January 2009 Archives

Two former students of the University of Rhode Island are set to face a civil trial over the death of a 21-year-old Fairfield University student in 2004. They are accused of creating a hostile environment for the student leading to his death. Their civil trial began in Providence Superior Court on Thurday, January 29, 2009.
Francis J. Marx died after being pushed into Thames Street, Newport, and being run over by a charter bus carrying URI students back to their campus on May 20, 2004. Marx was engaged in a scuffle with URI students before he fell on the street.
Jarrad Rocheleau of Cumberland and Loren Welsh of Neshanic Station, N.J. have been named as defendants in the lawsuit for failing to exert care leading to Marx's death. Marx's family is seeking $5 million in damages.
To read more about the case click here.

The U.S Justice Department filed a lawsuit against a Washtenaw County commissioner and a man who managed his rental units in Ypsilanti for subjecting female tenants to unwanted sexual advances.
Filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit, the lawsuit states that property manager Glen E. Johnson had been subjecting actual and prospective female tenants to unwanted sexual advances since 2005 at 11 single family properties owned by County Commissioner Ronnie Peterson.
Allegedly, Johnson entered the apartments of female tenants without their permission or advance notice and took adverse action against them if they objected to his advances.
The suit further alleges that Peterson who has been county commissioner since 2001 is responsible for Jonhson's conduct on account of the fact that he was not aware of the discriminatory conduct and because he failed to take preventive or corrective action.
To read more about the case click here.

Park West Gallery, Southfield, Michigan, is slamming claims made by the website Fine Art Registry, that it sold some of its customers counterfeit artwork. Responding to a lawsuit filed earlier this year in Oakland County Circuit Court by Park West customers recruited by FAR, the gallery has filed a counterclaim against FAR, its founder Theresa Franks and Frank Hunter, operator of another website apart from the five plaintiffs of the earlier lawsuit, charging them with defamation, tortuous interference and civil conspiracy.

Park West is seeking a permanent injunction against these individuals and FAR as well as punitive damages.

To read more about the case click here.

The former head of HealthSouth Corporation, Birmingham, Alabama, is set to face yet another court date after being acquitted of federal criminal fraud charges more than three years ago.
Richard Scrushy's trial will begin on May 11 as ordered by a Jefferson County Circuit Court judge who presided over the long-running lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that Scrushy seriously hampered the physical rehabilitation company while leading it.
At the moment Scrushy is lodged in a federal prison in Texas after being convicted for bribing former Gov. Don Siegelman for a spot on a health-care permitting board.
The Jefferson County lawsuit was filed by shareholders on behalf of HealthSouth.
To read more about the case click here.

A Sedgwick County jury decided in October 2006, that a Wichita television station had defamed a man by publicly naming has as one of the prime suspects in the BTK serial killings. The television station has filed an appeal recently in the Kansas Supreme Court stating that it did nothing wrong and shouldn't be penalized.
Roger Valdez was arrested in relation to other minor charges but was never named as one of the suspects in the case. He was later cleared of all charges on the basis of DNA tests. After KSN network named him as one of the suspects in the case on a 1 December, 2004 news report on television, Valdez filed a lawsuit against the network. In 2006, the jury awarded Valdez $1.1 million in damages. Valdez died a month after the trial.
After Valdez's death the jury dismissed the defamation verdict and reduced the total damages to $250,000 on the outrageous conduct claim alone. While members of Valdez's estate want to get the defamation verdict reinstated, the KSN network wants the decision to stand but wants the outrageous conduct verdict to be dismissed.
On February 2005 Dennis Radar was arrested in connection with the murders. He is now serving ten consecutive life sentences at the El Dorado Correctional Facility.

To read more about the case click here.

The former Sherriff of Henry County, Tennessee, David Bumpus, who recently finished serving a federal prison sentence in November, after he pleaded guilty to the crime of misappropriating county funds to purchase firearms for his personal use, now finds himself facing a civil lawsuit.
The county government is filing a civil lawsuit against Bumpus and a co-defendant, Samuel J.Ferren, seeking $238,000 in compensatory damages and $100,000 in punitive damages. The lawsuit states that the county is suing Bumpus and Ferren for breach of contract, fraud, theft , embezzlement and breach of trust.
To read more about the case click here.

