Personal Injury Blog

Business Cries Yelp with Defamation Lawsuit

Dec 202012

A Washington D. C. home contractor didn’t like the review his company was given on Yelp by a former client so he has sued her for defamation of character. The $750,000 lawsuit is claiming the negative reviews have resulted in $300,000 in damages.

According to the Washington Post, “A D.C. home contractor filed the $750,000 lawsuit in November, claiming Fairfax resident Jane Perez’s posts on Yelp and Angie’s List were false and cost him $300,000 in business. Perez has stood by the posts.

“Christopher Dietz, the contractor, also sought a preliminary injunction to keep Perez from repeating the claims in new reviews. Perez accused Dietz of billing her for work he didn’t perform, trespassing on her property and implied he took jewelry from her home among other things.”

The ACLU and Public Citizen are taking the side of the accused citing free speech.

Florida A&M University Gives Family Low Ball Offer on Hazing Death

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Nov 082012

Florida A&M University has offered the grieving family $300,000 in the highly publicized hazing death of drum major Robert Champion. Fellow band members beat Champion to death as he walked the gauntlet of seats on a bus outside of an Orlando Hotel about a year ago.

The attorney for the Champion family alleges the university was negligent in protecting its students against hazing. The same attorney, Chris Chestnut also says that the offer was insultingly low for the family who had lost their child unnecessarily.

Florida A&M stated that the $300,000 offer was as high as they were allowed to go without approval from the Florida legislature. The band remains suspended for the academic year.

Meningitis Lawsuit Brought by Minnesota Woman

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Oct 132012

The recent U. S. meningitis outbreak has been blamed by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) on a compromised steroid compound. A Minnesota woman who had received such steroid injections for neck pain is now suing the pharmaceutical company who manufactured the drug.

The woman has not contracted fungal meningitis, but had to undergo a painful spinal tap in order to check for the disease after being informed by the state health agency about the meningitis outbreak. The litigation sets the stage for a class action lawsuit.

The New England Compounding Center, the company that manufactured the steroid, won’t comment on the impending case. To date, 14 people have been killed by the outbreak of fungal meningitis and 170 have been sickened by the disease.

Lawsuit Filed in Kansas Grain Elevator Explosion

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Sep 042012

Less than a year after the death of 4 people in Kansas from a grain elevator explosion a wrongful death lawsuit by the families of the deceased has been filed. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) filed a report in April blaming the deaths on the grain company in question.

According to the Washington Post, “Among the willful violations, OSHA alleged Bartlett Grain allowed grain dust, which is nine times as explosive as coal dust, to accumulate and used compressed air to remove dust without first shutting down ignition sources. OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.

“The serious violations, defined as those with a substantial probability of death or serious physical harm, include claims that there was a lack of preventative maintenance and that the housekeeping program was deficient because it didn’t prevent grain dust accumulations.”

Bartlett Grain is appealing the OSHA filings and has no comment on the pending lawsuits.

Jaycee Dugard Attorneys Allege DOJ Witness Tampering

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Aug 092012

The lawyers for kidnap victim Jaycee Dugard allege that the Department of Justice (DOJ) tampered with at least one witness in an ongoing trial.

According to Fox News, “In court papers filed Monday, Dugard’s attorneys allege that DOJ lawyers unfairly convinced the former chair of the U.S. Parole Commission to cease serving as Dugard’s expert witness in her lawsuit against the federal government.

“Dugard alleges U.S. parole officials are partly to blame for her abduction and 18 years of captivity at the hands of a convicted rapist Phillip Garrido, who was on parole after serving 11 years of a 50-year sentence.

“Dugard’s lawyers are seeking a verdict in their favor because of the DOJ’s actions. She and her two children have already received a $20 million settlement from state of California.”

The lawsuit states that parole officials should have revoked Phillip Garrido’s parole shortly before he abducted Dugard. Multiple failures of actions are cited by the attorneys against the parole officers.

James Holmes Batman Massacre Lawsuit

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Jul 242012

The weekend after one of the deadliest massacres in Colorado history, an 18-year-old man is filing a lawsuit. Narrowly escaping the bullets of James Holmes (allegedly), Torrence Brown Jr. is filing a lawsuit against the movie theater operators, Holmes’ doctors and Warner Brothers studios.

