Cruising for Compensation

Avoid the wobble

Most of us have witnessed motorcycles weaving in and out of traffic on the highways and cruising through neighborhoods.  While some love the acceleration and adrenaline, others worry about the safety aspect.  A recently filed lawsuit may push people in the middle to the side of the latter.  A North Carolina motorcycle owner, William Rouse, is taking legal action against well-known Harley-Davidson, headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for injuries sustained after his bike crashed.

Fighting Against Extinction

Save the wolverines!

Wolverines may soon join the list of extinct species, next to the passenger pigeon, the golden toad, and the Caspian tiger.  Despite efforts to push for a wolverine listing under the Endangered Species Act, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has not made any substantial moves.  In response to the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s less than proactive approach in working to preserve the wolverine population, nine conservation groups have banded together in filing a lawsuit.  Filed on March 18, the conservation groups are hoping for a judge to institute a firm deadline by which the US Fish and Wildlife Service must make their decision in listing the animal as endangered.

Meet You in the Courtroom

Work from home.

While a portion of the nation’s workers are fortunate enough to work from home, they are afforded the opportunity to still “meet” with their co-workers and supervisors through a popular service called Zoom.  With a spike in Zoom users, the public should be warned of a recent lawsuit filed against the virtual conferencing company.  According to the lawsuit, filed in New York, Zoom provided Facebook with viable information about their customers.  Those who do not maintain a Facebook profile or account may initially feel safe but later discouraged to learn that all, as in every, consumer who logged into Zoom was a victim of a privacy violation.  Zoom users were never notified that their private information would be passed along to a third-party company.

Tattoo Dispute Fades Away

Tattooed work of art

Much like painters or musicians, tattoo artists are creators in their own right.  However, are their inked canvases considered unique designs worthy of copyright protection?  Solid Oak Sketches seemed to think so, as the company filed a lawsuit against producers of NBA 2K video games, including Take-Two Interactive Software.  In 2016, the tattoo licensing firm accused NBA 2K of embodying athletes such as LeBron James, Eric Bledsoe, and Kenyon Martin with their real-life tattoos in the video games, without properly compensating the artists who tattooed them.  That lawsuit, initially filed in a Manhattan court, was just dismissed this month.

Clean Up Your Marketing

Hand sanitizer awareness

As consumers flock to the grocery store shelves to retrieve their needed supplies, it is important to know that a recent lawsuit was filed against the makers of Purell hand sanitizer. For those who depend on the product’s claim that the substance within kills “99.9 percent of illness causing germs,” be aware that there are allegedly no scientific tests to back up that statement. Another advertised statistic is that “one squirt of Purell Advanced Hand Sanitizer equals two squirts of other national brands, providing 2X the sanitizing strength.”  Not only do the four plaintiffs in the lawsuit disagree or challenge this assertion, but the FDA is as equally skeptical.