A black author who was cited by the police for placing an allegedly racially offensive sign on his car is being backed by the American Civil Liberties Union in his lawsuit against the police.
Johnny Duncan filed a case in U.S. District Court against the police department, and several city officials of Amite, Louisiana for the violation of his civil rights.
In August 2007, Duncan was confronted by officers for a sign on his car that read 'You might be a nigger'. The sign was advertising one of Duncan's books. The officer's cited him for violating the state's obscenity law. The ticket against him was later dismissed.
The Executive Director of ACLU for Louisiana stated that the facts of this case revealed that Duncan was detained for no other reason other than that the police in Amite did not like what he had to say.
As a result of the incident, Duncan filed a lawsuit against the officers in August 2007 seeking $15 million in damages for anxiety, defamation, fear, mental anguish and several other intangible factors.
Duncan believes that the citation against him was part of a larger pattern of harassment by the police.
To read more about the case click here.

Low income housing developers, Brownstone Developments LLC, are suing the city of Natchez in Mississippi over the right to rezone land that they had been allotted for development.
The developers had plannd to build a residential area called Audubon Terrace in the Bluebird Drive area of the city, when the board of aldermen denied the developers the right to rezone the land.
As per a statement issued by their attorney, Michael Cory, the developers claim that they were given a letter of assurance by the former city planner, that the land they had purchased for their project was zoned properly for housing development.
Later however, the planning commission turned down the development project stating their reason for denial to be the improper zoning of the project.
The developers then repeatedly tried to get the area rezoned but were denied by the planning commission and by the board of alderman.
They are now filing a lawsuit claiming more than $1 million in damages.

To read more click here.

 
 

 
The lawfirm Glancy Binkow, Goldberg LLP is filing a class action lawsuit on behalf of investors who had purchased or acquired the securites of Rackable Systems, Inc. Class plaintiffs who purchased or otherwise acquired securities from the above mentioned firm, from between October 30, 2006 and April 4, 2007, known as the class period, are included in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit charges Rackable and some of the company's former executive officers with the violation of certain federal securities laws.
Rackable designs, manufactures and implements highly scalable computer servers and high-capacity storage systems.
The complaint against the company alleges that throughout the class period, the defendants disregarded the fact that most of the information they were presenting to the public, about the performance of their overall business, their operations and their future prospects, were materially false and misleading. The company could not continue like this for long. In January, 2007, Rackable shocked the market when it disclosed its report for the financial results for the fourth quarter of 2006. These results showed that the company had achieved a gross margin of only between 19.2% and 19.7 percent. After this news was disclosed, Rackable's share prices crashed by $12.44 per share. This trend continued in February when the company declared the results of its fourth quarter financial results and again in April when the company announced that their non-GAAP gross margins would be 30% lower than what they had expected owing to the intensity of competition in three of the company's largest accounts.   
To read the details of the case check out the complete article on msnbc.com here.

Last Friday, a TV journalist won $5,000 in damages in a trial over an incident that took place nearly four years ago in which police officers allegedly used excessive force while arresting her. Although a Prince George County, Maryland civil jury decided in favor of Andrea McCarren, they also found that the county officers had acted appropriately in conducting a 'high-risk' stop of the WJLA-TV journalist.
McCarren had alleged in her lawsuit that the police officers had manhandled her and tried to intimidate her into ceasing her probe into the possible misuse of county government resources. McCarren further alleged that as a result of the excessive force used during the incident, she suffered tendon damage to a shoulder.
On behalf of McCarren one of her attorneys, Steven M Pavsner commented that although they were pleased that the jury had validated McCaren's allegation that the police had used excessive force, they were disappointed with the damages that had been awarded.

To read more about the case click here.

Andy Kennedy, coach to the Ole Miss Basketball team, who was charged with misdemeanor and assault by the police for an incident that took place in December during which he allegedly punched a cab driver, has decided to retaliate. He sued the driver and a restaurant valet who came forward as a witness for defamation of character. His lawsuit seeks an excess of $25,000 for the alleged damage to his reputation.
On Friday, in response to Kennedy's lawsuit, the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas filed a counter-claim against the star coach and his wife Kimber Kennedy for initiating a frivolous lawsuit. In addition to this, the cab driver, Mohamed Moctar Ould Jiddou is suing Kennedy for assault and ethnic intimidation.
To read more about the case click here.

