Daniel Fisher News
Washington hospitals could be liable for malpractice by contractor physicians
OLYMPIA, Wash. (Legal Newsline) - Hospitals may be liable for the actions of contractor physicians working in their emergency rooms, the Washington Supreme Court ruled, reversing the dismissal of a case involving a woman who died after an ER doc allegedly failed to diagnose flesh-eating bacteria in her shoulder.
Iowa HR exec can't use harassment reports in her own lawsuit
DES MOINES, Iowa (Legal Newsline) - The State of Iowa doesn’t have to pay a $790,000 jury award to a state employee who claimed a hostile work environment based mostly on secondhand reports she received as an administrator overseeing social workers in the Iowa Department of Human Services.
FTC's 'gerrymandered' market claims at heart of Meta lawsuit
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - The Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust lawsuits against Amazon and Facebook owner Meta share one essential – and both companies say, legally shaky – claim: That they monopolized their “relevant markets.”
The 'right to food' in Maine doesn't mean you can hunt on Sundays
PORTLAND, Maine (Legal Newsline) - A “right to food” enshrined in the Maine Constitution includes the right to hunt but not on Sunday, the state’s highest court ruled, upholding a ban on Sabbath activities dating back to the 1800s.
No cash for woman in case of exploding showerhead
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newline) - A woman who claimed she was injured by an exploding shower nozzle failed to muster any evidence a hotel was to blame, an appeals court ruled, rejecting her argument a maid must have damaged the device while she was out shopping.
Jury has to decide if low blood sodium, or something else, caused woman's fall
RICHMOND, Va. (Legal Newsline) - A woman who blamed her fall on an emergency physician’s failure to treat low blood sodium will have to go back to trial, after the Virginia Supreme Court reversed her $1.6 million jury verdict based on improper jury instructions.
State AGs say Hawaii case is 'unique opportunity' for SCOTUS to halt climate lawsuits
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - A group of 20 state attorneys general has joined the oil industry in calling for the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a Hawaii lawsuit over climate change, saying the case offers a “unique opportunity” to decide whether state courts have the power to effectively drive national energy policy.
Connecticut court dodges decision on whether blog is 'news media'
HARTFORD, Conn. (Legal Newsline) - The Connecticut Supreme Court has delayed, for now, a decision on whether the state’s media shield law protects a blogger who published anonymous comments that a Hartford police officer considers defamatory.
Nevada Supreme Court tosses Steve Wynn's defamation suit against AP
LAS VEGAS (Legal Newsline) - The Associated Press was exercising its First Amendment rights to report on a decades-old rape allegation against casino mogul Steve Wynn even though the reporter told a colleague one of the complaints “is crazy,” the Nevada Supreme Court ruled, affirming the power of news organizations to end lawsuits under the state anti-SLAPP statute.
$4 million for kids, nothing for mom's suffering after they pulled the plug
SALT LAKE CITY (Legal Newsline) - The Utah Supreme Court upheld a $4 million jury verdict for children who claim doctors misled them into removing their mother from a ventilator, but threw out a $450,000 judgment to compensate them for their mother’s suffering in the eight hours after they pulled the plug.
Plaintiffs lose bet that casino is liable for fatal charter bus crash
JACKSON, Miss. (Legal Newsline) - A Mississippi casino that offered customers “promo cash” and free meal tickets isn’t liable for the fatal crash of a charter bus they took to get there, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled, rejecting plaintiff arguments a casino employee encouraged the bus to continue on despite bad weather.
Law might protect officer who turned siren on right before fatal crash
DENVER (Legal Newsline) - A Colorado law providing immunity to police officers against most tort lawsuits may protect an officer who switched on his flashing lights and siren five seconds before T-boning a van in a highway intersection, killing the two men inside.
Parents can't sue over death of infant, but his estate can
DES MOINES, Iowa (Legal Newsline) - Parents who sued over the death of their infant child failed to file the proper administrative claims first, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled, but the estate of the child can continue with a $15 million lawsuit claiming a misplaced feeding tube caused the baby’s death.
Gym owners won sexual abuse lawsuit but must pay sanctions for contacting class members
CHICAGO (Legal Newsline) - A famous former volleyball coach who defeated a class action by parents who claimed he hid prior allegations of sexual abuse must pay $21,000 in sanctions for improperly contacting potential class members and urging them to opt out of the suit.
CalChamber loses bid to delay California data privacy regulations
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Legal Newsline) - California can begin enforcing data privacy regulations under a law voters passed in 2020, an appeals court ruled, rejecting arguments by the California Chamber of Commerce that there should be a one-year delay between the promulgation of new rules and when they can be enforced.
Teacher who faked fall gets demoted but keeps job
TRENTON, N.J. (Legal Newsline) - A teacher who was caught on video faking the circumstances of her fall down the stairs can be demoted but doesn’t have to lose her job, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled, restoring an arbitrator’s decision that an appeals court had vacated.
Medical malpractice, not 'wrongful birth' to blame for $35 million verdict
HARTFORD, Conn. (Legal Newsline) - It was medical malpractice, not “wrongful birth” that provided the grounds for a $35 million judgment against the State of Connecticut over a permanently disabled child born after his mother may have been infected with virus-tainted sperm.
Ex-NFL player can sue NCAA in Maryland over college injuries
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (Legal Newsline) - A former Rutgers University football player who went on to a career in the NFL can sue the NCAA in Maryland for brain injuries he says he suffered in college, an appeals court ruled, rejecting the NCAA’s argument it didn’t do anything to cause the plaintiff’s injuries in Maryland.
Mechanic's estate must pay for helicopter destroyed in fatal crash
INDIANAPOLIS (Legal Newsline) - In a decision hinging upon the ancient concept of bailment, an Indiana appeals court ruled the estate of a man killed in the crash of a helicopter he was working on must pay for the loss of the aircraft.
FAA still fighting lawsuit over test that rewarded bad science grades
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - The Federal Aviation Administration must defend itself against a long-running class action over a discarded test for air traffic controllers that gave higher scores to applicants who said science was their worst grade in high school than if they reported previous experience in an air-traffic related job.