News from March 2021
Arbitration can't decide whether PAGA case goes to arbitration, Calif. court rules
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) – Plaintiffs using California’s Private Attorneys General Act to sue their employers can’t be sent to arbitration to decide if the case will go to arbitration, a California appeals court recently ruled.
Having a shotgun shoved in your face, watching man die not a usual day for a cop, court rules
PHOENIX (Legal Newsline) – The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled for a Gila County deputy sheriff who watched a man who pointed a shotgun in his face be shot dead by colleagues, then developed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Tootsie Rolls sued for being unnecessarily unhealthy
OAKLAND, Calif. (Legal Newsline) – A class action lawsuit alleges Tootsie Rolls are not only unhealthy because of their sugar content but for the amount of artificial trans fats in them.
Grain-free food has wheat and upset our dogs' stomachs, class action plaintiffs say
MIAMI (Legal Newsline) – Pet owners are suing the maker of American Journey food, alleging its grain-free products actually contain wheat.
Left-wing activism in Colorado AG's office claims CollegeAmerica as a casualty
Left-wing activists often hurt the very people they claim to help. The victims are left voiceless and ignored—inconvenient collateral damage.
Withdraw Vanita Gupta nomination for associate Attorney General, five state AGs urge Biden
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - Attorneys General from five states are urging President Joe Biden to withdraw the nomination of Vanita Gupta for associate AG, the number three position at the Justice Department.
Massive talc verdict there for SCOTUS to review as J&J fights $2.1 billion ruling
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – Frustrated by the courts system in Missouri, Johnson & Johnson is asking for relief from the nation’s highest court.
Plaintiffs lawyers' take on causation too confusing, Massachusetts Supreme Court rules
BOSTON (Legal Newsline) – Deciding whether something was a “substantial factor” in causing harm, a favorite method of plaintiffs lawyers, is too confusing, the Massachusetts Supreme Court has ruled.
Asbestos lawyer accused of hiding her past from Iowa court
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (Legal Newsline) – A procedural motion from an out-of-state asbestos attorney has drawn the attention of the companies she is suing in Iowa, as they say it contains inaccurate information about her past.
NYC Department of Education forcing white women out of leadership roles, $10M lawsuit says
A former New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE) employee is accusing multiple defendants of fostering a work environment that included bigotry, marginalization, discrimination, hostility and isolation towards minority populations, including race, ethnicity, religion and gender.
Fight is on between Graceland and Memphis over new arena
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (Legal Newsline) - The City of Memphis lost one round of a fight with Elvis Presley Enterprises over a proposed 6,200-seat arena at the Graceland theme park that the owner of the Memphis Grizzlies basketball team said would illegally compete with its own stadium.
Lawsuit: Drunken Uber passenger commandeered car, ran pedestrian over
A Revere man is suing Uber, an Uber driver and a local Uber management company after he was struck by a rogue Uber car, a lawsuit filed in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts says.
Plaintiff lawyers to square off in hearing over $800 million Roundup fee
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - Plaintiff lawyers leading multidistrict litigation against Bayer AG over its Roundup herbicide are scheduled to face off against dissident lawyers in federal court in California tomorrow as a judge hears arguments for and against an 8.5% “common benefit” fee that opponents call an $800 million “money grab.”
Defendant 'gambled and lost' by telling jury about withheld medical records in bodybuilder's lawsuit
MIAMI (Legal Newsline) - A Florida appeals court reinstated the personal injury verdict a bodybuilder won despite having withheld until the week before trial evidence that he’d been treated by an orthopedic surgeon for the same type of injury he blamed on a car accident.
Hispanic Bronx man wrongfully spent two years in jail after being racially profiled, lawsuit says
NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) - The City of New York and multiple other defendants are facing civil charges from a Bronx man who says he was wrongfully stopped, questioned, searched, arrested and detained by the NYPD in 2015.
Navient headed to Third Circuit to try to get CFPB's lawsuit tossed
SCRANTON, Pa. (Legal Newsline) – Navient’s defense in a lawsuit brought by a federal agency is headed down a detour, as the company has successfully asked to appeal a recent decision.
Class action lawyers want to take shot against The Children's Place at Ninth Circuit
SEATTLE (Legal Newsline) – It will be up to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to determine if a class action lawsuit hoping to represent shoppers unhappy with their bargains at The Children’s Place will be heard in open court.
ChapStick sued over 26 products by plaintiff who only bought three of them
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) – A class action plaintiff can’t sue over 26 different types of ChapStick when she only purchased three of them, the products’ maker is arguing.
W.Va. House bill would limit defendants being named in asbestos lawsuits
CHARLESTON – A bill introduced in the House of Delegates would make major changes to how asbestos lawsuits are filed in West Virginia.
New York court says dismissing suicide lawsuit too harsh a punishment for missing deadline
ALBANY, N.Y. (Legal Newsline) - A lawsuit on behalf of the daughter of a man who committed suicide soon after being released from a New York hospital can proceed even though the plaintiff failed to comply with state law regulating medical malpractice suits, a New York appellate court has ruled.