Cosmetic Class Action Settlement

Did you buy any cosmetics during the period of May 29, 1994 through July 16, 2003? If you did, you may be eligible to receive free products. As part of a class action settlement, $175 million worth of free cosmetics products will be distributed to people who are eligible (check website for eligibility). It should begin sometime in January 2009 but it will only be while supplies last, on a first come, first served basis, and no rain checks will be issued. Go to the following website Cosmetic Settlement for the details.

Yahoo files suit against lottery spammers

SUNNYVALE, Calif. Yahoo Inc. has filed a lawsuit against an unknown group of defendants it alleges tricked consumers into thinking they won a lottery or prize offered by the Internet company.

Yahoo filed the lawsuit on May 16 in U.S. District Court in New York City under federal trademark law, federal anti-spam law and other state laws.

In its court filing, Yahoo contends that the defendants masqueraded as the Internet company, sending out e-mails claiming recipients had won prizes ranging from a few thousand to a million dollars and instructing them to click on a link or forward personal information to a "Yahoo lottery coordinator" to get their prize.

At times, recipients were instructed to contact another party to arrange for the prize payment, Yahoo said in the filing, and this other party would charge them "hundreds of dollars in various processing and mailing charges in order to complete the payment process."

Yahoo noted in the filing that it does not offer any such prizes and has no connection with the group or the e-mails it sent.

Such "phishing" scams are meant to trick consumers into sharing financial information.

Although the defendants' identities are unknown, Yahoo thinks that information acquired during a discovery period from third-party e-mail service companies will lead to their identification.

"The unauthorized use of Yahoo's trademarks is misleading, fraudulent, and has actually confused, misled, and deceived the public," said Joe Siino, senior vice president of Yahoo global intellectual property and business strategy, in a statement on Tuesday.

N.Y. jury rejects lawsuit over rectal exam man didn’t want

NEW YORK - A hospital did nothing wrong when it tried to examine the rectum of a construction worker who had been hit on the head by a falling wooden beam, a jury found Monday.
After deliberating for about an hour, a state Supreme Court jury awarded nothing to Brian Persaud, who sued New York-Presbyterian Hospital for unspecified damages. The panel found the hospital and its emergency room medical staff were not liable.

Persaud's lawyers, Gerard Marrone and Gary DeFilippo, said he might appeal.
"We're very disappointed," Marrone said after the two-week trial. "It's a miscarriage of justice."
The hospital's lawyer, Jeffrey Lawton, declined comment.
Marrone said Persaud, 38, was injured while working at a construction site in midtown Manhattan on May 20, 2003. Persaud received eight stitches for a cut over his eyebrow at the hospital, but denied emergency room staffers' request to examine his rectum, the lawyer said. He said doctors told Persaud the exam could help determine whether the accident caused spinal damage.
When Persaud resisted, staffers held him down while he begged, "Please don't do that," Marrone said. Persaud hit a doctor while flailing around, so the staffers gave him a powerful sedative and performed the rectal exam, he said.
Hospital witnesses testified at trial that the exam was never completed, but Marrone said that when Persaud woke up he was handcuffed to a bed and had an oxygen tube down his throat and lubricant in his rectum.
"He resisted because he didn't know what they were doing," DeFilippo said. "Once he said he didn't want the rectal exam, everything should have stopped."
DeFilippo said he believes the rectal exam was done as retaliation because his panicked client hit the doctor.
A judge dismissed a misdemeanor assault charge that was filed against Persaud because he hit the doctor.
DeFilippo said his client is unemployed and has been unable to hold a job since the accident.

