Legal News

Author Loses Case Over Portraying Friend as "Slut"

Posted on November 19, 2009
Reality-based fiction has suffered another major blow as a Georgia jury awarded $100,000 in damages to a woman who claimed that a character in the best-selling novel ?The Red Hat Club? falsely portrayed her as an ?alcoholic slut.?Vicki Stewart, 63, was the inspiration for a character nicknamed "SuSu" in Haywood Smith's whimsical book about five middle-aged women who have been best friends for 30 years...

"Dog Fricassee?" Law Firm Sued Over Vietnam Insults

Posted on November 17, 2009
A Vietnamese-American woman who says attorneys at a Virginia law firm insinuated she cooked up meals from dogs and cats has filed an employment lawsuit that may test the boundary between office banter and actionable discrimination on the basis of national origin...

Wind Gusts Make Homeowners Liable for Auto Accident

Posted on November 16, 2009
Iowans might need to keep a closer eye on their weather after the state Supreme Court ruled that property owners who left trampoline parts unsecured in their yard can be sued over an accident caused by the parts being blown onto an adjacent road.A passing motorist who lost control of his car and crashed on encountering the trampoline parts in the road sued James Kaczinski and Michelle Lockwood for negligence, alleging they had a duty to exercise reasonable care to prevent their personal property from obstructing the road and to remove it within a reasonable time...

Injured Patron Sues Bar Over Perils of Pole-Dancing

Posted on November 12, 2009
Even if an Arizona woman who was injured while pole-dancing at a sports bar should have known of the perils of pole-dancing, the owners of the bar may still be liable for failing to install the pole correctly.ReAnna Hedrick's negligence lawsuit over her accident at a Famous Sam's bar in Mesa, Ariz...

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YouTube Poster Wins Key Battle Over Prince Letters

Posted on November 07, 2009
Universal Music Group has failed in its effort to block the disclosure of communications with Prince that could be pivotal to the case of a woman who sued the record company for asking YouTube to remove a video of her toddler son dancing to a song by Prince...

Kin of Radio Stunt Victim Win Record $16.5M Award

Posted on November 05, 2009
The attorney for the survivors of a woman who died after taking part in a radio station's water-drinking contest says a record $16.57 million jury award is a clear rejection of the view that tort law allows people to avoid responsibility for their own actions...

Sweat Lodge Suit Says Guru Barred Escape From Heat

Posted on November 01, 2009
The first two of what could be many such lawsuits have been filed against ?self-help by sweating? guru James Arthur Ray, with a survivor of his sweat lodge ceremony in the Arizona desert alleging he prevented her from leaving before she passed out.Of the roughly 60 people who took part in the Oct...

Anxious Monkey Owner Can't Take Animal out in Public

Posted on October 30, 2009
A Missouri judge didn't monkey around with a woman who claims a Bonnet Macaque monkey is trained to assist her with anxiety and agorophobia, finding the animal was ?equivalent to a household pet? and does not qualify as a ?service animal? under disability law...

Interracial Couple's Case Tests Judicial Immunity

Posted on October 25, 2009
An interracial couple suing a Louisiana justice of the peace for refusing to officiate at their wedding may be able to pierce the judicial immunity shield by showing that performing weddings is not part of his judicial duties. Keith Bardwell The bizarre, Jim Crow-esque behavior of Justice Keith Bardwell of Tangipahoa Parish has given him international notoriety...

Libel Suit Over Film Dropped Amid Protests in Sweden

Posted on October 23, 2009
Dole Food Co.'s dismissal of a defamation lawsuit against a Swedish documentary filmmaker, citing free speech concerns, is a curious act of capitulation ?- especially given its earlier assertions that the film ?Bananas!*? is ?blatantly false.?The complaint Dole filed in July could hardly have been more indignant, accusing filmmaker Fredrik Gertten of ?abdicat[ing] any sense of responsibility, self-restraint, or self-discipline? in his documentary about the toxic tort claims of Nicaraguan men who alleged a pesticide used on banana plantations operated by Dole had made them sterile...

Blind Lawyer Loses Case of Sex, Lies and Credit Cards

Posted on October 19, 2009
He says it was prostitution, she says it was Pilates. Whatever the truth is, a Philadelphia judge has ruled that a legally blind lawyer who claims a woman overcharged him for sexual services cannot sue a credit card company for not taking any action against her...

Veil-Wearing Muslim Woman Drops Battle With Judge

Posted on October 19, 2009
Citing the ?possible repercussions? of the case, a Muslim woman from Detroit has dropped her lawsuit against a judge who insisted that she remove her facial veil in order to testify in small claims court, On Point has learned.Ginnah Muhammad wears a ?niqab,? a Ninja-style head scarf with a veil that covers all of her face except her eyes, whenever she leaves home...

