In the November 16, 2003, episode of the best sitcom on television, “Arrested Development,” Jason Bateman, playing the protagonist, Michael Bluth, is seen using a defective cooking product manufactured by the family business–and then, as his character is burned by the device, launches into a lengthy tirade of curse-words against the machine, all of which are bleeped. The humor comes from the length of the bleeping (a running gag in the episode) and the reactions of the other characters (as well as the fact that Michael is in the middle of lecturing his son “It’s a poor carpenter that blames his tools for the–” when he burns himself). The Parents Television Council, in an effort to make America safe from humor, decided to guess what that tirade was, produced its own transcript with its imaginary version of the speech, and then promptly complained to the FCC about the “indecent” broadcast. Thankfully, the FCC unanimously denied the complaint, but the government had to pay lawyers to write memos that would help the FCC reach its 20-footnote decision–your tax dollars at work, since there’s no penalty for wasting the government’s time with such complaints. (And a welcome to Defamer and ALOTT5MA readers.)
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Forum-shopping your defamation case?
Consider scenic New Mexico, which runs an extra-long statute of limitations and thus will welcome claims extinct elsewhere. The tactic didn’t work, however, for ex-Congressional wife Carolyn Condit, who went there to sue USA Today to escape other states’ limits on stale claims. Unfortunately for her case, she could offer no evidence that the allegedly libelous article had circulated in N.M., “since only the first edition of USA Today was distributed in the state and the story appeared only in the second edition,” as AP noted; a federal judge accordingly threw out her suit last August for lack of jurisdiction (“Judge dismisses libel suit by wife of Gary Condit”, AP/North County Times, Aug. 5, via CalBlog, Jan. 14 and Jan. 26). For New Mexico forum-shopping by the plaintiffs in the “Dazed and Confused” case, see Ted’s Oct. 12 post (also Dec. 8). For more details on the lack of connection of that case to New Mexico, see the memorandum of defendants in support of motion to dismiss (courtesy Courthouse News (PDF)).
Arf! Arf! Arf! Arf! Arf! Arf! Arf! Arf!….
A federal jury in Detroit has awarded $300,000 in punitive damages and $14,209 in actual damages to Joyce Grad, saying the Royalwood cooperative apartment association in suburban Royal Oak violated her rights under the federal Fair Housing Act when it declined to waive its no-pets policy to permit her to bring in an emotional-assistance dog. Grad suffers from mental and emotional ailments that include severe depression. One of the services on which Ms. Grad has come to rely on the dog is in making sure she gets up in the morning: “I’ve trained her that if I don’t get up by 7, she is to go to [the] door and bark until help arrives.” Perfect for the neighbors! (David Ashenfelter, “Disabled woman’s dog has its day”, Detroit Free Press, Feb. 23). For more on the steady expansion of demands that legally protected status be accorded to “emotional-assistance” animals, see Oct. 25 and Dec. 2, 2004. For more cases in which disabled-rights-in-housing have led to noisy results, see Aug. 21-22, 2000 and Apr. 5-7, 2002.
Updates: Heikkinen v. Archdiocese of Milwaukee; Drypen
Roundup of fallout from the Heikkinen $17 million verdict. Sam Heldman writes me to defend the decision and express concern that I did not adequately convey that the jury found that Morse was acting on behalf of the church; I think that’s inherent in the jury’s verdict and my use of the term respondeat superior, but now readers have that explicit statement. A follow-up newspaper article quotes: “‘The purpose of the [Legion of Mary], and no one really disputed this, was that it was to assist the clergy in the work of the clergy,’ said Don Prachthauser, Heikkinen’s attorney.” (But isn’t that common goal true for any religiously-oriented volunteer organization?) Philip Howard and the jury forewoman are also interviewed about the size of the damages award for an elderly man. And a Baptist notes that the hierarchical structure of the Catholic Church makes it especially susceptible to deep-pocket searches. (Derrick Nunnally, “$17 million verdict has many concerned”, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Feb. 23). Jon Coppelman explores the ramifications for workers’ compensation; Professor Martin Grace comments. There are still post-trial motions and an appeal to be had, and settlement negotiations are likely.
