Category: Torts

Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Politics, Religion, Society, Torts

Florida City Manager Fired After Disclosure of Wife’s Work as Adult Film Star

ALeqM5gOz6dyIikBCUtN27-CVyxbAatstAWe have yet another case of an employee being fired for activities outside of work. The case of former Fort Myers beach, Florida town manager Scott Janke, however, is a bit different. He is being fired because of his wife Anabela Mota Janke’s work as a porn star. Mayor Larry Kiker called a city council meeting without Janke present and secured an unanimous vote of 5-0 to terminate his contract because of what his wife does for a living. Kiker’s action runs afoul of the privacy and free speech and free association rights of this couple. Yet, he is relying on a contract that allows Janke to be fired for good cause, bad cause or no cause at all.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Environment, International, Society, Torts

Worst Show On Earth: Ringling Bros. Accused of Elephant Abuse Based on Undercover Video

800px-Ringling_poster_1898_editedA new videotape (below) has emerged of alleged abuse by a circus of elephants. This video by an undercover PETA activist shows Ringling Bros. employees beating elephants in ‘The Greatest Shows on Earth.” We have previously followed such lawsuits against the circuses, here.

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Bizarre, Congress, Criminal law, International, Lawyering, Politics, Society, Torts

Federal Court Rules CIA Committed Fraud in Federal Case

180px-Lamberth200px-George_Tenet_portrait_headshotThe CIA has been accused of yet another fraud. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth had referred a CIA attorney for disciplinary action and is considering further sanctions against five current and former CIA employees, including former CIA Director George Tenet, for misleading the court in a federal case.
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Bizarre, International, Society, Torts

Transformed: Fourteen-Year-Old Boy Suffers Brain Damage After Drinking Gasoline to Be More Like Optimus Prime

180px-IDWOptimusMany major movies with a young audience tend to spawn cases and injuries from kids copying dangerous conduct. Indeed, some such injuries have led to lawsuits when parents blame the studios for depicting dangerous stunts. Shanghai Daily is reporting a perfectly bizarre case where a 14-year-old boy from Yibin in Sichuan, China drank two bottles of gasoline a day to be more like Optimus Prime in the Transformers animated series.
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Bizarre, Military, Politics, Society, Supreme Court, Torts

The Legacy of Feres: Negligent Military Doctors Amputate Airman’s Legs After Botching Gallbladder Surgery

150px-Seal_of_the_US_Air_Force.svgWe have another military medical malpractice case and another reason for Congress to legislatively negate the infamous Feres doctrine. Airman Colton Read, 20, went into the David grant Medical Center at Travis Air Force Base near Sacramento for a simple gallbladder operation — only to end up a double amputee due to malpractice.
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Bizarre, Criminal law, Society, Torts

Lawless Arrest: Police Officer Shown on Tape Assaulting Women Involved in Car Accident With His Son

230px-PhiladelphiaPD_1990_now_patch There is a very disturbing video and story out of Philadelphia where alleged police abuse was followed by an attempted cover-up. Agnes Lawless was involved in a minor fender bender but the other driver left the scene. She assumed the matter was over when she went in Lukoil store at 3 a.m. It turns out that the other driver was the son of officer Albert Lopez Sr. who is shown on the video of grabbing and slapping Lawless. Despite a witness who stated that investigators asked him to erase an incriminating video, the police department cleared the investigators and is debating whether to discipline Lopez.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Society, Torts

“I’m a Cop, I Can’t Go To Jail”: Police Officer Arrested in 2007 Fatal Hit and Run

donnie+breedenCrafton, Pa. Police Officer Donnie Breeden, 38, a 15-year veteran on the Crafton Police Force has been criminally charged with one count each of involuntary manslaughter and accidents involving death or personal injury. He was arrested after a friend implicated him in a 2007 hit and run — after which Breeden and his friends repaired his car and covered up his involvement. At the time, Breeden allegedly proclaimed, “I’m a cop, I can’t go to jail.”

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Bizarre, Society, Torts

You’re Dismissed! Donald Trump Loses Libel Suit Over Claim That He is a Mere Millionaire

225px-DonaldTrumpFeb09Donald Trump is vowing to appeal the ruling by Camden County superior court judge Michele Fox that he was not defamed when Timothy L. O’Brien’s 2005 book “Trump Nation: The Art of Being the Donald” claimed that he was worth only between $150 million and $250 million –rather than being the billionaire that he claims on television.

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Bizarre, Society, Torts

OMG SNERT HAS NU TXT TORT! Girl Walks Into Open Sewer Hole While Texting

200px-Texting300px-OrficeWe have a new texting tort. Alexa Longueira, 15, was walking and texting on Staten Island when she plunged into the ground. She fell into an open manhole and ended up in the pitch black sewer. Her family is preparing to sue the city, which itself is investigating the incident.
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Criminal law, Lawyering, Religion, Society, Torts

Rabbi Accused of Infecting Infants with Herpes During Circumcisions — And Killing One Boy

180px-Covenant_of_AbrahamNew York City health officials are investigating the death of a baby boy who died of herpes after a circumcision by Rabbi Yitzhok Fischer. Fischer carries the herpes virus and is believed to have infected two other infants while serving as a mohel. Under the Orthodox practice followed by Fischer, he actually uses his mouth to suck the blood from the infant’s penis when he cuts the foreskin.
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Bizarre, Criminal law, Environment, Religion, Society, Torts

Corpus Delicti: Historic Illinois Cemetary Accused of Digging Up and Reselling Graves While Oklahoma Couple Accused of Traveling With Corpse

abel_wolf_mugshotdenise_wolf_mugshotOfficials and workers at the Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois have been accused of digging up and dumping bodies in older plots in order to resell plots in a criminal scheme. In the meantime, an Oklahoma couple Abel Wolf, 35, and Denise Wolf, 40, (shown here) has been accused of digging up the body of a young girl and moving the body around the country.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Society, Torts

Spare the Taser, Spoil the Child: Police Chief Tasers 14-Year-old Girl in Head After She Ran From Her Mother — And Demands Charges Against the Girl

taser gun bart officer-218-85Tucumcari Police Chief Roger Hatcher in New Mexico shoot a 14-year-old girl in the head with a Taser dart after she ran from her mother and police. Hatcher insists that it was the right thing to do since (I kid you not) he was afraid she might be injured if she ran into traffic. It falls into the rule that it is sometimes necessary to shoot a child to save a child.
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