According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Mary Bassi was 56 when she was allegedly subjected to age-based discrimination at the Cover Girls club where she waited tables. “According to the lawsuit, which was filed last week in federal court, she was frequently called ‘old’ by managers and endured comments about experiencing menopause and showing signs of Alzheimer’s disease.” Younger waitresses were also given shifts that Bassi had customarily worked. An EEOC lawyer says Bassi had been a successful waitress and is now working in that capacity for a competitive club; Cover Girls burned down in 2007 and has not been rebuilt. [Houston Chronicle via Tim Eavenson; Richard Connelly, Houston Press “Hair Balls”] We’ve covered earlier age-bias complaints by exotic dancers themselves (as opposed to support staff) in 2000 and last year (both in Ontario, Canada).
Author Archive
“Enviros Forced NHTSA Nominee To Withdraw”
Chuck Hurley withdrew not because of the many liberty-hostile positions taken by Mothers Against Drunk Driving, but because of one of the issues on which he was right, namely, recognizing that there’s a tradeoff between fuel-economy-regulation-driven downsizing of vehicles and occupant safety, an inconvenient truth some environmental and consumer groups would rather not acknowledge. [National Journal, Fleet Owner, AP/Tacoma News Tribune]
“Lawsuit filed over ‘sexting’ suicide”
“The family of a Sycamore High student who hanged herself after nude pictures she took on her cell phone were disseminated without her permission is suing the school, the city of Montgomery and several students they believe are involved.” [Cincinnati Enquirer] Jessica Logan was 18 and on spring break at the time. Patrick at Popehat, and earlier Scott Greenfield, have some relevant things to say about both the civil and criminal law angles of the problem.
Cheerios as “drug”
The Food and Drug Administration wants to protect you, whether you’d like it to or not. Don Surber: “Next they will tell me that Lucky Charms are not magically delicious, but rather manufactured like any other cereal.”
“Man’s estate files wrongful death suit against father”
Brian Shean, Sr., 37, of Derry Township, Pennsylvania, was killed by a falling tree in February, as he, his father Terry, and a third man attempted to keep it from toppling. Shean family lawyer Jason Hines “said Monday that the lawsuit was only a means to ensure the future of the Sheans’ son, Brian Jr.” [Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]
“Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of All Time”
A New York Daily News compilation; I don’t see any stories we’ve overlooked previously.
Quinnipiac manipulated rosters in pursuit of Title IX quotas
The Connecticut institution dropped men from its sports rosters, but apparently not in numbers great enough to keep it from being sued.
“The pet door is a really serious hazard”
How “safety” news gets shaped: a litigation consultant “at the request of trial lawyers … combed through hundreds of coroner’s reports and media accounts” and before long ABC had an alarming story to run. More: Check our comments, where readers have been digging up further interesting information about “PetAccessDangers.org”.
Wall Street Journal on banana-suit scandal
It’s in this morning’s paper; I call attention to a few highlights at Point of Law.
Not even in California
Even in California, you may not be able to sustain a class action lawsuit against a product that worked fine and didn’t harm you [Cal Biz Lit, Drug & Device Law]