NY Post's Report of Sex Fantasy Found Not Libelous

Posted on July 09, 2009
"Ava" Cordero A statement reporting that someone had a sexual fantasy is distinguishable from one reporting that the person acted on the fantasy, a New York appeals court has ruled in dismissing a transgender person's $100 million libel lawsuit against the New York Post...

Dixie Chick Makes Surprise Admission to Libel Plaintiff

Posted on July 06, 2009
Dixie Chicks member Natalie Maines has made a surprising admission that may weaken her defense against a libel lawsuit -? she never read the 200-page court document which she cited in implicating a man in a triple-murder case. Natalie Maines Terry Hobbs of Memphis sued Maines in November, alleging she libeled him in an open letter posted on the Dixie Chicks' website which ?taken as a whole, accused Plaintiff of committing the murder[s]? of three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis, Ark...

Drug Found in Jacko's Home Cited in Malpractice Suits

Posted on July 05, 2009
At least four medical malpractice lawsuits have been filed in recent years alleging that hospital patients died from overdoses of Diprivan ?- the powerful sedative found in Michael Jackson's home after his death.One patient, Chester Forrester, allegedly went into ?respiratory and/or cardiac arrest? only four minutes after a physician at a Norfolk, Va...

This Time, Tony La Russa Settles With Twitter for Real

Posted on July 03, 2009
St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa has officially dismissed his lawsuit over a fake profile on Twitter as part of a settlement in which the social media website did not have to pay him anything.A settlement of the case -? the first to be filed by a celebrity against Twitter ?- was first reported in early June, with La Russa saying Twitter had agreed to pay his legal fees and make a donation to his Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF)...

Man Burned at Burning Man Assumed Risk of Injury

Posted on July 01, 2009
Get too close to the Burning Man fire and you assume the ?obvious and inherent? risk of being burned, a California appeals court has ruled in dismissing a personal injury lawsuit against the operators of the iconic countercultural arts festival.The burning of a 60-foot wooden sculpture in the figure of a man is the centerpiece of the Burning Man festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada...

Lawyer's "Prove Me Wrong" Offer No Joke to Student

Posted on June 27, 2009
J. Cheney Mason A Texas law student may have taken a $1 million ?prove me wrong? challenge seriously, but the criminal defense lawyer who made the challenge on a TV news show appears to have done so with enough tongue in cheek to avoid liability for not paying up...

N.Y. Jury Chills Civil Rights in Strip Search Case

Posted on June 25, 2009
A jury has reached a chilling decision in the civil rights case of a Southampton, N.Y., woman, clearing four police officers in the exclusive resort community of liability for performing a strip search on her after a minor marijuana bust.As a misdemeanor arrestee, Stacey Hartline had a Fourth Amendment right to be protected from a strip search unless police had an ?individualized reasonable suspicion? that she was hiding illegal drugs on her person...

Bride's Wedding Fiasco Suit Really Takes the Cake

Posted on June 18, 2009
Sandra Newsom's wedding disaster lawsuit may -? literally ?- take the cake. The New York woman has sued a cruise ship operator for ruining her wedding reception by serving a coconut-containing cake to which she had an allergic reaction.The complaint against Carnival Cruise Lines, which was filed in Miami, does not allege the catering staff of the Carnival Freedom knew Newsom was ?severely allergic? to coconut before she had her on-board wedding reception on Feb...

Woody Allen Got $5M After Judge Shredded Defense

Posted on June 16, 2009
A week before American Apparel agreed to pay Woody Allen $5 million for misappropriating his image, a judge had shredded the clothing company's First Amendment defense based on its CEO's ?mental processes,? On Point has learned.The settlement of Allen's publicity rights suit was announced May 18 as the case was about to go to trial...

"Religulous" Rev Sued for $600,000 "Scheme of Lies"

Posted on June 12, 2009
Rev. Jeremiah Cummings Two former followers of Florida preacher Jeremiah Cummings may have dealt his defamation lawsuit against the makers of the documentary ?Religulous? a fatal blow by alleging he conned them out of $600,000 through a ?well-designed scheme of deception and lies...

ON POINT NEWS STORY OF THE DAY BANNER

Posted on January 15, 2009

ON POINT GRAPHICS BANNER

Posted on January 09, 2009

On Point Graphics

Posted on January 09, 2009
Victoria's Secret appears to have developed a double-D sized products liability problem. With the addition of a case filed March 6 in Louisiana, at least 11 women have sued the company over the past 15 months over injuries that allegedly resulted from defectively manufactured undergarments (see link below)...