Two photographers who were sued by Bert Stern for the possession of seven transparencies of his Marilyn Monroe photographs have reached a settlement with him.
Under the settlement, Stern admits that the two photographers he sued, Donald Penny and Michael Weiss, did nothing illegal. He has also agreed to let them make a limited number of prints from the transparencies which he will get to keep.
Attorney Jamie Brickell represented Penny, Weiss and Robert Bryan. Bryan is one of Weiss's associates and he alleges that he found Stern's transparencies in a garbage can in the 70's. The images are part of a famous photo session that took place just before Monroe's death.  The session is popularly known as Monroe's 'Last Sitting.'
Stern had filed a lawsuit against the two photographers in September last year after they approached him with the transparencies to get permission from him to reproduce them. In his lawsuit Stern claimed $1 million in damages and legal fees as well as the return of the photos which he claimed were stolen from him.
In October, the photographers filed a lawsuit against Stern in retaliation in which they accused Stern of breach of contract, fraud and defamation amongst other claims.

San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis and the city of San Jose, have been slapped with a federal class action lawsuit which contends that thousands of people from minority communities have been falsely and unconstitutionally charged with public drunkenness.
The lawsuit filed by two men, seeks damages on behalf of all victims which could put a heavy cost on the city's aggressive drive to charge people who display public drunkenness.
The two men are from Santa Cruz County and were arrested on June 2008 in downtown San Jose. San Jose attorney Jeff Kallis has filed the lawsuit on behalf of the two men.
The lawsuit comes amidst a public upheaval after Mercury News reported that the department had arrested and charged more people for public drunkenness in the past few years than any other department in the state.
To read more about the case click here.

One of America's leading health-care multinationals, Baxter Healthcare Corp., now faces a class action lawsuit over the effects of its blood thinning drug, Heparin. The lawsuit alleges that the multinational substituted safer, natural ingredients with cheaper chemical ingredients that were not approved by the United Stated FDA.
Joyce Ann Osteen, a class plaintiff, is suing Baxter over Heparin in St. Clair County Circuit Court. Her claim is that, the company began substituting organically prepared Heparin with a more dangerous ingredient in order to make greater profits.
Originally the drug is made from pork intestines that have been cooked and dried. The lawsuit states that, the intestines of about 3,500 pigs are required to produce a mere 2.2 pounds of raw Heparin. This crude Heparin is then processed to remove impurities and results in the production of an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) such as Heparin Sodium or Heparin Lithium.
The suit further states that the company found a much cheaper way to make their products. They identified a molecule similar to Heparin in Heparin Sodium. Around March 19, 2008, the Heparin-like molecule was identified as over-sulphated chondroitin sulphate (OSCS).
The cheaper alternative is not natural and is not approved by the United States.
Soon after Baxter discovered this new substitute, there was an abnormal increase in the number of patients who were adversely reacting to Heparin. During this time, around January 17, 2008, Baxter issued several press releases recalling nine lots of Heparin Sodium injection multiple dose vials. On February 28, 2008 they expanded their recall to include all lots and sizes of their Heparin products.
Osteen states that, the FDA announced their discovery of the mysterious contaminant on March 19, 2008.
The lawsuit alleges that, as of April 8, 2008, there have been 103 reported deaths in connection with the administration of Heparin to patients since January 1, 2007. Of those deaths, 91 were reported to have occurred after January 1, 2008.
To read more about the case click here.

The Knicks center, Eddy Curry, who was sued for sexual harassment by his former driver, is considering filing a defamation suit against him in retaliation.
Curry was accused of racial discrimination and sexual harassment in a suit filed on Monday in the Southern District of New York, by his former driver, David Kuchinsky, who had worked for the NBA star for three years.
The lawsuit seeks $68,000 in unpaid wages and $25,000 in expenses that the Kuchinsky claims were not reimbursed, apart from $5 million in damages.
Allegedly, Curry made inappropriate sexual advances on Kuchinsky and exposed himself on two occasions. The lawsuit also claims that Curry referred to Kuchinsky in racially offensive and derogative terms and on one occasion, even pointed a loaded gun at his head.
Curry denied all of Kuchinsky's allegations on Monday night. Chicago based lawyer Kelly Saindon, who is currently representing Curry in the lawsuit claims that Kuchinsky filed the lawsuit because he was fired in October without any notice.
As a result of the sexual harassment lawsuit, Curry may sue Kuchinsky for defamation of character. Saindon stated that she will also file a motion to dismiss Kuchinsky's lawsuit on the basis that it goes against his employment contract according to which any workplace disputes would be resolved before the American Arbitration Association in Chicago.
To read more about the case click here.

