Or at least so it’s being argued: freelance photographer Robert Levin is suing carting company Waste Management LLP for $50 million over injuries he suffered after he climbed on one of its garbage trucks to take pictures of Ground Zero and fell off. Levin’s attorney, Howard Klar of Manhattan, denied that his own client was negligent in the matter: “he never thought in a million years the truck would move.” (John Marzulli, “Ground Zero gawker sues for garbage-truck injury”, New York Daily News, Feb. 10).
Author Archive
Another posting lull
I’m headed out on the road again, to (among other places) a conference put on by the Center for Constructive Alternatives at Hillsdale College in Michigan. I’m not likely to do any posting until Friday at earliest.
NFL draft age ruling
Gregg Easterbrook (Feb. 6) takes a dim view of U.S. District Judge Shira Schindlin’s ruling that it’s an antitrust violation for the National Football League to place limits on the age at which players can be drafted. See Andrew Bagnato, “NFL teams may alter way they do business”, Arizona Republic, Feb. 6.
Eenie meanie minie moe
The Southwest Airlines case (see Feb. 11, 2003, Jan. 22 of this year) turns out not to be the first time that the childhood counting-out rhyme has been cited as inflicting a hostile environment, with far-reaching repercussions. David Bernstein at Volokh Conspiracy (Feb. 5) prints a letter from a woman who lost her job over it in University City, Mo., near St. Louis. See Jeff Starck, “Can’t wait for end of P.C. age”, Webster Journal (Webster University), Dec. 5, 2002.
Yoga postures copyrightable?
Beverly Hills yoga master Bikram Choudhury copyrighted a series of 26 yoga postures, exercises, breathing techniques and dialogues and is now seeking to enforce his intellectual property in them. His series of legal actions has roused controversy among yoga buffs, some of whom “say that yoga is a 5,000-year- old tradition that cannot be owned” and are fighting back in court. (Julian Guthrie, “Yogis go to court over poses”, San Francisco Chronicle, Feb. 5; “Yoga master’s lawsuit? Bad karma”, Reuters/CNN, Feb. 9; Martin Hodgson and agencies, “New twist to yoga positions as guru sues”, The Guardian (UK), Feb. 9). For efforts to enforce intellectual property in quilt designs, see Dec. 18-19, 2000. Update Apr. 17, 2005: judge rules Choudhury’s claims not necessarily barred under copyright law.
Citibank class action: another two cents
St. Petersburg Times has an article quoting this site’s letters comment section at some length, and also quoting yours truly. (Stephen Nohlgren, “Jingly justice or puny payoff?”, Feb. 9). The case has also been examined recently in Forbes (William Baldwin, “Lawyers 1, Consumers 0”, Feb. 16); Chuck Shepherd’s News of the Weird; and the Salt Lake Tribune (Paul Rolly and JoAnn Jacobsen-Wells, Jan. 14: Salt Lake City resident Bob Cole got a check for two cents)(more on class actions).
Tribe: that Crayola factory is ours
The latest land claim assertion, by the Delaware Nation, is openly meant to be traded off for casino rights. The law firm of Cozen & O’Connor is representing the tribe in the action, which targets not only crayon-maker Binney & Smith but 19 hapless homeowners as well as a couple of small businesses and several layers of Pennsylvania government. We wrote about Indian land claim litigation a year and a half ago. (Shannon P. Duffy, “Indian Tribe Sues Over Pennsylvania Land”, The Legal Intelligencer, Jan. 20). Update: court dismissed case in late 2004 (PDF).
Posting lull
Postings from me will likely be sparse over the next few days as I’m on the road: the International Association of Defense Counsel has invited me to speak at their midyear meeting in Orlando. Next week there’ll be more travel, including a speech next Wednesday at a conference put on by the Center for Constructive Alternatives at Hillsdale College in Michigan. There’s more ahead, including two New York City events later this month (details to come); I’ve also agreed to be a participant in the University of Colorado at Boulder’s 56th Conference on World Affairs this Apr. 5-9. If you’re an event sponsor interested in booking an appearance, you can email me directly through this site or contact the Manhattan Institute at 212-599-7000.
From schoolhouse to courthouse
Latest newspaper account surveying the many, many ways schools get sued these days. This one is from the Tampa Bay area. (Melanie Ave, “Lawsuits drain school dollars”, St. Petersburg Times, Feb. 2)
HIPAA and the clergy
Among the many other effects of the new federal medical privacy law (see Oct. 23, Nov. 9, Jan. 21): clergy “now can look in on only those patients who have requested visits”. Result: if a longtime parishioner is admitted to the hospital unconscious, or just doesn’t realize that an affirmative request is required, the clergyman may be barred from entering the room to pray with or for them. “Before HIPAA, [Father Casey] Mahone said he could look at a list of Catholic patients and visit the ones he knew. ”People kind of had the mentality that they were going to be “discovered” by their priest in the hospital,’ he said. ‘If we didn’t find them, they were disappointed.'” “[Rev. Jack] Flint said he wanted to pray with a woman before she died from injuries suffered in an automobile accident. ”But because (the hospital) couldn’t release her name, I was lost,’ he lamented. ‘I didn’t get to do that.’ Instead of his calling her family to pray at her bedside, her family called him to pray at her funeral.” (“Health privacy law hinders clergy visits at hospital”, AP/Morgantown, W.V. Dominion Post, Feb. 3). More: GruntDoc, Feb. 5 (and see reader comments).