lawsuits Archive
A Facebook Lawsuit in Miami
February 22nd, 2010. By Hunter West
Okay, so here’s the deal. A high school student—an honors student, no less—is at odds with her teacher. They just didn’t seem to get along. They clashed over assignments. It happens. But the student had to vent. So Katherine Evans created a Facebook page titled ‘Ms. Sarah Phelps in the worst teacher I’ve ever had,’ and invited current and former students of the maligned instructor to post their own comments.
Some were in support of the student. Others were in support of the teacher. With Facebook, you get what you get. The student did not control the content beyond setting the page up in the first place, and after a few days she took it down.
For all of that, the honors student was suspended from school for three days, accused of cyber-bullying.
Bullying?
Or free speech?
That’s the question. And now it’s the basis for a lawsuit, brought by Evans.
Katherine Evans is now 19 and a sophomore at the University of Florida. Beyond seeking a “nominal
Week Adjourned: 2.19.10
February 19th, 2010. By LucyC
Top Class Actions 
The Internet’s A-Buzz. Over Google Buzz—specifically a class action lawsuit filed by a Harvard Law student, Eva Hibnick, who is alleging that her contacts and contact information were made public by Google when it introduced Buzz, without her authorization.
Here, here I say. I also logged onto my email the morning Google Buzz was launched to find a list of my contacts displayed by the new social networking program. What? Who asked you to do that—was my first thought. It was completely inappropriate—not to mention unnecessary.
As Ms. Hibnick so appropriately put it—she was “shocked to learn that my email contacts may have been shared with others without my knowledge or consent. I signed up for a private email service, not a social networking site.”
The lawsuit seeks to enjoin Google from continuing to operate Buzz without appropriate internet privacy safeguards and it seeks damages, including statutory damages of $100 per day per user.
Enjoin, by the way—in legal terms—means to direct, require, command, or admonish. Personally, I favor command.
Top Settlements
Apropos for Black History Month… History was made on Thursday—when a settlement over a long-
Jillian Michaels: The Real Reveal
February 18th, 2010. By AbiK
[Remember this little tidbit as you read this: Jillian Michaels' father was a personal injury lawyer. Got it?]
So I’m trolling the net for some background on personal trainer and weight-loss-guru-turned-PR-quandry, Jillian Michaels. Most of the buzz is about her diet pills and the—surprise!—contention that no, perhaps they really don’t work weight loss wonders and are now the focus of a lawsuit…or two…or three.
But I’m over the Maximum Strength Calorie Control diet pill thing. Deceptive advertising? Looking like it. Lack of integrity? Uh, yeah. Potentially putting greed ahead of realistically attainable results at the expense of the emotional and physical struggles of her weight-challenged following? Well, that’s for others—and Jillian—to figure out.
As with a number of marketing efforts that rely on celebrity or boastful claims, what’s out there in print may undoubtedly come back to haunt you. So let’s take a little gander and look at some recent quotes from Jillian—her recent Ladies’ Home Journal interview is a good place to start—and it’s only from last month. Are you still remembering what I asked you to remember at the beginning? Then these quotes really need no explanation. Read on:
Jillian Michaels LHJ quote #1:
“There was this time when my parents were going through some s— and I was sparring with my instructor, and he kept kicking me. I thought he’d stop if I cried, but the more I cried, the harder he kicked. And he was like, ‘I don’t give a f—, if you don’t fight your way out of this corner I will kill you.’ And so I fought my way out of the corner.”
And this, Michaels believes, is the approach that’s necessary for people who have been making excuses for
Servin’ up Heart Attacks…it’s Tortelicious if not Delicious
February 16th, 2010. By LucyC
Welcome to Totally Tortelicious—a review of some of the more bizarre leg
al stories making news. Goodness knows there’s no shortage of them.
The Battle of the Burgers.
Ok, this is pretty sick—literally. According to a report in the media, a rather bizarre lawsuit has been filed by a hamburger joint in Arizona—the Heart Attack Grill—against a burger joint in Delray Beach, FL, called Heart Stoppers Grill, claiming that Heart Stoppers stole the idea for promoting and selling its deadly dishes from the Heart Attack Grill. Well, I suppose anything’s possible.
The names of the menu items are remarkably similar with the Heart Attack Grill offering the Triple Bypass Burger and Jolt Cola (I could use one of those about now), and Heart Stoppers selling the Heart Stopper Burger and Chili Chest Pain Fries. Heart Stoppers apparently promises free food to any patron who weighs over 350lbs. Yeah—that’s smart. Not. What happens when some person does end up having a heart attack after eating a meal there and sues the restaurant?
Maybe one of these guys should open up a Salad Loop next door—you know—diversify…
Mistaken Identity—That’s Mistaken Spelt with an “A”…
Christina Fourhorn of Sterling, CO, ended up spending several days in jail until her husband could raise $3,500 to bail her out. Her crime? Those unpaid parking tickets? Nope. In fact, her arrest actually had nothing to do with her
When it takes b@!!s to file a lawsuit…
January 12th, 2010. By AbiK
I’m on a roll, baby. First, the pole dance lawsuit. Now, I’m moving on to lap dances.
The name: Gerard Wall.
The lowdown: Gerard—I feel like I want to call him “Gerry”—is a guy from Delaware; fwiw, reports indicate he’s 39 years old. He visited Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club on the west side in New York City. He went in for a good time. He apparently doesn’t remember how good of a time he may have had. He filed a lawsuit claiming that his good time cost him over $21,000—$21,620.60 exactly, split between his AMEX and Discover cards—when he only agreed to a $300 lap dance. Other details in the suit: he had 2 drinks within 90 minutes and was apparently so blotto that a Hustler employee had to drive him home.
Now, I get that there may have been some error in billing. And that this may well be a legitimate lawsuit. And that this is not, by far, the first time some guy goes into a strip joint and leaves not realizing he’s about to have his memory of the night jarred by a credit card statement in the mail(jarred even moreso if it’s his wife opening the mail).
No, what I find interesting about these kinds of lawsuits is the stigma that surrounds them. Sure, folks’ll be saying “that Larry Flynt, he’s no good” and all. And I’m sure Larry’s used to that kind of talk. But for Gerard Wall, anyone’s
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