Giants receiver Plaxico Burress, will attend a court session in Pennsylvania today to determine how much he owes a car dealer for damage to a 2004 Chevrolet Avalanche that he leased from the dealer more than two years ago. The car dealer claims that he filed a complaint after he retrieved the damaged and impounded truck from the New York Police Department.
Matthew T. Croslis who is representing Burress in this case, yesterday acknowledged that Burress was responsible for some of the damage but he stated that the jury will have to decide exactly how much of the damage, the football star was responsible for.
The Associated Press reported that the dealer's complaint did not specify the extent of the damage or how it was caused and why it was impounded. However, the Daily News yesterday reported that court documents had revealed that Burress had loaned the car to some friends who then took it to New York where they were involved in a shootout.
To read more click here.

A Newark, Ohio city employee, who filed a defamation suit against the city in June 2004, has finally reached a settlement.
Robert Gregory Ketter filed a federal defamation suit against the city in U.S. District five years ago alleging that public remarks made by then-Mayor Bruce Bain, had painted him as a criminal. In his lawsuit, Ketter had stated that his rights as a classified employee had been violated for which he was seeking damages.
A housing rehabilitation supervisor in the city's Community Development Department, Ketter was placed on paid leave in February 2004 during an investigation into the department's handling of federal community Block Grant money. He was reinstated on a probationary basis the next January, almost a year later, after the investigation did not turn up any evidence of wrongdoing.
Newark Law Director Doug Sassen said yesterday that the city and Ketter had reached a verbal settlement. Ketter's attorney, Mike Moses stated that the settlement vindicated Ketter.
The settlement includes monetary damages and allows Ketter to continue working at the department.

An art gallery in Southfield, Michigan has been accused of swindling its customers by allegedly selling them $594,000 in forged signed lithographs and other artwork. Some art collectors have claimed that the expensive artwork they purchased from the gallery were nothing more than 'glorified posters'.
Park West Galleries bills itself as one of the world's largest private art galleries.
According to an Oakland Circuit Court document, most of the art under contention was bought by self-professed 'unsophisticated collectors' during an art-at-sea auction on a cruise ship.
Park West which boasts of an annual revenue of $300 million, has denied these allegations.    
To read more about the case click here.

Luna Community College, New Mexico has become embroiled in a sexual harassment controversy with the U.S. Department of Justice suing the institution for doing little to halt the sexual harassment of a subordinate employee by the president of the institution.
The lawsuit was filed in Albuquerque and seeks unspecified damages on behalf of the victim, Charlene Ortiz-Cordova. The suit was filed under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
At the time of the alleged harassment, Ortiz-Cordova was academic director of the institute. During her tenure at the college, she was subjected to unwanted sexual contact, gestures and comments by the college president at that time, Leroy Sanchez. His behavior towards Ortiz-Cordova created a hostile working environment for her.
As per her lawsuit the plaintiff's repeated complaints to her immediate superiors went unheeded. After a year of inaction, her complaint finally reached the human resource department of the college after which Sanchez was instructed to avoid contacting Ortiz-Cordova. However, nothing was done to discipline Sanchez or to see that the department's order was implemented.
In 2006, Ortiz-Cordova left her job and filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission which investigated and verified the allegations. The case was then transferred to the Justice Department after repeated attempts to negotiate with Sanchez failed.
To read more about the case click here.

