Category Archives: Settlements

Domesticated Duck Attacks Unsuspecting Civilian

Duck for cover

In May of 2012 a woman was visiting her mother in Oregon when she was ambushed by a neighbor’s pet duck. The Huffington Post states, “Cynthia Ruddell, 62, of Washougal, Washington, was on her mother’s property in Estacada, Oregon, about 25 miles southeast of Portland, when a neighbor’s duck attacked her without provocation, according to the suit filed in Oregon state court last Friday”. When attempting to run away from the agitated animal, Ruddell fell, breaking her wrist and spraining her elbow and shoulder. The retired nurse is seeking up to $275,000 in damages. Roughly $25,000 is for medical expenses, while the remainder is for pain and suffering that she has endured because of the incident. Read More

The FBI Being Sued Over An Ultimatum

Courtroom

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is being accused of giving an ultimatum to four Muslim Americans. According to the Huffington Post, the FBI wanted these four Muslim Americans to become informants for the FBI. However, when these men denied the FBI’s request, they consequently added their names to the United State’s “no fly list”. The “no fly list” prevents any person from boarding a plane starting from, ending, or passing over the country.

Three of the plaintiffs, Muhammad Tanvir, Jameel Algibhah, Naveed Shinwari, claim they were added to the “no fly list” after refusing, for religious reasons, to serve as FBI informants. The fourth plaintiff, Awais Sajjad, said he was put on the list, and was “subjected to extensive interrogation”.

Continue reading →

Woman Dies Trying to Escape Morgue

Frozen alive

No one expects to find themselves trapped in a morgue freezer while they are still alive. “A California family who claims a loved one was prematurely declared dead, and then “frozen alive” while trying to escape a morgue freezer, has filed a lawsuit against the hospital”. In 2010, 80 year-old Maria de Jesus Arroyo was pronounced dead from a heart attack at White Memorial Medical Center in Boyle Heights, CA. At this time she was laid out for her family to pay their respects, then was put in a body bag and taken down to the hospital morgue. She was then placed in a refrigerated compartment, awaiting pick up by the mortician; this is where the nightmare began. Read More

Not Just Another Hot Coffee Lawsuit

Not just hot coffee this time…

In the past, whenever McDonald’s is involved in a lawsuit, we usually expect it to be because of another victim of their hot coffee. Not this time, “McDonald’s workers in three states filed lawsuits against the fast-food chain this week, saying the company engages in a variety of practices to avoid paying them what they’re owed”. The states involved are California, Michigan, and New York; lawyers targeted McDonald’s because it is an industry leader. The suit mentions a variety of labor violations, which could potentially affect 30,000 employees. The lawsuit seeks back pay and other damages for the affected parties. Read More

A Musical Nuisance

A toy with a price

Concluding an ongoing legal battle over a toy company’s potentially illegal use of a hit song created by the musical group Beastie Boys, the two parties have officially settled the lawsuit. According to a spokesperson for GoldieBlox, the settlement includes “the issuance of an apology posted to GoldieBlox’s website, [and] payment by GoldieBlox, based on a percentage of its revenues, to one or more charities selected by [the] Beastie Boys that support science, technology, engineering and mathematics education for girls (Blistein, Rolling Stone, 2014). The Beastie Boys song “Girls,” was first released in 1987 and included lyrics such as “Girls to do to this dishes…Girls to do the laundry” (Blistein, Rolling Stone, 2014). GoldieBlox altered the catchy song’s original lyrics to help promote the company’s incentive of empowering young girls to become more involved in the sciences and engineering industries. GoldieBlox’s video for the Princess Machine was eventually removed from the internet but not before the video went viral and garnered over seven million views.