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Week Adjourned: 3.19.10
March 19th, 2010. By LucyC
Top Class Actions
Hey eBay, maybe try Email? eBay’s in trouble this week—facing a class action brought by a deaf woman in Missouri on allegations that the online auction site is discriminatory regarding its telephone registration system.
What?
Apparently, Melissa J. Earll of Nevada, MO, tried multiple times to register to sell items on the site but couldn’t because the company requires sellers to verify their identities via telephone using PINs (short for pain in (@##$)). Despite Ms. Earll’s numerous attempts to explain her hearing issue to the company over email and online chat support asking for an alternate method to authorize her account, eBay reportedly refused to accommodate her.
Now, you can’t blame eBay for requiring security, and rest assured they would likely be sued if they didn’t have any in place. But really, the phone?
It strikes me that there are a couple of interesting assumptions here, the first and obvious one being that everyone should be able to use the phone—to hear instructions—and the second is that you’ll be able to understand those instructions when you hear them—and that has nothing to do with how well you can hear. What about people with cognitive dysfunction?
Ms. Earll’s lawsuit is being filed on behalf of all deaf or hard-of-hearing persons who have been prevented from registering as sellers with eBay as a result of this phone registration policy.
Chantix, Champix, Schmampix…call it what you will but… After years of witnessing Chantix lawsuits get filed in the
Asbestos News Roundup: 3.19.10
March 19th, 2010. By LucyC
A roundup of recent asbestos-related news and information that you should be aware of.
Asbestos Lawsuits
Kansas City, MO: An asbestos lawsuit has been filed by a woman who worked as a judicial administrative assistant at the Jackson County Courthouse, alleging she developed asbestos mesothelioma as a result of exposure to asbestos where she worked. Nancy R. Lopez worked at the courthouse from 1975 until 2007. The suit alleges that there is asbestos dust in and around the heating and air-conditioning systems in the building.
A second lawsuit—a class action—has been filed on behalf of anyone who has worked or spent time in the courthouse on a daily basis since 1983, and who may have been exposed to asbestos dust. The lawsuit seeks damages for to help pay for medical expenses for those people who have suffered illness as a result of exposure to asbestos at this property. (KMBC.com)
Los Angeles, CA: The widow of Merlin Olsen, Susan Olsen will be assuming responsibility with respect to the lawsuit her late husband had filed against his former employer NBC and other media companies over allegations that they exposed him to asbestos. Olsen was diagnosed with asbestos mesothelioma roughly one year ago.
Merlin Olsen was a TV sportscaster and actor, and in his suit he reportedly alleges that NBC, NBC Universal and 20th Century Fox Film Corporation improperly exposed him to asbestos during his TV career. This led to his developing asbestos related cancer, and his untimely death at the age of 69, on March 11, 2010. He also alleges that he was exposed to asbestos as a child and later as a drywaller when he worked in construction.
Olsen was a Hall of Fame defensive tackle with the Los Angeles Rams. He also starred on the NBC television series “Little House on the Prairie” and “Father Murphy.” (Dailybreeze.com)
Asbestos Hot Spots
Harrisburg, PA: Asbestos fibers have been found in floor tiles recently removed from St. Catherine Laboure School in Derry Township, Dauphin County. According to news reports, workers removed the floor tiles to install new carpeting on March 12, 2010. The school has been closed for the week, and a cleanup is underway. (ABC27 News)
Asbestos Law
St. Louis, MO: Joseph L. Washington, ex-chief of the Northeast fire district, has been sentenced to one year’s probation for his role in the removal of asbestos materials from a fire district building, which resulted in a felony violation of the Clean Air Act.
The charge stemmed from the removal in late 2008 of asbestos-laden tiles from the Northeast Ambulance and Fire Protection District’s administration building in Beverly Hills. (St. Louis today.com)
Week Adjourned: 3.12.10
March 12th, 2010. By LucyC
Top Class Actions
Net Taxes Paid? Well, seems like they shouldn’t a been. AT&T is facing a class action lawsuit—and no you’re not experiencing déjà vu—this lawsuit is over allegations that the Internet access fees the company charges its smart phone customers is in violation of the law.
Apparently, the boffins that make law up on the hill had a flash of wisdom years ago, and made it illegal for taxes to be collected on internet access service. Of course, there were no such things as smart phones when the Internet Tax Freedom Act came into being in 1998. Nevertheless, it has been updated several times and suffice to say is good until 2014.
Apparently, the suit states that AT&T’s Internet access tax is listed as a separate line item on monthly bills. Naughty, naughty. Actually, really naughty—one media report states that “AT&T says in a court filing that 40 class-action suits have been filed in 37 separate districts.”
If you had to pay tax for internet access on top of all the other charges tacked on to your phone package, would you bother with the service?
Top Settlements
Dying to lose weight? Be careful what you wish for. Very sadly, a young woman who signed up to shed the extra pounds through LA Weight Loss Centers Inc, subsequently died from liver failure as a result of taking some diet supplements that had not been tested or regulated by the FDA, but were apparently recommended by the ‘professionals’ at LA WLC.
