Alaska: “Jamila Glauber, who was told to leave a city bus for eating a bite-size Snickers bar March 22, 2002, filed suit in Juneau on Monday against Capital Transit, the city and Tad Zurek, the bus driver. Glauber, represented by Anchorage attorney Jay W. Trumble, claims the actions of the defendants caused her severe emotional distress and were based on her race and national origin. As an Arab-American of Yemeni origin, she is protected from such actions under the Alaska Human Rights Act, the suit notes.” (“Woman sues Capital Transit over 2002 incident”, Juneau Empire, Jul. 23).
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
New guestblogger tomorrow; welcome USA Today readers
Our latest new guestblogger arrives tomorrow for a week of postings. And welcome to USA Today readers — we get mentioned today in connection with a story on strange eBay auctions, a specialty of recent guestblogger Dan Lewis’s site WhattheHeck.com (Karen Schubert, “Bazaar goes bizarre” , Jul. 28). For our original eBay item, see Jun. 21-23, 2002.
Update: case of the subpoenaed tort reformers ends
Apparently ending the most recent watch-what-you-say-about-lawyers episode (see Jun. 9, Jul. 12): “Two groups that have protested the Madison County legal system will not seek sanctions against a Wood River law firm that subpoenaed them to give information about their members and finances, the groups’ lawyer said Monday. The Illinois Civil Justice League and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce dropped their request for sanctions against the Lakin Law Firm after deciding they had already made their point, said their lawyer, Gordon Broom.” (Trisha L. Howard, “Seekers of tort reform drop action against critic”, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jul. 21)(more watch-what-you-say-about-lawyers episodes).
“Casino Ordered to Pay Banned Slot Player $875,000”
“A federal jury has ordered a casino to pay $875,000 to a woman who was banished after trying to play a nickel token she found at an unattended slot machine.” Estella Romanski, 74, of Troy, Mich., said she was held by security officers against her will at the MotorCity Casino in Detroit after she saw a nickel token laying in the tray of an unattended machine and played it. “[W]hat is called slot walking, the practice of picking up tokens from unattended slot machines … is discouraged or prohibited by many casinos, including those in Detroit, though a rule against it is generally not posted.” Romanski “said they also confiscated her $9 meal ticket as well as the nickel token and would not let her rejoin her group.” (AP/Casino City Times, Jul. 23; Las Vegas Sun)(& welcome MyShingle.com readers). Update Feb. 28, 2007: Supreme Court denies casino’s certiorari petition.
NPR appearance canceled
Our editor’s tentatively scheduled appearance tonight on National Public Radio has been called off.
Thanks to Dan Lewis
Our second guestblogger of the summer has completed his week-long stint, his postings appreciated especially because (in true law-student fashion) he came under the gun from some last-minute obligations that cut into his ability to spend time online. For more of his writing, visit his sites at DLewis.net (sports) and WhattheHeck.com. Look for more guestbloggers in coming weeks, and remember that it’s still not too late to volunteer (preference given to those whose work we already know).
“Public balks at obesity lawsuits”
Per a Gallup Poll conducted July 7-9, “nearly 9 in 10 Americans (89%) oppose holding the fast-food industry legally responsible for the diet-related health problems of people who eat that kind of food on a regular basis. Just 9% are in favor. Those who describe themselves as overweight are no more likely than others to blame the fast-food industry for obesity-related health problems, or to favor lawsuits against the industry.” (Lydia Saad, Gallup News Service, Jul. 21). Some opinion pieces: Kathleen Parker, “A ludicrous premise for a lawsuit: Obesity is the food’s fault”, Chicago Tribune, Jul. 16(“It’s hell living in a rich country with too much to eat, isn’t it? … The idea that restaurants are trying to make food taste better by combining sugar or fat to their protein, also known as ‘cooking,’ hardly qualifies as criminal conduct.”; Robert Tracinski, “Reductio ad Totalitarianism”, Ayn Rand Institute, Jun. 26 (quotes our editor)(“The problem with the ‘reductio ad absurdum’ argument, one of my philosophy teachers once warned me, is that your opponent may simply embrace the logical end result of his ideas — no matter how absurd it is. And that’s exactly what is happening now.”); Patti Waldmeir, “In America it takes lawsuits to change lives”, Financial Times, Jul. 21 (“the point is publicity, not liability. … My children have never seen a McDonald’s advert: they know instinctively that fat is good”). Yet more: James Justin Wilson, “Battling the Fat Suits”, National Review Online, Jul. 21; John Stossel, “Give Me a Break!: Food Fight”, ABC News, Jul. 18.
Scotland: “Alcoholics sue booze companies”
“Alcoholics are attempting to make legal history by suing the drinks industry for failing to warn them of the dangers of addiction. Twelve addicts, aged between 18 and 60, claim their lives have been destroyed by the demon drink and that they were not warned of the risks.” Lawyers from the Glasgow firm of Ross Harper “believe they can use the arguments employed in successful prosecutions against huge American tobacco companies in 2000 to win their case” and are applying for officially funded legal aid to help finance a test case. (Glasgow Daily Record, Jul. 21). Liquor companies have been curiously absent from the list of targets of mass litigation campaigns in the U.S.A. in recent years; but see Mar. 22, 2000.
Update: Ga. court revives junk-fax suit
“The Georgia Court of Appeals has revived a junk fax case that involves 73,500 faxes and potential fines of $110 million.” The ruling revives a lawsuit against a metro Atlanta car wash, Carnett’s Inc., for paying an ad agency $3,200 to send faxes to what it says it thought would be a “clean” list of recipients who didn’t object to receiving them. A federal law provides for automatic $500 to $1500 fines for each fax sent without permission. (Rachel Tobin Ramos, “Appeals Court Revives Hope for Junk Fax Class Action”, Fulton County Daily Report, Jul. 2) (more on junk-fax litigation: Oct. 22, 1999; Jul. 24, 2001 and links from there; Aug. 26, 2002)
Suing over H-E-Double Hockey Sticks
The big silliness of the day? A reverend, presiding at a funeral, allegedly said that the recently deceased man of the hour “was “living in sin,” “lukewarm in his faith” and that “the Lord vomited people like Ben out of his mouth to hell.” The survivors, of course, are suing for emotional and physical suffering. Now, say what you will about the emotional claim — I’m sure most would agree with me and shake their heads in disbelief — but physical harm? There are no allegations that the reverend dropped the casket on anyone’s foot. But hey, it could get even more ridiculous. Writes Ted Frank: “Clearly the plaintiffs aren’t thinking ambitiously enough. If their concern is the emotional distress from townspeople thinking that their father is in hell, they should be demanding injunctive relief to place their father in the appropriate afterlife.” Or perhaps a restraining order against Satan, ordering him to keep a distance no less than three ethereal planes from the soul in question? (Zelle Pollon, Reuters, Jul. 17). Other commentary: See the Volokh Conspiracy, OpinionJournal’s Best of the Web Today (last item).