Parents of a special education student who formerly studied at Liberty Elementary School, Liberty, Indiana have filed an official notice of their intent to sue the Union County-College Corner Joint School District and the East Central Special Services over the care and treatment of their child.
The family is seeking $3 million in damages for each alleged incident of abuse, neglect and battery that their child had to face at the school. Their charges include battery, negligent supervision, abuse, negligent infliction of emotional distress, intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation and gross negligence.
The school was notified of the family's intent to sue on October 20, 2008. This notification is a prerequisite in Indiana. A public entity must be notified of a potential lawsuit against it before a civil lawsuit can be filed.
The child began attending the school in August last year. However, the child was soon removed from the school on a physician's advice for safety reasons. The child had become very upset about attending school and would cry every time upon arriving there.
To read about the details of the case click here.

A disgruntled patient of a San Francisco chiropractor who was sued for posting a negative comment about the doctor's services on the popular peer-review website, yelp, recently reached a settlement with him.
This case is the first to sue a Yelp user for defamation for posting a bad review.
Yelp Inc., is a social networking, user review and local search website that is accessed by approximately 10.6 million people every month. It has gathered a lot of negative publicity over the fairness of the negative reviews on the site. Some business owners have alleged that the order in which reviews are placed is controlled and that this is used to pressurize them into advertising. Yelp has also been criticised over its alleged bias towards its sponsors whom it spares the humiliation of negative reviews by taking them off the website.
In the November of 2007, Christopher Norberg posted a review complaining of the billing practices of his chiropractor, Steven Biegel. He wrote that he had expected a bill for $125 but was instead sent a bill for $500. He also wrote that when questioned, his chiropractor could not give him a straight answer about the jump in price. What angered Biegel the most was Norberg's statement claiming that he had later found a much better, honest chiropractor.
In his libel lawsuit Biegel claimed that the post defamed him by suggesting that he was not honest.
On the website which he started to publicise the lawsuit, standforspeech.com, Norberg posted last Friday that 'a misunderstanding between both parties led us to act out of hand'. This statement came after the case was resolved through mediation.
To read more about the case click here.

Infamous Shane Ragland may finally have to pay for his crime. A motion filed by Ragland's attorney seeking to have a re-trial of the civil lawsuit that awarded $63.3 million in damages to the family of a UK footballer slain by Ragland, was denied by a judge.
In 1994, Ragland murdered 21-year-old Trent DiGiuro while he was sitting on the porch of his home, because he thought DiGiuro had got him blackballed by a fraternity.
Ragland was previously convicted for the case but the state supreme court overturned the decision. Last year, after a key witness turned hostile in the new trial, prosecutors were forced to make a plea deal with Ragland. He plead guilty to second degree manslaughter and walked away, a free man for the time he had already spent in jail.
DiGiuro's family filed a civil lawsuit against Ragland in 2002. Last August, the civil trial came to an end with a jury awarding DiGiuro's family $60 million in punitive damages and $3 million for funeral costs and the loss of potential earnings.
Ragland's attorney's filed a motion to dismiss the civil lawsuit because they argued that the amount awarded was excessive.
DiGiuro's family has another reason for filing the civil lawsuit. They claim that their motive in filing a civil lawsuit was to deprive Ragland from inheriting potentially millions of dollars from his father, Jerry, who is a well-known Frankfort businessman.

Four trainers who were wrongfully notified that they had EPO positives and were hence prevented from entering events at the Red Mile, have filed a lawsuit against the premier, harness- racing institution, for the adverse publicity they received as a result of the declaration.
Jan Johnson, Jim Arledge, Jr., Bob McIntosh and Joe Seekman are suing the Red Mile for defamation. They are seeking a reimbursement for the cost of the additional testing, lost entry fees, potential lost purse earnings and attorney costs.
The four trainers were cleared of the doping allegation after more stringent and dependable tests were conducted to detect the hormone erythropoietin which is used to boost the formation of RBCs in the bloodstream. This form of doping is called blood doping and is used to improve an athlete's aerobic capacity and endurance. That because an increased RBC count directly causes an increase in the oxygenation of muscles. Blood doping can be done in several ways. To read about blood doping click here.
To read more about the case first reported in the Lexington Herald-Leader click here.

Employees of the Trinity Lutheran Church were absolved of criminal charges by the Monroe County Prosecutor's Office, in a case in which several school girls were told to strip to their underwear so that school authorities could conduct a 'search' for stolen money. However, the family of one of the girls has filed a civil lawsuit against the church employees.
Monroe attorney Christopher Mariott filed the lawsuit on behalf of the girl's mother, Martha Feller.
The 12 year old, who was publicly humiliated, has suffered severe emotional distress and severe embarrassment after the events of that day.
The lawsuit has named the Trinity Luheran School, Principal John Hilken, teacher Marsha Hand and head cook Phyllis Blohm amongst others, as defendants in the case.
To read more about the case click here.

