles Jury found Wahler guilty of battery, rejecting his attorney's claim that he was defending his girlfriend and was too drunk to know what he was saying. The jury while agreeing that Wahler's behaviour was outrageous did not think that Stevenson suffered from severe emotional distress as a result of the confrontation like he claimed in his lawsuit. 
Wahler's final test will take place today when the jury decides if they should award Stevenson punitive damages. The driver's attorney, Daniel Wagner, is quite disappointed as he was expecting around $1million in damages but because of the small award announced on Thursday, damages will probably not exceed $55,000.

Information from: The Associated Press website

An accident on 2 August 2008, outside Amtrak station in Springfield, Massachusetts, left Clara Gardner, a 17 year old student of Northampton high School, physically disabled for absolutely no fault of hers. She was struck by a car driven by Roberto Carrasquillo Jr, 20 while she was loading her luggage into her van outside Amtrak station after returning from mexico. Carrasquillo Jr will face charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, operating under the influence of alcohol and leaving the scene of the accident.
The civil suit, which names both Carrasquillo and his father as defendants, was filed in Hampshire Superior Court this week. Seeking damages from both defendants, the suit alleges that Carrasquillo Sr is as responsible as his son as he entrusted the 1991 Honda to his son even though he knew that he was unfit to drive the vehicle responsibly.

An employee of the Onancock municipality has filed a lawsuit against the town, the Town Council and the Mayor, Bruce Paone, amongst others for alleged sexual harassment, assault and abuse over a period of several years.
Steven Key seeks $17.4 million in compensatory damage and another $1 million in punitive damages in the lawsuit filed in Accomack Circuit Court.
While Key worked at the town as a laborer, he alleges he was verbally and physically abused by the town manager Susan Scott as well as two employees Dewey Bordstrom and Kevin Meindorf whom he has also named as defendants in the lawsuit.
The two employees taunted Key by calling him a homosexual and on several occasions they even attempted to sexually abuse him. The town manager knew about the abuse but failed to punish Bordstrom and Meindorf. In fact, the lawsuit alleges that Scott confronted Key and demanded to know if he had ever had sexual intercourse with a female. When he replied in the negative she joined Bordstrom and Meindorf in verbally and physically abusing Key.
Key finally resigned his job in 2007 and afterward filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). He filed his lawsuit on 16 October this year.

 

Milo Farmer, Rodney Heemstra's troubles aren't over yet. After spending four years and four months in the Fort Dodge Correctional Facility for the murder of his neighbour Tom Lyon, he was released last month only to have to face a civil trial from Lyon's widow.
Ronda Lyon has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Heemstra for the second time after an earlier civil trial in a Warren County court that resulted in Ronda being awarded $11.5 million in damages, was overturned by a three judge panel of the Iowa Supreme Court.
The non- jury trial in Polk County District Court is expected to last six days and is being presided over by District Judge Michael Huppert. 
An earlier jury trial has already convicted Heemstra of voluntary manslaughter and when called to the witness stand, Heemstra was forced to repeat his earlier confessions by Lyon's attorney, Donald Beattie. His own attorney, Joseph Hrvol made no effort to argue his client's innocence instead he tried to prove that the murder was an accident that resulted after several confrontations between the two farmers and that Tom Lyon provoked Heemstra.

Information from: www.desmoinesregister.com

A pickup truck driven by Thomas Lee Appel was driven into a trailer pulled by a pickup truck driven by James Dennis Watkins in the year 2007. Watkins was driving under the influence. A Springdale police officer testified that his blood alcohol level was 0.13 which is above the legal limit of 0.08 and he was jailed after pleading guilty to felony drunk driving charges. On 6 February this year, after having served one month of his three year sentence, Appel died of an aneurysm. Watkins, who sustained several injuries as a result of the accident, is now seeking damages from Appel's estate.
Though his medicals bills have cost him $9,000 apart from the $5,500 shoulder surgery he will require, Watkins is suing the estate for $50,000 for compensatory damages for medial bills and $100,000 for punitive damages to discourage others from doing the same thing.
Watkins is represented by attorney Don Elliot and the estate is represented by attorney Brian Wood.

