Monthly Archives: December 2015

SeaWorld Off The Hook

Killer whale

It seems as though SeaWorld cannot seem to stay away from the spotlight for too long. The parks San Diego location was recently the subject of a federal lawsuit. The suit came after disgruntled customers were looking for a refund on their money. Their reason for filing was due to allegations that SeaWorld mistreats their orcas. The plaintiffs stance was that many of the guests wouldn’t have visited SeaWorld if they knew just how poorly the orcas were being treated.

The original objection was filed in California by “Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro” Law Firm, who focuses on class-action lawsuits. The complaint was later joined with further claims against the Orlando and San Antonio SeaWorld locations. The assertion that SeaWorld mistreats their Orcas has been the subject of much controversy, following the 2013 documentary “Blackfish”. The anti-captivity doc gave viewers a behind the scenes look into the theme park.

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Downhill Race Leads to Uphill Battle

Ski slope situation

In an unprecedented lawsuit, a 6-year-old girl has been sued following a skiing accident in which the child collided with a woman sharing the mountain. The alleged misconduct “took place on the slopes of Hochhäderich Mountain in the Bregenzerwald forest,” in the Austrian mountain regions.

The young girl was part of a group ski lesson, in which she apparently took a sharp turn and ran into the woman. In most cases involving a minor, the injured party would usually attempt to seek damages from the parents, which she did: It was dismissed immediately. So in a final course of action, the injured woman is now suing the 6 year old for 38,000 euros.

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Class Action Against Neopets

Almost the real thing

The virtual pet website Neopets is being sued for $5 million in a  class action lawsuit over allegations that the company violated California law by automatically renewing customer memberships. The lead plaintiff known as John Doe filed the Neopets class action lawsuit after discovering that the virtual pet subscription continuously renewed customer accounts yet failed to make it known in a discernible way.

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Snowboarders Are Feeling Left Out

Shredding

Alta Ski Resort, in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, and the U.S. Forest Service are being sued for discrimination against snowboarders. A group calling themselves Wasatch Equality is carrying out the lawsuit and they say denying snowboarders access to Alta Ski Resort is a violation of the 14th amendment. If Alta Resort operated on privately owned land they would have the ability to deny access to snowboarders. However this situation is very dicey because most ski resorts do not own the mountains that the resorts are on, they rent/manage the land for the State Forestry Department. Currently there are over one hundred other resorts in America on U.S. Forest Service land that allow snowboarding, Alta is the only resort leased from the Forestry Department that does not allow snowboards.

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Grumpiest Cat Gets Grumpier

Lil Bub

Tardar Sauce, the grumpiest feline to strike the Internet in 2012 owes her success to Reddit. Her pictures went viral on the site. She has retained Marty Singer, one of Hollywood’s most notable litigators. The cat and her owners have initiated an intellectual property dispute against Grenade Beverage, a company that is producing an iced coffee brand marketed as “Grumpy Cat Grumppuccino”. On December 11, Singer filed a lawsuit on behalf of Grumpy Cat Limited in California federal court. “Ironically, while the world-famous feline Grumpy Cat and her valuable brand are most often invoked in a tongue-and-cheek fashion, Defendants’ despicable misconduct here has actually given Grumpy Cat and her owners something to be grumpy about,” the lawsuit’s first line reads.

 

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