Duke Lacrosse Players File Lawsuit in U.S. District Court

The players accuse Duke of ignoring, suppressing and discrediting evidence that proved the players innocence, with idly standing by while the players suffered abuse and harassment on campus, and with imposing discipline that implied the team was guilty. Duke suspended and then canceled the highly ranked team's season in the wake of the rape allegation.
Duke spokesman Keith Lawrence declined to comment until the university had time to review the lawsuit. Durham interim City Attorney Karen Sindelar did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Thursday.
Former Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong won indictments against Dave Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann after a woman accused them of raping her at a team party in March 2006. The case unraveled amid the woman's changing story and lack of evidence.
The three players were later declared innocent and also have sued the former prosecutor, the City of Durham and the police detectives who handled the case. They reached an undisclosed financial settlement with the university in June.
Nifong was disbarred and spent a night in jail for his handling of the case. Cooper said he is not named in the lawsuit because of his pending declaration of bankruptcy. Nifong is claiming more than $180 million in liabilities, almost all tied to the prospect of losing two other lawsuits stemming from the rape case.
Three other players filed a lawsuit last year, accusing the school, Nifong and numerous others of a conspiracy that inflicted emotional distress.


source:Findlaw

Screenwriter sues Mel Gibson over 'Passion of the Christ' script

A screenwriter is suing Mel Gibson and his production company, claiming he was misled by the actor-director into accepting a small payment for writing "The Passion of the Christ," and was refused extra money when the film became a blockbuster.
Benedict Fitzgerald claimed that when he was asked to write a script about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, Gibson told him the movie would cost between $4 million to $7 million, according to the lawsuit filed in Superior Court. Fitzgerald also alleged Gibson promised he wouldn't receive any money from the film and any profit would be distributed to people who worked on the movie.
Gibson stated he didn't want "money on the back of what he considered a personal gift to his (Roman Catholic) faith," the lawsuit said.
Fitzgerald, who shared screenwriting credits with Gibson, claimed he agreed to a salary substantially less than what he would have taken had he known the true budget for the film, which the lawsuit claimed had an estimated budget of $25 million to $50 million. The movie went on to gross several hundred million dollars.
The lawsuit doesn't specify how much Fitzgerald was paid for his services.
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Billionaire Faces $50M Sexual Assault Lawsuit

West Palm Beach, Fl. A woman filed suit Wednesday accusing a New York billionaire of sexually assaulting her when she was underage.
The unidentified woman said she was 16 when she was brought to Jeffrey Epstein's Palm Beach mansion and paid $200 to give the money manager a massage. Instead, she claims he abused her.
The suit seeks more than $50 million in damages from the billionaire money manager.
Epstein's attorney, Guy Lewis, said the lawsuit is defamatory and the allegations are false.
Another teenage girl made similar claims against Epstein in a lawsuit filed last month. She is also at the center of a criminal case against Epstein in West Palm Beach, where he is charged with one felony count of solicitation of prostitution. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted. A hearing in that case is set for March.
He also faces a similar sex abuse lawsuit in New York.
Epstein was named one of New York's most eligible bachelors in 2003 by the New York Post. He has lavish homes in Manhattan, New Mexico, Florida and the Virgin Islands.

MAN WITH POPCORN LUNG FILES LAWSUIT: Man ate 2 bags of popcorn a day

A Denver man, Wayne Watson, has filed a lawsuit Tuesday claiming injury from microwave popcorn. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court names The Kroger Co. and two of its divisions: grocery stores King Soopers’ parent company, Dillon Companies Inc., and food distributor Inter-American Products Inc.Wayne Watson has filed a lawsuit against The Kroger Company and two of its divisions, claiming the butter flavoring on their microwave popcorn made him sick.

Watson says he developed "popcorn lung" after eating two bags of popcorn a day his case of “popcorn lung” and his two-bags-a-day diet gained national attention last year when doctors at National Jewish Hospital diagnosed him with the rare lung condition that has been linked to the flavor chemical diacetyl.

Popcorn lung, officially called bronchiolitis obliterans, generally has been associated with people who worked in microwave popcorn plants mixing large vats of flavors. Hundreds of workers have said they have severe lung disease or other respiratory illnesses from inhaling diacetyl vapors. The chemical has been the subject of hundreds of lawsuits against the companies that that produce or use the butter flavoring.

Diacetyl is a naturally occurring chemical compound that gives butter its flavor. It is also found in cheese and some wines, according to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and health. It has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a flavor ingredient