Also, I’ve updated our Feb. 22 post on Drypen v. Oakland County and its $4 million settlement with a couple of more recent press accounts that have previously unreported details about the defense’s side of the story.
NYC tort bill last year: $570 million
New York City shelled out a record $570 million last year to resolve personal injury claims against its taxpayers, up $12 million from last year. Medical liability claims made up nearly a third of the total. A fast-growing variety of payouts were those over schoolyard beatings and other violence on school premises, for which the city paid $6.9 million, bringing the three-year total for that category to $17.7 million. (“City paid $570 million in personal injury lawsuits in 2004”, AP/Newsday, Feb. 20; David Andreatta, “School Suit $$ Soars”, New York Post, Feb. 25). More on NYC liability: Jan. 26, Jan. 6 and links from there, Jul. 31, 2003 and many others.
Demand for shaker abstinence
A prominent busybody group filed suit yesterday demanding that food preparers be made to obtain permission from federal regulators before adding salt to food. In its lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration, the nosy, hectoring Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) says the savory crystals should be categorized as a regulated food additive; salt is currently, like many other long-used substances, grandfathered into the unregulated “Generally Recognized As Safe” (GRAS) category. (Maggie Fox, “Salt Should Be Regulated Food Additive, Group Says”, Reuters, Feb. 24). For more on CSPI, see Sept. 19, 2003.
Osbourne album remix prompts class action
After bassist Bob Daisley and drummer Lee Kerslake filed lawsuits demanding royalties over their performances in two Ozzy Osbourne albums, “Blizzard of Ozz” and “Diary of a Madman”, recording executives remastered the albums to strip out their performances and replace them with performances by Robert Trujillo and Mike Bordin for the 2002 reissue. Now Illinois fan Anthony Wester has sued Sony Entertainment and Epic Records, saying he felt misled and cheated to learn of the substitution, and his lawyer wants class-action status for the suit. (Steve Patterson, “‘Remastered’ Osbourne albums a snow job, fan’s suit charges”, Chicago Sun-Times, Feb. 21; “Bassist, drummer cut from Ozzy album remixes, fan sues”, AP/AZCentral.com, Feb. 23).
An Ohio receiver
“Judges appoint Mark Dottore to stabilize troubled companies. Critics say he’s cleaning them out.” (Kevin Hoffman, “King Nothing”, Cleveland Scene, Feb. 9). For a glimpse at the world of court-appointed trusteeships in New York, see Nov. 11, 2003.
$17M against Archdiocese of Milwaukee for auto accident
The Archdiocese of Milwaukee finds itself on the hook for $17 million because a volunteer member of a volunteer group that occasionally meets on church property ran a red light. The Legion of Mary visits ailing parishioners and offers transportation to mass; on March 25, 2002, member Margaret Morse, delivering a statue to a parishioner, ran a red light and struck the car of 82-year-old semiretired barber Hjalmer Heikkinen, paralyzing him and ending his career. Morse’s insurance company tried to shift the burden to the church, which ended up being held responsible on the principle of respondeat superior, the doctrine that holds a business liable for the negligence of its employees. This makes sense for a business, which chooses its employees, and can hire and fire. Is a church supposed to do the same for religious volunteer groups that occasionally meet on its property? That’s one way to ensure there will be less volunteer activity: the church will need to hire someone to supervise and screen volunteer groups in a way that isn’t done now. “‘They really do accommodate a huge amount of groups all the time,’ from religious cooperators such as the Knights of Columbus to secular groups including Alcoholics Anonymous and the Boy Scouts, archdiocese attorney Frank L. Steeves said. ‘These groups are out doing the kinds of things we don’t direct or control in any way.'” $15.5 million of the award was for non-economic damages, though post-trial motions may change the result. (Derrick Nunnally, “Church told to pay $17 million”, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Feb. 18). Update: Feb. 27; the verdict was upheld on appeal.
James Guckert threatens suit
Media Matters may have to rethink its apparent bias against litigation reform. They’ll have to spend some unnecessary money on lawyers if Jeff Gannon/James Guckert follows up on his claim that he’ll be suing the group (along with liberal bloggers) for the non-existent cause of action of “political assassination” for revealing his strange double-life. (Newsweek, Feb. 28).