• Owners of Who Dat?, Inc. sue the NFL and the New Orleans Saints for trademark infringement, seeking to protect the mark that "has become one of the most recognizable in all of America and quickly became well-known around the world."
Who Dat?, Inc. v. NFL Properties
• Army bomb disposal expert sues the makers of "The Hurt Locker" for plagiarizing his life story. The film is "nothing more than the exploitation of a real life honorable, courageous, and long serving member of our country’s armed forces, by greedy multi-billion dollar 'entertainment' corporations."
Sarver v. The Hurt Locker
• Former patient sues the Cincinnati hospital where he was sexually assaulted by a transgender nurse. The nurse's "employment while masquerading as a member of the female gender in a hospital environment involved an unreasonable risk of harm to others."
Evans v. University of Cincinnati
• Federal judge enjoins the City of Phoenix from enforcing a noise ordinance against "sound generated in the course of religious expression," finding the right of churches to ring bells outweighs "the City's interest in preserving the peace and tranquility of its neighborhoods."
St. Mark Roman Catholic Parish v. City of Phoenix
• 5th Circuit says a Texas city's junked vehicle ordinance applies to a cactus planter made out of wrecked Oldsmobile 88. "Irrespective of the intentions of its creators ... the car-planter is a utilitarian device, an advertisement, and ultimately a 'junked vehicle.'"
Kleinman v. City of San Marcos
• Oklahoma City bomber Terry Nichols notifies a federal judge that he has gone on hunger strike, saying he is "prepared to die if necessary because he is done allowing his body to be defiled by [ ] refined and dead foods."
Nichols v. Federal Bureau of Prisons
• Texas judge finds the makers of a film about Rin Tin Tin did not infringe on the trademarks of a breeder of German Shepherds. "Defendants['] title 'Finding Rin Tin Tin: The Adventure Continues" is a fair use of the term 'Rin Tin Tin.'"
Rin Tin Tin, Inc. v. First Look Studios
• Illinois appeals court says the contact sports exception to negligence liability does not apply to the case of an athletic trainer who was struck in the eye by a hockey puck while refilling water bottles. Michael Weisberg "suffered injuries as a result of alleged conduct that was not inherent to the sport of hockey."
Weisberg v. Chicago Steel
 
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Toxic Bras Update: Suits Won't Be Combined in Ohio |
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 A rash of lawsuits against Victoria's Secret alleging defectively manufactured underwear is continuing with eight new cases filed in the past two months. But in a setback for plaintiffs, a judicial panel has refused to consolidate all the litigation in Ohio.
The decision of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) may be the catalyst for yet more litigation. Plaintiffs' lawyers have said they were prepared to file more than 600 other suits once the seven-member panel ruled.
With the recent addition of six cases in Ohio and two in Florida, at least 17 have been filed in six states since January 2008. They are all variations on the theme that some “chemical, toxin, or allergen” in Victoria's Secret bras is causing women to break out in a severe rash.
“This is not a little clothing rash,” a toxicologist has said. “The extent and severity of it is just unbelievable. Many of them have scars that seem to be permanent.”
Plaintiffs' attorneys petitioned in April to have the litigation consolidated in the federal court of Columbus, Ohio, where Victoria's Secret is based. The consolidation “will prevent duplicative and potentially conflicting pretrial rulings, will reduce the costs of litigation and allow cases to proceed more efficiently to trial,” the petition said.
But the JPML last week rejected the petition, finding the common allegation of defective underwear in the various cases “may be overshadowed by factual issues unique to each action.”
“Victoria’s Secret sells a vast array of brands, styles, and colors of undergarments, and they are manufactured by various factories with components from various suppliers,” it said. “Therefore, it is likely that discovery will vary among the actions.”
One possible culprit for the rashes has been identified as the chemical formaldehyde. "When you heat the bras by putting it in the dryer, it releases the resins embedded in the fabric," the attorney for a plaintiff in Baton Rouge, La., said.
Limited Brands, the parent company of Victoria's Secret, says independent tests show the bras either have no formaldehyde or have only traces of the chemical that are too small to cause any skin problems.
The case of Macrida Patterson, a California woman who sued Victoria's Secret after a metallic piece allegedly flew off her thong and struck her in the eye, was settled in March. A suit in which a South Carolina woman alleged a Victoria's Secret bra malfunctioned, lacerating her breast, is set for trial in December.
By Matthew Heller
6/21/09 
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"Upskirting" Victim Loses Privacy Suit Against Store
A customer at a T.J. Maxx store in upstate New York has lost her lawsuit against the retailer for allowing a man to take photos up her skirt by using her as “human bait” in a sting operation.
Read more...
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Perfume Allergy Case Settles for $100,000
A Detroit city planner with an allergy to perfume is savoring the sweet smell of legal success after the city agreed to pay her $100,000 and be more sensitive to the chemically sensitive.
Read more...
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Teen's Suit Puts Mug-Shot Publisher Against the Wall
A new publication in Lincoln, Neb., milks mug shots for humor. But a teenager whose arrest photo appeared in Cuffed doesn't see the funny side of it and has sued the publisher for misappropriating his image.
Read more...
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BA Settles 'Reckless' Baggage Handling Suit
Limiting its liability to a group of only 13 airline passengers, British Airways (NYSE: BAY) has settled a first-of-its kind lawsuit that accused the airline of being “inexcusably reckless” in its handling of passengers' baggage.
Read more...
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Judge Says "Gay" Still Defamatory in Texas
What one court has called “a veritable sea change in social attitudes about homosexuality” has evidently not reached Texas where a judge ruled that an airport security guard can sue a radio show host for calling him “gay” on the air.
Read more...
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Mom Says Hospital Gave Her Wrong
Baby to Nurse
Because of a hospital's error, Jennifer Spiegel became an involuntary wet nurse to another woman's newborn son. Now she is suing the hospital for its malpractice in providing her with the wrong baby to breastfeed.
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Case Over MySpace Page Chills Student Speech
Several recent court rulings have been protective of off-campus student speech -– with the exception of a very shaky decision that a dissenting judge said “vests school officials with dangerously overbroad censorship discretion.”
Read more...
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Newdow v. Rio Lindo Union Sch. Dist.
Subject: Pledge of allegiance
Document: Opinion
Vance v. Rumsfeld
Subject: Detainee abuse
Document: Opinion
Stern v. Sony Corp.
Subject: Disabled gamers
Document: Opinion
Churchill v. Univ. of Colorado
Subject: Academic freedom
Document: ACLU amicus brief
KBR/Halliburton v. Jones
Subject: Sexual assault
Document: Petition for review
more
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Spears v. Allergan, Inc.
Court: Orange County (Calif.) Superior
Subject: Botox death
Verdict: Defense
Patterson v. Hudson Area Schools
Court: USDC, E. Mich.
Subject: Student harassment
more
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McClain v. Pfizer, Inc.
Date: 3/2/10
Court: USDC, Conn.
Hearing: Jury trial in case over unsafe lab conditions.
Sherman v. McDonald's Corp.
Date: 3/23/10
Court: Washington County (Ark.) Circuit
Hearing: Jury trial in case over nude photos.
more
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