Pamela Hoppe’s sister brought a lawsuit against LA WLC on behalf of Pamela’s estate. The suit was settled out of court for $700,000, half of which will be split between Pamela’s two surviving children.
Freight Co. Older and Wiser Now, Too? This case reminds me of that wonderful film “Up in The Air”…the story line part…not George Clooney, sadly. Mr. Donald Wayne Smith was laid off by his employer, Central Freight Lines Inc, after 45 years of service. He was a dockworker, and 62 years old at the time he was laid off. That should have made finding another job a piece of cake…Not.
And so, Mr. Smith sued his ex-employer alleging age discrimination. In his suit, Mr. Smith alleged that during his last months of employment he received a disproportionate number of disciplinary write-ups and that the company changed its layoff guidelines. Ummm.
And he claimed that new guidelines were introduced that exempted part-time and supervisory employees, to ensure he was laid off while younger workers with worse work records remained employed.
But wait—Central Freight was just cutting costs—it was a legitimate business decision they argued. Wouldn’t it cost the company less in the long run to keep their experienced employees on who don’t make mistakes—or likely make fewer mistakes?
Well, anyway, unlike Up in the Air, this story has a happy ending. Mr. Smith won his suit and was awarded $257,500.
That’s it for this week—see you at the Bar!
Asbestos News Roundup: 3.11.10
March 11th, 2010. By LucyC
A roundup of recent asbestos-related news and information that you should be aware of.
Asbestos Lawsuits
Among the many asbestos lawsuits filed in the past month are:
Madison County, IL: David Lee Worthington and Doris Ann Wilkey of Florida who allege that Mr. Worthington developed mesothelioma as a result of his work as a laborer for Griffin Construction from 1959 until 1961, as an electrical apprentice for A&W Wiring from 1962 until 1965, as an electrician for IBEW Local 1701 from 1965 until 1985, as an electrician for Progress Energy from 1985 until 2000 and as a home improvement worker from 1943 until 1959. (Madisoncountyrecord.com)
Madison County, IL: Robert and Kathie Highland of Arkansas claim Robert Highland developed mesothelioma resulting from exposure to asbestos through his work as a welder and pipefitter at Farmland Industries from 1966 until 2003, and as a welder and pipefitter at Koch Industries from 2003 until 2006. (Madisoncountyrecord.com)
Madison County, IL: Geraldine and Forrest Blazer of Ohio, allege that Geraldine developed mesothelioma as a result of secondary or ‘take home’ asbestos exposure from her father’s work clothing. He worked as a shipbuilder for Bethlehem Steel from 1940 until 1943. She also claims exposure through her husband’s work as an asphalt worker for Brewer and Brewer and as a construction worker for V.N. Holderman. (Madisoncountyrecord.com)
Asbestos Hot Spots
San Francisco, CA: Construction work at a large development project located on the old Hunters Point Naval Shipyard was temporarily halted due to higher than acceptable levels of airborne asbestos fibers detected on the site. Asbestos occurs naturally in the SF Bay Area serpentine soils, including the ground at the 63-acre site where 1,600 homes are scheduled to be built this April. (San Francisco Examiner)
Asbestos Law
Natchez, MI: Two Mississippi lawyers have been found guilty of fraud against a railroad company named as a defendant in an asbestos lawsuit. The attorneys, William Guy and Thomas Brock, had given false information in a pair of questionnaires submitted by Illinois Central Railroad while settling with two of their clients, a federal jury ruled. Additionally, the jury found that both lawyers had not disclosed that their clients, Warren Turner and Willie Harried, were previously involved in an asbestos mass action. Turner had received a $120,000 settlement from Illinois Central, while Willie Harried had been awarded $90,000.
The jury ruled for the settlement funds to be returned, plus another $210,000 in punitive damages. (WV Record.com)
Take the Wheel, I have to Shave! and other Tortelicious gems…
March 9th, 2010. By LucyC
Welcome to Totally Tortelicious—a review of some of the more bizarre legal items making news. Goodness knows there’s no shortage of them. 
This one was a real close shave (and a very bad pun). A young woman in Florida, who was driving through the Keys to meet her boyfriend, decided she need to shave her bikini line en-route. I mean who has time to pull over these days? Seriously. 
Not surprisingly, she caused a car crash.
Wait—it get’s weirder. (What is it about Florida?)
The 37-year old handed the wheel of the car to her ex husband—who was not in the driver’s seat—both figuratively and literally. After piling into some poor guy who had slowed down to make a turn, she keeps her foot on the gas—clearly focused on her destination—and drove another half mile down the road where she stopped and swapped seats with her ex-husband so it looked like he was the one who had been driving.
My question is why didn’t she just get her ex-husband to drive her all the way there? As it turns out, she should not have been driving in the first place. The day before the accident, she had been convicted and sentenced to nine months of probation for DUI and driving with a suspended license. Her license was revoked for five years and she was ordered to get her car impounded.
You know, you couldn’t make this stuff up, even if you wanted to.
Talk about getting off to a roaring start. According to New England police, newlywed 22-year-old Marissa
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