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State Supreme Court
Police officer loses job over Facebook posts about Milwaukee Bucks player
MADISON, Wis. (Legal Newsline) - A police officer who was fired over offensive Facebook posts after he arrested former Milwaukee Bucks player Sterling Brown doesn’t have a constitutional right to get his old job back, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled.
State Supreme Court
Oregon hospitals now liable for drugs they 'sell' to patients; AMA warns of side effects from ruling
SALEM, Ore. (Legal Newsline) - In a decision with broad implications for the cost of healthcare in Oregon, the state Supreme Court ruled hospitals can be sued for providing drugs plaintiffs consider defective, spreading potential liability beyond drugmakers to include any entity that administers pharmaceuticals to patients.
State Supreme Court
Good intentions enough to protect company from class action lawyers
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - Businesses have received a measure of relief from the California Supreme Court, which has rejected a call for penalties against a company that thought it was complying with state law.
State Supreme Court
'No highways' directive from eye doctor means no money for plaintiffs in hay wagon accident
BISMARCK, N.D. (Legal Newsline) - An eye doctor who warned his patient not to drive on the highway isn’t responsible for a fatal accident that occurred when the patient’s truck rammed a horse-drawn hay wagon on the highway, the North Dakota Supreme Court has ruled.
State Supreme Court
Utah won't take in lawsuit that already lost in New Jersey
SALT LAKE CITY (Legal Newsline) - A man who claims a defective safety harness caused him to fall 37 feet to the ground can’t sue the distributor in Utah after his case was tossed out for lack of evidence in New Jersey, the Utah Supreme Court ruled.
State Supreme Court
Social worker with PTSD from murder by client can collect Workers' Comp
ST. PAUL, Minn. (Legal Newsline) - A social worker who claimed crippling post-traumatic stress disorder after hearing about the “horrific” murder committed by one of her clients can continue to collect benefits for PTSD, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled.
State Supreme Court
Lebanese bank bought terrorism liability along with assets
ALBANY, N.Y. (Legal Newsline) - A Lebanese bank that paid $580 million for the assets of Lebanese Canadian Bank also bought New York jurisdiction over lawsuits claiming LCB financed terrorism, the state’s highest court ruled.
State Supreme Court
Tennessee SC blocks companies from using defense in negligent training, supervision claims
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Legal Newsline) - Trader Joe's has lost a court decision in Tennessee that will have implications for other corporations fighting personal injury lawsuits.
State Supreme Court
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.
State Supreme Court
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.
State Supreme Court
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 Supreme Court
Pricing class action divides New Jersey Supreme Court; Majority sides against plaintiffs
TRENTON, N.J. (Legal Newsline) - Class action lawyers can't pursue claims against the clothing retailer Aeropostale that alleged customers were hurt by "sales" prices.
State Supreme Court
You might be a winner (you aren't): Court told to reconsider class of sweepstakes losers fooled by flyers
RALEIGH, N.C. (Legal Newsline) - The North Carolina Supreme Court has found fault with a trial judge creating a class action of people who claim a car dealership flyer tricked them into thinking they won $20,000 or a free car.
State Supreme Court
PTSD from walking through dead man's brain matter not a basis to sue, court finds
MONTPELIER, Vt. (Legal Newsline) - Walking through brain matter at the scene of a gruesome accident isn't enough to sue over, the Vermont Supreme Court has ruled.
State Supreme Court
Kentucky circuit clerk removed from office after complaints of sexual harassment, hostility
FRANKFORT, Ky. (Legal Newsline) - The Kentucky Supreme Court has found it appropriate to remove one of the state's circuit court clerks from office after investigating claims of sexual harassment and hostile work environment brought by two women in the office.
State Supreme Court
New trial as widow claims ghost-hunting show defamed her late husband
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (Legal Newsline) - A TV show-maker that insisted its ghost-hunting series wasn't serious journalism will get a new trial after a first one returned a $3 million verdict against it.
State Supreme Court
Georgia Supreme Court: 'severe misconduct' by attorney for misappropriating funds
ATLANTA, Ga. (Legal Newsline) — The Georgia Supreme Court recently decided disciplinary matters involving the disbarment of an attorney who was accused of misappropriating funds.
State Supreme Court
Court to drivers: Don't hit someone who will overdose on pain pills or you could be liable
JACKSON, Miss. (Legal Newsline) - Those who cause traffic accidents could be held liable when others involved overdose on pain medication prescribed for their injuries.
State Supreme Court
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.
State Supreme Court
$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.