At least 30 residents of the Downriver section of Wayne County, Mich., south of Detroit, “have rejected up to $550 per family member, which is their share of a $1.2 million settlement prompted when about 2,500 residents evacuated their homes during a July 2001 chemical leak. To be eligible, all they had to do was sign a form that said they been home in the affected areas of Grosse Ile, Wyandotte, Riverview or Trenton at the time of the leak. While some acknowledged that they weren’t home, several others said they didn’t support the lawsuit or deserve the money.” Trenton retiree Thelma Diemer says she wasn’t hurt and went shopping during the evacuation: “I didn’t feel I was being honest accepting the money and you have to think about the hereafter, especially when you’re 86.” (David Shepherdson, Detroit News, Feb. 4)(via National Review Online)
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
“Beware of Dog” sign? Take it down
“My ‘Beware of Dog’ signs came down years ago, after I interviewed an attorney who made a good piece of his living suing on behalf of dog-bite victims. Keeping a dog who is known to be vicious is a far more serious issue than having one who has never been a problem before. Putting up a ‘Beware of Dog’ sign, the attorney said, could arguably be an indication that a dog’s owners knew he was a problem.” (“Pet Connection” columnist Gina Spadafori, “Retrievers Rule: Beware of signs that lead to lawsuits”, syndicated/Sacramento Bee, Jan. 25) (via Common Good’s Society Watch). (& letter to the editor, Feb. 13).
KMBZ-AM Kansas City
Host Jerry Agar had me on this morning to talk about the NYC government’s attempt to impose gun control nationwide (see yesterday’s post for more details and a link to my Times piece). And many thanks to the various bloggers who’ve linked the piece, starting with Glenn Reynolds.
“The ad FOX won’t run”
If you’ve spend much time browsing weblogs lately, you’ve probably noticed the near-ubiquitous blog ad, placed by a trial-lawyer-allied group, complaining that Rupert’s minions won’t air their broadcast commercial supportive of medical malpractice suits. But the blog ad conceals a rather significant fact about the controversy, as I point out at Point of Law this morning. Lots of other good new stuff there too, including Ted on revelations of silica/asbestos double-dipping; a new column by Stuart Taylor, Jr. critical of the tort reform ideas popular at the moment in Congress (Jim Copland summarizes); welcoming a new weblog on international law; Vioxx and the quest for “smoking guns”; a P.R. exec is chosen to head ATLA; and Ted on historic preservation.
NY Times op-ed: city gun-liability law
I’ve got an op-ed in today’s New York Times criticizing the new Gotham law, signed by Mayor Bloomberg last month, which presumes to impose liability for street crime on gun manufacturers and dealers unless they adopt a strict “code of conduct” for their sales nationwide, not just in New York City. I note that it will add impetus to the drive in Congress for a law pre-empting abusive gun lawsuits. The new law “insults the right to democratic self-governance of the 273 million Americans who don’t live in New York City. …The mayor and City Council of New York seem to think they can make laws that bind the rest of the country. That’s an arrogant stance — and when the rest of the country is heard from, it’s apt to be a losing stance as well.” The piece is part of the Times’s new geographically zoned Sunday op-ed program and ran in city but not suburban editions of the paper. (Walter Olson, “The wrong target”, New York Times, Feb. 6). For the other side, here’s the press release and bill description from the measure’s sponsor, Councilman David Yassky, the city council’s press release (PDF), and the bill text. (bumped Sun. evening 2/6) Update Feb. 20: Yassky responds.
Yogi Berra v. “Sex In the City”
By reader acclaim: “The Yankee legend has filed a $10 million lawsuit against Turner Broadcasting Systems for using his name in a ‘hurtful’ advertisement for its ‘Sex and the City’ reruns.” (Dareh Gregorian, “Unberrable ‘Sex'”, New York Post, Feb. 2; “Yogi Berra sues for $10M over sex ad”, CNN/Money, Feb. 3; complaint at The Smoking Gun). At his Sports Law blog, Greg Skidmore, our guestblogger, thinks there may be something to Berra’s claim (if not its $10 million demand) under the current state of the law.
Sued for leaving cookies on porch
Colorado: “Two Durango teens thought they’d surprise neighbors with nighttime deliveries of home-baked treats. But one woman was so terrified, she sued and has won.” But Wanita Renea Young, 49, was so unnerved by the knocks at her door at 10:30 p.m. that she called sheriffs and then sought emergency room care for an anxiety attack. The teenage cookie-leavers, Taylor Ostergaard and Lindsey Jo Zellitti, wrote her letters of apology, but she sued anyway and won $900. (Electa Draper, “Cookie klatch lands girls in court”, Denver Post, Feb. 4). More: National Review Online notes the case and radio host Steve Gill tells how to send the girls money. A day or two later: public support and media appearances roll in for the cookie girls (Denver Post, Feb. 6; more). And David Giacalone enters a dissent.
Movable Type upgrade
Yesterday we upgraded to the current version of Movable Type from the old version we’d been running. I’ve noticed a few resulting glitches in font display, etc., and will be working to fix those over the next couple of days. Feel free to let me know about any problems you notice on the site that may be related to the switch.
Dillard’s pays $15M to settle escalator suit
Dillard’s has agreed to pay $15 million to the family of a young girl who lost three fingers when they became trapped in an escalator in one of its Florida stores. At the time of the settlement, the jury had already awarded the family $9.4 million in compensatory damages and was about to hear evidence in the punitive damage phase. The department store chain admitted some liability for the accident, because the escalator had a history of catching shoppers’ shoes. (“Dillard’s must pay $9 million to girl maimed by escalator, South Florida Sun Sentinel,” Feb. 1)
The jury, however, assigned only fifteen percent of the blame to the little girl’s mother, who left her five year-old unsupervised in the store. At the time of the incident, the girl was playing on the down escalator, running and jumping up it in the wrong direction. She slipped while doing so and her fingers became trapped. (Jamie Thompson, “Dillard’s blames escalator accident on girl’s misuse,” St. Pete Times, Jan. 28)
Apparently, some members of the jury have not seen the movie Mallrats, which clearly warns of this danger. At least two jurors wanted to give the little girl all $35 million asked by her lawyers. (Jamie Thompson, “Settlement Surprises Jurors,” St. Pete Times, Feb. 2)
A thank you and an introduction
I apologize to all that turned out hoping for a fantastic new guestblogger. Sadly, it is only me – Greg from the Sports Law Blog. Thank you to Walter and Ted for the gracious invitation. This is a topic I am very interested in and I look forward to contributing. Please feel free to email me if you have any comments or suggestions. More posts will follow later today.