The New Orleans Parish District Attorney is trying to avoid paying a multi-million dollar payout, which he inherited, by declaring bankruptcy. Leon Cannizzaro is keeping his options open in order to avoid paying $15 million in damages to an ex-convict as per a jury verdict, declared in 2007. Cannizzaro's appeal to overturn the verdict was denied by an appeals court last month. The court passed a verdict against the district attorney's office for prosecutorial misconduct during the 80's when the department was under the aegis of Harry Connick.
Former death row inmate John Thompson was awarded $14 million in damages plus attorney's fee and interest by a jury in 2007. The verdict was passed as compensation for the fact that Thompson spent 18 years of his life in a prison cell after prosecutors hid evidence that could have benefited him, in order to improve their chances of convicting him for the murder of Ray Liuzza.
Cannizzaro wants to exercise the rarely used option of filing for Chapter 9 bankruptcy.  This legal protection is used by municipalities to hold of creditors and possibly reduce debts. However, this measure considerably damage the credit rating of the public agency.
To read more about the case click here.

Target Corporation has become engaged in a class action lawsuit filed in St. Claire County, Madison, Illinois, over the marketing of its 'Immunity Supplement' product. The lawsuit alleges that Target mislead the public when marketing its product.
Brian Buehlhorn, a resident of St Claire and one of the class plaintiffs alleges that the retailer misled the public into believing that the immunity supplement product, protected users from airborne viruses, is a form of immune system defense and that it decreased a person's likelihood of getting sick. He further claims that Target's 'unfair and deceptive' tactics caused substantial damage to the class and him.
To read more about the case click here.

The Deputy Chief of Police of Oakland, California, one of the department's highest ranking officers, has been accused of sexually harassing a female sergeant. The complaint, which was initially filed with the department's Internal Affairs Division, was filed after the sergeant became uncomfortable when Jeff Loman discussed meeting her for dinner to talk about a possible promotion (the sergeant was due to be promoted to the rank of lieutenant).
The lawsuit against Loman comes while he is also undergoing a probe in the department's handling of the investigation into journalist Chauncey Bailey's killing in August 2007.    
To read more about the case click here.

The family of a man, who claimed that he had been sexually assaulted when he was 13 was awarded nearly $400,000 in damages. The man claimed that his mentor, of a Bangor-area youth program, had molested him while he was enrolled in the program in 2002.

A Somerset County Superior Court announced the verdict last month ordering Roland DesRoberts, 61, to pay $37,965 in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages.

Previously, DesRoberts had pleaded guilty to a criminal charge of possessing sexually explicit material of a minor below the age of 14 in relation to the same case in 2004. He also pleaded no contest to a charge of unlawful sexual contact with someone under the age of 14. For both these charges he was sentenced to 4 years in the state prison and four years of probation.

The jury's verdict against DesRoberts was quite severe primarily because, even at the trial, the sexagenarian denied the plaintiff's allegations despite the fact that he had made a complete confession to the Maine State Police in the Fall of 2002. The jury found that DesRoberts was still unwilling to take responsibility for his actions and hence pronounced a strict verdict against him despite the fact that his assets are negligible.

To read more about the case click here.

Last month a jury awarded a former altar boy nearly $3.6 million in damages. He alleged hat he had been molested by Father Edward Paquette in the 1970's.
The Vermont Catholic Diocese, to which the Father belonged, has challenged the judgement by filing an appeal against the costly sex abuse punishment.
Their appeal is that the victim waited too long before he decided to file a lawsuit. They alleged that the jury's punitive damages award was out of line with punitive damage limitations established by the U.S. Supreme Court.
David Navari, who served as an altar boy under Paquette, has stated that he is willing to give the money back to the church.
The diocese was asked to pay the multi-million dollar damage amount for failing to protect Navari from a known paedophile priest 30 years ago.
To read more about the case and about the jury verdict click here.

