Abusive, absurd and frivolous lawsuits continue to clog our courts and cost us all millions of dollars. Here are the low-lights:
The Dallas Morning News reported on a lawsuit filed by a Dallas woman, Chris Daniel, “seeking six figures from a former neighbor and landlord for damage she says was caused by cigarette smoke wafting through adjoining walls of her high-end townhome.” According to the attorney for Estancia Townhomes, there is a solid, two-hour fire wall from foundation to roof between each of the homes. In addition to the lawsuit, Ms. Daniel has evidently filed a complaint under the Texas Fair Housing Act, claiming that her sensitivity to cigarette smoke qualifies her for a disability.
The Chicago Sun Times reported on a workers compensation claim filed by a Cook County custodian, who claims she twice injured her back by “reaching around to pick up a piece of toilet paper”. Taxpayers are writing a check in the amount of $14,022.
The San Mateo County Times reports that 60-year old Stanley Hilton has filed a $15 million lawsuit against San Francisco International Airport, claiming that his wife divorced him because of the constant airport noise. The lawsuit alleges the airport is guilty of being a public nuisance, negligence, assault, battery, fraud and breach of contract. Hilton, according the report is a former civil litigation attorney who also recently sued the property manager and owner of an office building for $20 million in August after being stuck between floors for an hour, arguing that it result in a fear of riding elevators.
Staten Island Live reported that after 12 years, a free-speech lawsuit against former College of Staten Island president Dr. Marlene Springer was finally settled. The lawsuit claimed that Springer had violated the First Amendment by nullifying a student election in 1997. In a settlement in which Springer admitted no wrongdoing, the judge accepted Springer’s offer of $9 - which calculates to seventy-five cents for each year of the lawsuit. Claims for compensatory and punitive damages were evidently dropped.
And finally, in a case of attorneys eating their own, the Seattle Times has a story about a Seattle civil-rights attorney, Bradley Marshall, who was disbarred after the Washington Supreme Court found he had gouged clients and bullied others into unwanted settlements. Marshall claims the Supreme Court, which is the highest court in the State, and oversees attorney conduct and discipline, exceeded it’s authority in making the move. The amount of the lawsuit was not disclosed.
When a man suddenly turned in front of seven-year-old Scott Swimm on the ski mountain, Scott reacted and prevented a collision. Instead, he passed over the man’s skis, and both Scott and the man lost their balance. As Scott stood up and tried to apologize, the man grabbed Scott and threatened to sue him and his whole family.
A Florida man is suing a Pompano Beach strip club, alleging that an exotic dancer “negligently performed her pole dance routine when one of her high heeled shoes flew up in the air and struck the mirrored glass ceiling, causing it to shatter and fall” on him. Charles Privette claims that he “was unable to avoid being hit by pieces of the shattered mirror and high-heeled shoe,” and that the strip club “breached its duty” when the dancer “failed to perform her pole dance routine in a reasonably safe manner.” Privette is seeking more than $15,000 in damages, charging that his injuries include pain & suffering, disability, disfigurement, mental anguish, “loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life”, as well as medical expenses and nursing care. Read More...
The Salt Lake Tribune reported the resolution of 33 year old lawsuit last month when the state Supreme court reversed a judgment of $134 that had been awarded to Richard and Nancy Madsen. The Madsens bought a home in 1964 by borrowing from Prudential, which required them to make monthly payments for taxes and insurance into a non-interest bearing account. The Madsen’s filed a lawsuit in 1975 for damages of lost interest on their advance payments. One reason the lawsuit crawled through the courts for over 30 years is because attorneys used it as the basis for $1 million class action lawsuit on behalf of over 9,500 class members who claimed they were owed an average of $105 each. In a cruel irony, Prudential had been purchased by Washington Mutual Bank, which we all know closed its doors last month in the largest bank failure in history. Wouldn’t you like to know the hourly billings by the attorneys over 33 years of litigation over $134? Read More...
The fifth annual survey of litigation attorneys on corporate litigation issues conducted by the law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski was released last month, showing an increase in the expectations that litigation disputes will increase in 2009. According to the study, an astonishing 17% of all privately-held companies, and 9% of all small companies have “at least one lawsuit with more than $20 million at issue” - accounting for one in approximately every 5.5 privately-held companies, and one in approximately every 10 small companies. The issue showing the largest expected increases in litigation in the U.S. are employee wage & hour disputes, privacy and discrimination issues.
LAS VEGAS - You will recall the tragic 2003 nightclub fire in Rhode Island that occurred when the rock band Great White set off fireworks in the club that ignited soundproofing foam, killing 96 and injuring over 200. I saw a news report that Clear Channel Communications, which owns a local radio station that helped promote the concert, recently settled for $22 million, even though they had nothing to do with the fire. Apparently Rhode Island’s “joint and several liability” laws allow for the liability to extend to anyone with the remotest connection to the event. Thus, JBL Speakers settled for $815,000 because their speakers contained flammable foam; Anheuser-Busch settled for $5 million and their local distributor for $16 million because their beer was sold at the nightclub; the manufacturer of the foam paid $16 million - even though their foam was not designed for the way it was being used; WPRI-TV paid $30 million because their cameraman’s equipment allegedly blocked an exit. WPRI was there to do a story on the fire dangers of nightclubs when the fire broke out.
LAS VEGAS - The Macomb Daily reported on August 31 that a woman who claims the city police dog, named “Liberty” bit her on the buttocks has named the dog as an additional defendant in the lawsuit against the city. Attorney Charlie Langton is quoted as saying “I’ve never heard of that. A dog can’t be a party to a lawsuit.” He added, “It raises a lot of legal questions. How do they serve the dog, put it in his mouth? Is the dog going to have court-appointed counsel? Will the dog be able to sit in on the proceedings? This is a case you can really sink your teeth into.”
LAS VEGAS - In May, 2005 a man in Connecticut drank 5 large margaritas at a restaurant and then walked to the New Haven train station. According to court documents, he claims that the ticket agent sold him a ticket and told him the train was waiting on track number eight, and he’d “better hurray”. So, he drunkenly stumbles onto the first train he finds - an out-of-service metro train. The doors close and the train travels to the train yard, about 10 minutes away. When the doors opened, the man saw that there was no train platform. He looks down and can’t see the ground. So he jumps from the train, spraining his ankle. And then he files a lawsuit. On July 11th, the Judge threw the case out.