Texting trouble

A class action lawsuit has been brought against Facebook in a California federal court. Facebook allegedly sent automated text messages to cell phone users without their prior or expressed consent, which is in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”). The plaintiff, Noah Duguid alleges Facebook started sending texts to his cell phone in January of 2014. He had never given his cell phone number to FB or had any business interactions with them. When he received the texts he logged in and opted out of the text messaging option several times. He received acknowledgement that it had been updated. Then he still kept receiving texts on his cell.

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Playing the world’s saddest song on the world’s smallest violin

A Hillsboro, Oregon man is suing the Portland police department over his arrest at the Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse in 2014. Twenty-five year old Matthew Mglej was playing his violin naked in front of the federal courthouse in downtown Portland while quoting former Iranian President Ahmadinejad as a protest. The police showed up after receiving several complaints about the demonstration. Read More

Quit monkeying around

A unique case is taking place in the court of  appeals in New York, it is about whether chimpanzees are entitled to “legal personhood”. The defendant is 26-year-old Tommy, who is owned by a human and lives alone in what is described as a “dark, dank shed” in upstate New York. Tommy currently lives alone in a cage in a warehouse in Gloversville, New York. In December, Steven Wise, founder and president of  the Nonhuman Rights Project, filed writs of habeas corpus on behalf of four chimpanzees he believed were wrongfully detained. Wise compared chimps to human children when Presiding Justice Karen Peters asked him about how novel his theory really was. “Hey, I’m no animal rights freak, but if we’re extending the legal fiction of corporate personhood to include religious rights, we should at least give a creature with a 99 percent DNA match the right to not be locked in a shed. The standard really isn’t that onerous. If the courts fails to get this done  and based on the oral argument that seems likely  legislatures should take action to protect these creatures. But I wouldn’t hold my breath for that either.”

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Second opinion please…

Dr. Fatrid Fata, a prominent Michigan Internist has plead guilty to 16 counts of fraud and money laundering. Dr Fata fraudulently told healthy patients they had cancer to make money off insurance. Dr Fata would administer cancer drugs to patients who did not need them and ending up injuring and killing several in his 1,200 patient practice.  Federal prosecutors said Fata bilked Medicare out of as much as $91 million by prescribing unnecessary chemotherapy treatments to his patients, many of whom didn’t even have cancer.

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Accidents happen

Uber, a ridesharing service based in San Francisco is getting a lot of flack from local, state and international authorities. Uber is a ride sharing service that uses a smart phone app to connect drivers with passengers. Passengers sign up for an account and provide their credit card information used to pay for the ride. When they request a ride, the app provides an estimated arrival and fare before the passenger confirms and an Uber driver agrees to provide the ride. The drivers are not licensed taxi drivers, just people looking to earn some cash for ridesharing. The company and its network of drivers, acting as independent contractors, are operating illegally. It is generally cheaper than a taxi which also puts them at odds with taxi drivers. They don’t pay taxi license fees or taxes so they charge less and undercut the legitimate taxi services.  Read More