We have all heard about punitive damaged being awarded in civil cases. In a malpractice lawsuit against a physician however, juries rarely award punitive damages to a plaintiff. Such claims are not covered under traditional medical liability insurance. So a verdict for punitive damages would mean that the physician has to pay the amount from his own resources.
That is exactly what unfortunately befell New Jersey rheumatologist, Robert A.Fogari. A Hudson County jury unanimously handed out a $400,000 award against him in October last year for his alleged refusal to pay for a sign language interpreter for a patient who is hearing impaired. Half of the amount has been awarded to the plaintiff as punitive damages.
This verdict is amongst the largest of its kinds and has got physicians worrying about it being an indicator of a trend.
Fogari's was treating Irma Gerena for lupus since the beginning of May 2004. Gerena alleges that on more than one occasion she requested Dr Fogari to provide her with a sign language interpreter which she further claims he refused.
Dr Fogari's argument was that the cost of an interpreter was one that he, as a solo physician, was unable to afford (the estimated cost for this service is around $150 to $200 per visit). Besides, Medicare only reimbursed him with $49 per visit. To compensate for the lack of an interpreter, Dr Fogari claims that he exchanged written notes with Gerena with the help of her family members.  
Gerena has not claimed medical negligence. Her only allegation is, that because of the lack of an interpreter, she never fully understood the diagnosis, treatment or prognosis for her illness. Thus, she claims, she was not able to fully participate in her medical treatment.
To read more about the case click here.

The state of Michigan may end up paying millions of dollars in damages to inmates of its correctional facilities, for the sexual abuse they faced while serving their prison terms.
The current scenario comes as no surprise to human rights groups who have been crying themselves hoarse for several years now, over the condition of female inmates in prison. They have alleged that prison guard were routinely groping, molesting and raping female inmates.
The class-action lawsuit was first filed in 1996. It may now end up costing the state hundreds of millions of taxpayer's dollars in damages. So far, 18 women have testified against the Michigan Department of Corrections. They have received $50 million in damages. Several more are yet to testify. The class-action lawsuit now has more than 500 inmates participating in it.
In its defense, the state has claimed that it did not take any action earlier because none of the inmates reported the alleged assaults. They also said that in any case, they found it hard to give credibility to the testimony of convicted criminals.
To read more about the case click here.

A rare malpractice lawsuit has been filed against two Broward County doctors allowing punitive damages. Normally, patients who file malpractice cases are allowed to seek only compensatory damages covering medical expenses, lost pay and pain and suffering. However, in this case, the judge allowed punitive damages meaning that the conduct of the doctors was above and beyond the normal malpractice warranting the payment of damages as a punitive measure.
Thomas Glasson, a former lawyer, claims his plastic surgeon lied to him about his role in the surgery. His surgeon, Hollywood Fla. Plastic surgeon Jonathan Weiser, failed to inform Glasson about his peripheral role in his surgery which was performed by Pembroke Pines, Fla. Surgeon Jason Frost. Glasson alleges that the surgery was being performed to remove a small growth under his enlarged breasts but the surgeon completely removed both his breasts, leaving his chest disfigured. Glasson further alleges that Weiser, who was supposed to work with Frost on the surgery, to provide an 'acceptable cosmetic result', did not participate in the surgery at all. However, he billed Glasson's insurance company for performing the surgery with Frost.
Attorney Spencer Aronfeld of Aronfeld & Associates of Coral Gables, Fla., who represents Glasson, stated that Weiser altered hospital records as well as his office records in order to hide his misconduct. Aronfeld also stated that Weiser destroyed his hard drive with Glasson's records.
In his complaint, Glasson stated that he would not have agreed to the surgery if he knew that only Frost would be performing it.
To read more about the case click here.