Brown who said he narrowly escaped with his life and was traumatized by the incident is suing the movie theaters for not guarding the exit doors and providing sufficient security in order to stop or mitigate the losses.

In regard to Holmes’ doctors, the New York Post says, “The potential plaintiffs also plan to target Holmes doctors, arguing they should have more closely monitored the neuroscience student for medications he might have been taking.”

And finally, Brown says he intends to sue Warner Brothers studios who produced the “Dark Knight” Batman movie for setting the violent tone in the shooting.

U. S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Lawsuit Filed

Discrimination Comments Off

Jun 112012

In a lawsuit filed recently the U. S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is being accused of discriminatory practices based on religion in refusing to hire a Muslim Lawyer. Some of the alleged incidents took place in 2009 and 2010.

According to the Washington Post about the lawsuit, “It quotes staff as encouraging Safiya Ghori-Ahmad, during her short period working at the commission, to call in sick on the days that particular commissioners were in the office, to ‘downplay her religious affiliation’ and to emphasize that she is a ‘mainstream and moderate Muslim’ who doesn’t cover her hair.

“The lawsuit, which follows an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint that Ghori-Ahmad filed in 2010, lays blame on several longtime commissioners, including Nina Shea, an attorney and writer who focuses on religious freedom crises abroad, particularly the plight of Christian minorities. The suit quotes Shea as writing that ‘hiring a Muslim like Ms. Ghori-Ahmad to analyze religious freedom in Pakistan would be like ‘hiring an IRA activist to research the UK twenty years ago.’”

It is expected that this lawsuit will play out in the weeks and months to come.

100 Former NFL Players Filed Concussion Lawsuit

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May 032012

At least 100 former National Football League (NFL) players have filed a lawsuit claiming the League hid the long-term dangers of concussions from them. This group is part of 1500 players who have also made this claim.

According to CNN, “The filing cites recent scientific studies that have found a connection between concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a neurodegenerative disease that results in Alzheimer’s-like symptoms, including memory loss and mood swings.

“CTE results only from repeated blows to the head, and can be diagnosed only after death. According to the lawsuit, 12 cases of CTE have been detected in deceased NFL players.”

It is already widely known that many former boxers suffer from traumatic brain injuries including dementia pugilistica, which is a variant of CTE. Whether or not the NFL did enough to reasonably inform players with the current information at hand will be discussed in court.

Motley Rice Law Firm Pays $400,000 for Frivolous Lawsuit

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Apr 032012

The well-known law firm of Motley Rice (not to be confused with Motley Crew) has been ordered to pay $400,000 in a frivolous lawsuit. The lawsuit was aimed at ITT Educational Services in a whistleblower case.

According to the plaintiff, Debra Leveski, however, she did not have any complaints against ITT Educational Services while she was associated with them. It was only after she was gone that she was approached by representatives for Motley Rice that she had gotten the idea that she may be able to win a lucrative whistleblower case.

One of the flaws with the case, however, according to the judge is that she did not blow the whistle until after the fact. Another flaw is that she was pursued by her attorneys in going forward with this case. U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt created a 31-page order which laid some responsibility on both parties for continuing this frivolous case that wasted the court’s time and the defendant’s money.

Frivolous Lawsuit over Movie Theatre Popcorn Filed

Frivolous Lawsuits Comments Off

Mar 062012

A Michigan man has filed a class-action lawsuit against a movie theatre in what he’s calling a price gouging case. The man has stated that he doesn’t like the price of popcorn, candy and soda at the local theatre so he’s willing to bring a lawsuit to test the boundaries of the consumer protection laws in that state.

According to the Vancouver Sun, “Thompson, an avid moviegoer from Livonia, Mich., used to bypass the high prices charged for theatre popcorn, soda and candy by bringing in his own treats, said his attorney, Kerry Morgan. But Thompson arrived at his local theater outside Detroit recently to find a new sign telling customers they were no longer allowed to bring in their own goodies.”

Some people are calling this a frivolous lawsuit, taking up the court’s time, man-power and man hours along with that of the attorneys and company involved. We’ll let you form your own opinion on this one.

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