The Deputy Sheriff of Mahaska County, Oskaloosa, Iowa, Richard Adams and his wife Melissa have been implicated in a lawsuit for allegedly, forcefully taking a child away from her father.
Ashley Elaine, 16, and her biological father, Robin Scott Evans, 47, accused the couple of abduction, false imprisonment, abuse of power, violation of civil rights and of harbouring a runaway child. The lawsuit was also filed against Mahaska County.
The couple had applied for and were granted co- guardianship of Ashley in 2007. This, the plaintiff claims, was done without notifying him and hence violated his rights to be informed about the due process of the application.  
In November 2007, responding to a 911 call from the Evan's residence, Richard and Melissa took Ashley away from her father and kept her location secret until they were forced to return her to her father by order of court issued 29 April 2008.
Judge James Q. Blomgren who presided over the 29 April ruling stated that the order to grant guardianship of the minor girl to the Adams was illegal and was a violation of due process. He further stated that factors such as the death of a parent, abandonment of the child or demonstrable harm to the child qualified the appointment of a guardian. In this case the Adams had failed to prove any of the above mentioned factors.
The plaintiffs have asked for a jury trial and their lawsuit requests damages for unjust imprisonment, violation of rights, humiliation and embarrassment, mental and emotional distress, expenses incurred in defending the guardianship petition of the Adams and exposure to public hatred and ridicule. The lawsuit is also seeking expenses incurred by the plaintiff in searching for his daughter.

 

Oscar winning actress Charlize Theron has had to make a settlement of $20 million for a breach of contract lawsuit filed against her by the Swiss watchmaker Raymond Weil. The Monster star had signed a deal with the luxury watch brand in 2005 according to which she had to exclusively endorse their timepieces in public. However, in 2006, she was photographed wearing a Christian Dior watch at the Texas Film Festival. The American press added fuel to her momentary faux pas which lasted all of one hour by running pictures in the paper the next day with the caption 'Charlize Theron wears Dior'. Stating that her decision to wear the watch was 'regrettable', Theron has already moved on to ink a new watch, jewellery and accessories contract with Breil Milano. The new ad campaign of the Italian firm has already begun, featuring Theron who looks very seductive in an elegant black cocktail dress.

Terms of the settlement were no disclosed.

Pic courtesy indoloony/ Joy Banerjee from flickr.com

The widow of an accident victim is pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit against passengers in the car that caused the death of her husband after a state appeals court ruled in her favour.
Antonios Podias, 40, was riding a motorcycle when he was struck from behind by a car driven by Michael Mairs who is a student of Monmouth University. Mars was travelling with Swanson and Newell and the three of them drove away in fear without trying to help Podias. After they left, Podias was run over by Patricia Uribe ultimately leading to his death. According to attorney Jefferey Peck who represents Podias' widow, Podias had suffered fractures to his arms, legs and skull after the first accident which he could have recovered from if the students had stopped to save him.
Sevastia Podias will file a civil lawsuit against Swanson and Newell after the state appellate court ruled that the two men had a legal obligation to help Podias.
In March a trial judge has ruled that Podias could not sue for damages against Swanson and Newell because she had already settled out of court with the driver and other defendants for a very large amount than what the jury had determined to be appropriate.
Mairs settled with Podias for $1.075 million and served 13 months in jail. The party host Thomas Chomko settled by paying $300,000 and Patricia Uribe who went to trial against Podias was found to be 10 percent responsible for the accident and was asked to pay $80,000.    

 

After deliberating for less than three hours, a Los Angeles jury unanimously rejected the civil lawsuit filed by paparazzo Alison Silva against The Matrix star Keanu Reeves.
Stating that he respected the jury's decision, Silva who had asked to be awarded $711,974, which included medical bills, lost wages and punitive damages, did not receive even a dollar for his efforts.
Silva had alleged that Reeves had hit him with his Porsche thus making him fall down and injure his left wrist but evidence presented at the hearing showed him climbing a wall with that same wrist after taking a video of Britney Spears.

A Southern Californian county will be wary of the religious rights of anyone they arrest after having to pay $45,000 in damages for violating the rights of a Muslim woman by making her remove her hijab or headscarf in public.
Last week the county signed a settlement agreement in which they agreed to provide a private space for arrested Muslim women to remove their headscarves and to provide them with county issued scarves to cover their heads when they are in the presence of men.
Jameelah Medina, arrested in Pomona for having an invalid train pass, felt humiliated to have to remove her headscarf in front of a male deputy which she was forced into doing despite informing him that it violated her religious beliefs. After the attorney fee, Jameelah will receive $10,000 of damages.

Pic courtesy Claudius Prößer from flickr.com

After Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, Hurricane Ike survivors are being denied insurance for claims that they were supposed to cover. Outraged at the number of legitimate claims being denied, top Houstan attorneys were shocked at the number of people consulting them on what to do after their claims were rejected.

