In Burlingame, California, citizens are fighting to protect their cherished town’s symbol: the giant Pez dispenser. Pez Candy Inc. is suing to force the town to tear down the super-sized Pez — which is recorded as the world’s largest in the Guiness Book of World Records. The company insists that it is dispensing huge servings of trademark infringement.
Continue reading “Dispensing Justice: Pez Sues Town Over Giant Pez Dispenser”
Category: Torts
Joe Jackson, 65, of Washington State believes that he has discovered a secret sauce for McDonald’s burgers: bleach. In a disturbing lawsuit pending against McDonald’s, he claims that, after he returned a cold and crushed burger, a hostile employee gave him a burger laced with bleach that burned his mouth. It is unclear why this is not the subject of a criminal investigation, but it is more surprising that McDonald’s did not settle this case in April 2009.
Continue reading “McBleach: Man Accuses McDonald’s of Slipping Him an Intentionally Tainted Burger”
When researchers recently found that cheerleading is the most dangerous sport, they probably did not consider bull riding. The accident happened around 11:20 a.m at the Boulder County Fairgrounds. Richard Wayde Hamar, 12, of Yuma died in the junior bull riding competition held in Boulder County Fairgrounds this week while riding a bull.
Continue reading “Twelve-Year-Old Boy Dies in Bull Riding Competition”
There is another interesting alienation of affection case in the courts. Wealthy car dealer Bob Rohrman (known as “Bob Rohrrrrrrr-man” on his commercials) is suing a surgeon, Dr. Sami M. Bittar, who wooed his wife, Ronda.
Continue reading “Bittar Breakup: Car Dealer Sues Surgeon Over Affair With Wife”
The National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has released its 26th annual report on sport injuries and has found the most dangerous sport to be . . . cheerleading. That’s right, cheerleading.
Continue reading “The Most Dangerous Sport Is . . .”
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has issued a major ruling on freedom of the press and privacy. The court ruled that Hustler did not have the right to publish nude photographs of Nancy Benoit, the wife of professional wrestler Chris Benoit. Chris Benoit killed his wife and his young son before taking his own life.
Belgian Kimberley Vlaminck caused an international outrage when she blamed tattoo artist Rouslan Toumaniantz for tattooing her left side of her face with 56 stars while she slept inside of the three that she asked for. She insisted that Romanian-born Toumaniantz did not understand her French and English instructions and threatened to sue. She now admits that she asked for 56 stars and lied because her father was “furious.”
If you are looking for a tort case that passes the smell test, this may be it. The Food and
Drug Administration has issued a warning consumers to stop using certain Zicam nasal cold remedy products because of a large number of cases where users have lost their sense of permanently.
Continue reading “FDA Issues Warning About Use of Zicam Cold Remedy Products”
An English couple has a novel case against Cardiff’s University Hospital of Wales after their last embryo was mistakingly implanted into another woman. The hospital has agreed to pay damages in the lawsuit and apologized.
Continue reading “English Couple Sues After Their Last Embryo is Implanted in Wrong Woman”
Two former West Palm Beach police officers have been arrested in the beating a handcuffed robbery suspect, Pablo Valenzuela, 43, as captured on this dash cam video from May 2008. Louis Joseph Schwartz, 30, and Kurt John Graham, 24, were fired last August and are now facing felony conspiracy to commit official misconduct and misdemeanor battery.
Continue reading “Two Former West Palm Beach Officers Indicted After Beating Handcuffed Suspect”
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has recalled a popular chenille robe made by Blair LLC (in Pakistan) after six deaths of women after the robes caught fire. Five of the women were cooking at the time when the Blair Full Length Chenille Robes allegedly caught on fire.
Continue reading “Women’s Robes Recalled After Six Fire Deaths”
The Jacksonville Beach Police Department needs to secure a good defense lawyer. On May 1, Officer Lewis Keller decided to make a u-turn on the beach in his SUV. He proceeded to run over Anne Marie Giffen, 41, who was sunbathing.
We have been following the West Virginia case involving A.T. Massey Coal Co., involving a fundamental question of judicial ethics. A divided court voted 5-4 in Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal, et al. (08-22) that West Virginia Justice Brent D. Benjmain violated the constitution by sitting on a case involving the major donor in his campaign, A.T. Massey’s chief executive, Don Blankenship.
Continue reading “Supreme Court Rules Against West Virginia Justice in Landmark Ethics Case”
In both Canada and the United States, courts are imposing heavy criminal sentences for individuals for the transmission of HIV through consensual sex without disclosure to their partners. It is a trend that has alarmed some AIDS activists who fear that the scope of the prosecutions will put many HIV-positive individuals at risk of prosecution for negligence. I discussed the trend on this segment of NPR’s Talk of the Nation.
A 69-year-old man died in Stockton, England after a paramedic drove his ambulance back to the lot rather than a hospital because his shift was over. The North East Ambulance Service Trust
has suspended both the paramedic and a technician.