The only female truck driver for the sanitation department in Atlantic City has filed a lawsuit against the city claiming that the city failed to protect her from the sexual harassment meted out to her by her supervisors.
Lisa Fundberg-Carr who has been a truck driver for the city since 2006, alleges that her supervisor, Melvin Jones, 'pinned her against a wall and tried to put his tongue down her throat'. She reported the incident, which took place in March or April 2006, to Barbara Camper, the city's equal opportunity employment officer at that time but no action was taken.
Fundberg-Carr also claims that her co-worker, Brian Williams, passed sexually offensive comments about her while they were both in training together such as 'how does it feel between your legs'. Her lawsuit also alleges that Williams also sent her obscene photos of himself to her celphone.
Again she claims that she reported the incident but nothing was done. All the while Williams continued to harass her by calling her 'bitch' and yelling in her face.
Her lawsuit filed on December 15 also named Jones, Williams, Herman Baskerville, Camper, David Callaway and former assistant city solicitor John Hegarty as defendants.
Fundberg-Carr is being represented by David Castellani of Northfield. In her lawsuit she alleges that she suffered 'extreme emotional distress, mental anguish, embaressment, humiliation, loss of past and future wages, physical injury and other damages' and that Atlantic City failed to enforce policies relating to sexual harassment at the workplace. She is seeking punitive damages, legal fees and other costs associated with filing the lawsuit.

A nurse at the Darlington County Detention Center, South Carolina, has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the county sheriff, his chief deputy and the county's jail director.
Roberta O'Steen filed her complaint in federal court Florence on December 19. In her lawsuit, O'Steen alleges that in the summer of 2007 Denis Carter, the detention center director, sexually harassed her by using vulgar sexual language with her and ordering her to perform massages. She claims that he also offered her money to see her breasts and to spend the night with him.
O'Steen complained about Carter's behavior to the county's human resources office administrator Phyllis Griffitts and to Darlington Sheriff Glenn Campbell. However, no action was taken.
After her complaint, O'Steen found that Carter stopped communicating with her about work related issues. He created a hostile work environment for her, forcing her termination from employment at the jail.
O'Steen later complained to the Darlington deputy sheriff, Tom Gainey about the harassment. He chided her for not reporting the harassment sooner and told her she would be written up for the delay. According to the plaintiff's document the deputy sheriff went on to accuse her of liking the behavior of her supervisor.
In her federal complaint, O'Steen alleges that she suffered irreparable injury and monetary damage as a result of the harassment.
O'Steen is being represented by Florence attorney Phoebe A. Clark of the Wukela Law Firm.

Thousands of hurricane victims, who had filed a lawsuit seeking damages for their alleged exposure to a toxic chemical while living in emergency housing provided by the federal government, have been denied class action status by a federal judge.
The emergency housing began to be provided to victims after violent Gulf Coast storms in 2005.
Victims of Katrina and Rida, from Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas have filed hundreds of lawsuits over the past three years against the federal government and several manufacturers of these housing trailers.
Allegedly, the trailers contain an excessive amount of formaldehyde that has caused its residents to fall sick. The chemical is permitted by law in limited quantities as a preservatice on plywood and other building materials. However, the victims allege that the levels of formaldehyde used for the mobile homes were unhealthy.
The federal court attempted to consolidate the cases in one court last year.This was the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. This was done since several of the cases had common issues.
In October, attorneyss representing the plaintiffs filed motions seeking class action status. That would have resulted in a single trial to settle all the cases. However, in Monday's judgement, Judge Kurt Englehardt refused to allow class action status since the number of plaintiffs and multiple defendants as well as the varying state laws made the cases impossible to consolidate.
To read more about the case click here.

 

The former vice president of Mankato Bank, Minnesota, who filed a lawsuit against the Minnesota Department of Public Safety in October last year, has been told to wait by a federal judge.
Jon Kietzer, former vice president of the community bank, filed a lawsuit against special agent Doug Forsman and the commissioner of the Department of Public Safety, Michael Campion, seeking damages for Forsman's alleged illegal and unconstitutionally torturous behaviour with him during a fraud investigation.
However, weeks after Kietzer filed his lawsuit, he was charged with theft by swindle and forgery, both felonies. Hence U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeanne Graham stayed proceedings of Kietzer's civil case until the criminal cases against him were resolved.
The charges against Kietzer accuse him of using a false appraisal for a house and land that he had sold to a nonprofit organization called Minnesota Game and Fish Preservation, after which he issued a $100,000 line of credit to the organization. Kietzer's bank accounts were searched during the investigation.
Forsman's investigation was brought to public attention in 2007 after Kietzer and another local businessman were questioned about their involvement in the Minnesota Game and Fish Preservation nonprofit organization.
Kietzer's lawsuit claims that Forsman tried to coerce him into making a confession.
To read more about the case click here.