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Benchmarks: Is ‘shiny floor’ claim enough for slip-and-fall suit? 

Published: May 24, 2012

Tags: negligence, premises liability, slip and fall

Is a slip-and-fall plaintiff’s allegation that a floor was “shiny” sufficient to raise a jury issue as to whether it was safe to walk on? The Rhode Island Supreme Court faced that question last week.

Maureen Habershaw presented the issue in
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Supreme Court declines to hear music downloading case 

Published: May 23, 2012

Tags: copyright infringement, due process, illegal downloading, music downloading

A $675,000 jury verdict against a student who illegally downloaded 30 songs from the Internet was left standing by the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to take the matter up.

Court: can undocumented alien practice law? 

Published: May 23, 2012

Tags: practice of law, undocumented immigrants, undocumented workers

The California Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether a law graduate’s status as an undocumented alien disqualifies him from being admitted to the state bar.

ADA doesn’t protect medical marijuana users 

Published: May 23, 2012

Tags: ADA, AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT, civil rights, disability discrimination, medical marijuana

Federal disability discrimination law does not protect medical marijuana users who claimed their civil rights were violated by local municipalities that interfered with the lawful distribution of the drug, the 9th Circuit has ruled in affirming judgment.

Stryker isn’t liable for pain-pump injury 

Published: May 23, 2012

Tags: failure to warn, pain pump, product liability

A medical device manufacturer didn’t violate a duty to warn a patient who allegedly suffered the destruction of cartilage as a result of a pain pump used following shoulder surgery, the 6th Circuit has ruled in affirming a summary judgment.

Employee can’t sue for anti-immigrant bias 

Published: May 23, 2012

Tags: employment discrimination, Title VII

Federal employment discrimination law does not provide a remedy for a bank employee who claims she was fired because of her marriage to a Mexican citizen who had entered the U.S. illegally, the 7th Circuit has ruled in affirming a summary judgment.

Injury caused by cell phone use yields $22 million verdict 

By: Ruth Sheehan
Published: May 23, 2012

Tags: car accident, cell phones, Texas

A Texas jury has awarded more than $22 million to a woman injured when her car was broadsided by a station wagon driven by a Coca-Cola marketing employee talking on her cell phone.

Injured trash truck driver awarded $11.4 million 

Published: May 23, 2012

Tags: California, defective design

A federal court jury in San Francisco has awarded $11.4 million in damages to a garbage truck driver whose spine was injured when a front wheel of his truck collapsed and the 55,000-pound vehicle dropped to the ground.

Benchmarks: Select Comfort mold claim gets green light 

Published: May 23, 2012

Tags: design defect, failure to warn, negligence, product liability, strict liability, toxic mold

A federal judge on Monday gave the go ahead to a product liability lawsuit filed by a California woman who claimed she suffered injuries from a mass of toxic mold growing in her Sleep Number mattress.

Police officer’s lawsuit divides town, settles for $1.2 million 

By: Dan McDonald
Published: May 22, 2012

Tags: civil rights violation, emotional distress, Massachusetts, retaliation

At first, attorney Michael Sacco thought he was handling a routine disability claim.

A sole practitioner in Westfield, Mass. who typically represents retirement boards, Sacco quickly found himself knee-deep in a civil rights lawsuit that offered a glimpse into the inner political machinations of a sleepy town and its police department, revealing a sordid mess.