News from March 2022
Lawsuit blames restaurant for 'severe vomiting' after triple bacon cheeseburger
BENTONVILLE, Ark. (Legal Newsline) - An Arkansas restaurant faces a lawsuit after a customer who ate a triple bacon cheeseburger says it made him sick.
Restaurant says it's not liable for server's vengeance after bad tip
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Legal Newsline) – An Arkansas restaurant wants out of a defamation lawsuit brought by a woman shamed online for leaving a bad tip.
Sixth Circuit again reverses judge handling massive opioid litigation
CINCINNATI (Legal Newsline) - The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals once again rebuked U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster over his management of multidistrict opioid litigation, saying his court “clearly abused its discretion” by refusing to allow lawsuits by municipalities in Texas and New Mexico to be remanded to state court.
Cases against doctors at SCOTUS weigh heavily on opioid litigation against Walmart
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - A pair of cases now pending before the U.S. Supreme Court might decide whether the government can pursue billions of dollars in damages from Walmart for filling “invalid” opioid prescriptions. At the core of the cases is the question of when a doctor – and by extension, a pharmacist – crosses the line from practicing legitimate medicine to illegally selling drugs like a street-corner pusher.
Mcnees Awards Three Black-owned Businesses Each a Year’s Worth of Legal Services
Mcnees Awards Three Black-owned Businesses Each a Year’s Worth of Legal Services.
ABC News to face lawsuit after video of football team chanting N-word gets Black coach fired
NEW ORLEANS (Legal Newsline) - ABC News must defend itself against a defamation suit by a high school football coach who was fired from his job after a video emerged of his team chanting the N-word at a pregame locker room rally.
24 Hour Fitness blamed for man's death after heart attack
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - A California gym faces a lawsuit over the death of one of its customers.
Rhode Island opioid case headed toward trial despite no evidence of specific illegal shipment
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (Legal Newsline) - Rhode Island can proceed with its lawsuit against opioid manufacturers Teva and Actavis after a judge rejected their motions to dismiss for lack of evidence they broke the law or made any illegal shipments of drugs into the state.
Lawsuit: Facebook, Instagram illegally blocked OnlyFans' competition
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (Legal Newsline) - A platform for adult entertainment has filed a class action lawsuit against Facebook that calls the social media giant "a corrupt business."
Shook Congratulates Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on Her Nomination
Shook Congratulates Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on Her Nomination.
Judge dismisses motion by opioid distributor defendants, trial continues as defense makes case in Washington State
SEATTLE (Legal Newsline) - King County Superior Court Judge Michael Scott on Tuesday rejected a bid to toss out a case by lawyers defending three of the country’s biggest opioid drug distributors, accused of causing an epidemic in Washington State.
After surviving suicide attempt, young man's lawsuit against the building he jumped off fails
MIAMI (Legal Newsline) – A teenager who tried to commit suicide by jumping off the roof of a six-floor apartment building survived but can’t use his second chance at life to sue the property’s owner.
Atlanta subway system to pay $17M over death of worker
ATLANTA (Legal Newsline) - The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority is paying $17 million to a widow whose husband died while working to install a cellular wireless system in its stations and tunnels.
Ex-judge not qualified to back tobacco lawyers' request for millions, court finds
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (Legal Newsline) – A trial court shouldn’t have listened to a former judge who testified plaintiffs lawyers deserved up to $1,500 per hour in a tobacco case.
Georgia city not liable for teen who drowned trying to save friend
ATLANTA (Legal Newsline) – Tybee Island, the easternmost point in Georgia, should not be liable for the drowning death of a 17-year-old who was trying to rescue a friend.
Leidy Gutierrez receives a top-lawyer-under-40 award from Hispanic National Bar Association
Leidy Gutierrez receives a top-lawyer-under-40 award from Hispanic National Bar Association.
Rep. Walsh: 'Lawsuit against GEO Group was a partisan, politically motivated action by the AG'
TACOMA, Wash. (Legal Newsline) - When Washington State Rep. Jim Walsh (R-Aberdeen) introduced a budget amendment to the Washington House of Representatives to appropriate $455,0000 to cover the cost of paying minimum wage to patients in civil confinement hospitals, it was in response to a $24 million ruling a U.S. District Judge issued requiring a contractor to pay minimum wage to non-citizen immigrants who are federally detained.
Without releasing billing records, Flint water judge OKs $180 million for lawyers
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Legal Newsline) - A federal judge entered the final judgment approving a $600 million settlement between the State of Michigan and thousands of Flint residents who were exposed to lead-contaminated drinking water, handing a taxpayer-funded $180 million fee award to private lawyers who led the litigation.
Sentenced to life? You can file lawsuits to pass the time
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (Legal Newsline) - The Rhode Island Supreme Court struck down a statute that treated prisoners sentenced to life in jail as the equivalent of being dead, reviving negligence lawsuits by a murderer and a man convicted of multiple sexual assaults. The decision drew a dissent from one justice who said it will “open the floodgates to frivolous inmate claims.”
Judge who wanted $67M for missing pants mostly loses quest to punish landlord
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Legal Newsline) – The infamous former District of Columbia judge who tried to sue his dry cleaners for more than $50 million over a lost pair of pants has lost his effort to punish his landlord for having raised his rent.