Further aggravating the woes of Hurricane survivors, insurance companies either reject claims or they offer insufficient payment for damages.

Personal injury attorneys are advising Texas Hurricane victims on what to do next. The Courtroom may be the only recourse for Ike survivors as their windstorm and flood insurance claims continue to be denied.

Pic of devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina courtesy Spiritwood / Greg Hounslow from flickr.com

A paparazzo is suing Keanu Reeves for being knocked down by his car while the actor was pulling out of a parking lot.
The trial, which began last Monday, refers to a March 2007 accident in which Alison Silva fell while photographing the star, behind the wheel of his Porsche.
A Los Angeles courtroom judge has already ruled out the possibility of punitive damages or any other claims by Silva.

Pic courtesy lewishamdreamer /Jason from flickr.com

In the beginning of this year, a Montgomery County Jury awarded $350,000 to a woman involved in a crash that killed a bicyclist during a Blacksburg triathlon in the year 2000.
Sharon Knight, a resident of the town had filed a lawsuit against the town and the director of the third annual Greater Blacksburg Triathlon, alleging that they had failed to warn passing vehicles that they were entering a race area.
Gary Wayne Taylor, a participant of the race, crashed into Knight after passing through a red light. Knight tried to swerve away but couldn’t avoid a collision. She had initially asked for $750,000 in damages for emotional trauma and damage to her car. A jury awarded $500,000 in damages to Taylor's family in a 2002 verdict after finding that the town and Biancur were negligient in organizing the race.
The town, which sponsored the event, stated that they had asked all participants to follow traffic rules and signs before the competition began.
Beverly Biancur, the director of the race is no longer an employee of the town.

Pic courtesy K. Todd Storch from flickr.com

Attorneys for the Catholic Diocese of Belleville attempted to move the court to set aside, or order a new trial for a $5 mllion civil jury verdict against the church for damages suffered by a former altar boy. However, their motion was denied by the St Clair County Circuit judge Lloyd Cueto. The next option for the diocese is to appeal to the 5th District Appellate Court in Mount Vernon.
A jury awarded James Wisniewski, 47, $5 million in damages and medical costs in connection to his 2002 lawsuit against Rev Raymond Kownacki who allegedly sexually abused him for five years beginning when he was about 13 years old while he served as an altar boy at St Theresa’s Church in Salem.
To read the original story click here.

Three members of an Augusta County family have been involved in a long drawn out legal struggle for the past year after one of them was involved in an accident that lead to the death of a teenager in 2007. Jason, Gloria and Emil Steidel have spent most of 2008 in and out of courtrooms. After battling criminal charges for the alleged drunk- driving fatality, they now face a civil suit for which they may have to pay more than half a million in damages.
Jason Steidel was involved in an accident that lead to the death of Timothy Ray Moran. When state police arrived at the site, there was no one in the vehicle but they later identified Steidel as the driver. Now Ray Moran’s father is filing a suit against Steidel claiming he was under the influence and driving very fast. The suit is seeking funeral expenses and damages for sorrow and mental anguish which they have estimated to be around $525,000.  
Steidel’s parents insisted their son wasn’t driving that night and even produced evidence, in the form of a written statement from another teenager who said Steidel was in the backseat at the time of the accident, to prove their claim. This claim was later proven to be false and Steidel’s parents were charged with inducing another to commit perjury.
Like their son, both of them face upto ten years in prison for their crime.

Charged with the violation of the Federal Fair Housing Act, two Fargo- based corporations that own and manage several apartment complexes in the metro area are facing a civil lawsuit for discriminating against tenants who require service dogs.
According to the allegation by the United States, Van Raden Properties Inc. and Van Raden Homes Inc. discriminated against a male tenant by denying him an apartment because he owned a service dog.
The tenant registered a complaint with Fair Housing of the Dakotas, a private non profit organisation which serves North and South Dakota. The organisation then proceeded to conduct two rental tests to verify the man’s claims. The company stated that it had a policy of prohibiting certain dog breeds and dogs weighing over 40 pounds yet despite the fact that the tenant stated that their dog was under 40 ponds and was necessary for his well being the company refused to budge from its policy. The testers verified the claim of the tenant.
As per the lawsuit, the United States is asking that Van Raden’s actions be declared as violations of the Fair Housing Act, award damages to Fair Housing of the Dakotas and impose a penalty of $16,000 to each of the Van Raden companies.