News from May 2021
Chick-fil-A sued by customers unhappy with delivery fees
Chick-fil-A was accused of deceptive delivery fee practices in a Sacramento County Superior Court lawsuit.
NYC superintendent accused of trying to fill district leadership with Dominicans
The New York City Department of Education and a district superintendent were accused of racial discrimination against employees in the New York County Supreme Court.
Courting Art awards $21K in scholarships to seven students
Last night, the Maryland Judiciary recognized seven Baltimore City public school students with college scholarships totaling $21,250 as part of the sixth annual Courting Art Baltimore competition.
Massive wrongful death verdict was result of anti-drunk driving passion, court finds
BISMARCK, N.D. (Legal Newsline) – A jury’s $1.1 billion verdict against a drunk driver who killed two while driving on the Bismarck Expressway was a product of juror passion and must be struck, the North Dakota Supreme Court has ruled.
Black man can sue after being called 'banana hands' at work
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) – A Black employee of a California Jiffy Lube can sue Castrol for intentional infliction of emotional distress after he was called “banana hands” during one of a few odd exchanges at a presentation.
Lawyers continue to question company's knowledge of excessive opioid shipments
CHARLESTON – As the landmark opioid trial continues, lawyers brought in a former AmerisourceBergen’s sales executive to ask what he knew about more than 32 million prescription pain pills being shipped to Huntington and the rest of Cabell County over an eight-year span.
Whistleblower: Firm partly owned by lawyer paid employees to recruit, puff up sexual abuse claims against Boy Scouts
WILMINGTON, Del. (Legal Newsline) - A former employee of a firm that processed thousands of sexual-abuse claims submitted to the court overseeing the bankruptcy of the Boy Scouts says recruiters were offered bonuses to sign up claimants and sometimes changed their forms to make the claims more viable, though a lawyer and part-owner of the company calls her claims "completely unbelievable."
Highlights of the deposition of an Ohio mayor who hired contingency-fee lawyers to sue Netflix and Hulu
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - The mayor of Maple Heights, Ohio, decided to sue Hulu and Netflix for cable-TV franchise fees after a bowling-alley owner connected her with outside lawyers and she held a 30-minute discussion with the city’s legal director.
Class action lawyers in Ecover case have ammo for their other lawsuits
OAKLAND, Calif. (Legal Newsline) – California class action lawyers are using a recent federal decision in their favor to attempt to boost their other cases.
Twitter takes fight over Trump ban to Ninth Circuit court
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) – Twitter is appealing a recent federal court decision that said it was too quick to sue the Texas attorney general over his reaction to President Donald Trump being banned from the social media platform.
Opioid data: Threshold kept increasing as Huntington/Cabell received more than 36.2M doses in 8 years
CHARLESTON – As the federal trial against three major opioid distributors continued, data showing pharmacies in Huntington and Cabell County were ordering well above the national average of controlled substances, some ordering more than five times the national average.
Texas Republican says AG Garland, colleagues like AOC should stay out of Donziger case
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - At least one Congressman is questioning the decision by six of his Democrat colleagues to get involved in the ongoing scandal of disbarred attorney Steven Donziger, who has been found by a federal judge to have used fraudulent means to score a massive verdict against Chevron in Ecuador.
Third trial ordered for girl who was struck by dad's lawnmower and sued John Deere for her injuries
SALEM, Ore. (Legal Newsline) - Deere & Co. must go to trial for a third time over claims it sold a riding lawnmower with a “visibility defect” that caused a man to back over his daughter because he didn’t realize he had to turn his head to check if she was there.
Fired photog sues New York Post for not providing PPE during pandemic reporting
The New York Post was brought to court in New York for alleged labor law and Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) violations.
Hefty sued over recycling bags that aren't allegedly recyclable
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - The maker of Hefty brand trash bag products was pinned in a federal class action lawsuit as consumers allege recycling bags are not themselves recyclable.
Montgomery County Circuit Court hosts virtual adult drug court graduation
The Montgomery County Circuit Court is set to host a virtual graduation ceremony for its Adult Drug Court program on May 19, 2021.
Distributor says it did more than necessary to abate suspicious opioid orders
CHARLESTON — As the landmark federal opioid trial entered its third week, testimony focused on two AmerisourceBergen employees who oversaw regulations involving diversion control.
Big Oil gets win at SCOTUS in climate change litigation
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - Ruling on a narrow question of procedural law, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed an appeals court’s decision that sent the City of Baltimore’s climate lawsuit to Maryland state court, giving oil companies a second chance to try to keep the case out of a plaintiff-friendly venue.
Courting Art Baltimore awards $21K in scholarships to high school artists
The District Court in Baltimore City is set to reveal the artwork of 26 student finalists at the sixth annual Courting Art Baltimore awards reception.
DOI senior counselor's previous involvement in climate litigation could be a conflict under 'Biden ethics pledge'
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - A group that monitors conflicts of interest among government officials believes that climate activist Elizabeth Klein, now serving as senior counselor to Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland, may have some problems.