Nov 23, 2024

Suburban Chicago School District Settles Hazing Lawsuit

Five former students of a suburban Chicago high school will receive $1 million to settle a lawsuit filed in connection with hazing allegations. Officials of Maine Township High School District 207 say they and plaintiffs’ attorney Antonio Romanucci agreed to Tuesday’s settlement after deciding it was mutually beneficial. The students alleged soccer coach Michael …


Trump University Lawsuit Heads Toward Nov. 28 Trial

Donald Trump is scheduled to go on trial this month in a class-action lawsuit against him and his now-defunct Trump University, potentially taking the witness stand weeks before his inauguration as president of the United States. U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, the Indiana-born jurist who was accused of bias by Trump during the campaign for his Mexican heritage, will hold a hearing Thursday on jury instructions and …


The President-Elect Faces Court Date in Fraud Case

After an election, a president-elect has an enormous amount of work to do. The period between Election Day and Inauguration Day flies by, and an incoming leader has to assemble a team, receive policy briefings, put an agenda in place, and attend a seemingly endless stream of meetings. In Donald Trump’s case, there’s another part of his upcoming schedule that most presidents-elect don’t have to …


Bank of America Facing Debit Card Suit

Bank of America is facing a lawsuit in Arizona from prisoners who contend they are being forced to become customers of the bank because they are given a BoA debit card that also has high and unusual fees. According to a federal class-action lawsuit, covered by Courthouse News Service , prisoners have to pay $15 each time they withdraw money from a teller. Daria Brill, the lead plaintiff in the …


Lawyers Who Sued Volkswagen Over Emissions Want $175 Million

Lawyers who won the massive $10.03 billion class-action settlement from Volkswagen Group over software that cheated on emissions tests now want their own payday: $175 million. The extraordinary sum requires extraordinary justification, and lead plaintiffs’ counsel Elizabeth Cabraser hopes her firm’s motion (PDF) on the matter, filed late last night with the judge, will do the trick. “The aggregate fees and costs award… is the equivalent of less than 2 percent of the monetary benefit provided to the Class, far below the …


Federal Court Favors Seminoles in Gambling Lawsuit

Siding with the Seminole Tribe over the state of Florida, federal Judge Robert Hinkle on Wednesday ruled that the tribe can continue to offer blackjack and other banked card games for the next 14 years. The ruling means blackjack until at least 2030 at Seminole-owned casinos and means less money for state coffers at a time when state budgets over the next few years are expected to be tight. The …


Volkswagen’s Audi Facing Fresh Emissions Cheating Lawsuit

Embattled Volkswagen is facing a new lawsuit in US courts over devices used to cheat emissions standards, this one against luxury brand Audi, according to court documents. The new case filed Tuesday in Illinois court, cites a media report Audi installed the cheating devices on gasoline-powered cars to hide the true emissions of climate-warming gas carbon dioxide, court papers say. The latest suit follows last month’s USD 14.7 billion class action settlement in Volkswagen’s diesel emissions cheating scandal, which has rocked …


San Francisco Judge Denies Airbnb’s Lawsuit Against the City

But what does free speech online have to do with any of this? Airbnb claims that it shouldn’t be on the hook for what users put in their listings, and that it isn’t breaking laws, its users who failed to go through a lengthy registration process for renting out their living spaces are. “Further, Airbnb’s argument that the city violated the First Amendment is moot because the ordinance ‘was not …


Lawsuit Challenges Tennessee Sex Offender Registry

Retroactive enforcement of Tennessee’s sex offender registry law is being challenged in a federal court lawsuit that mimics a separate, successful appeal that led to the nullification of retroactive laws in Michigan. The case, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Nashville, argues that Tennessee’s registration laws are illegally applied retroactively. It notes that the laws and restrictions on those offenders have become significantly more burdensome since the laws were first enacted in 1994. The first registry law deemed the register of sex offenders confidential and only accessible by law enforcement. The General Assembly tweaked the law multiple times, and made registrants public, and then…


Simonton Windows, Warranty Not Good Enough, Class Action Attorney Says

A group of homeowners is suing a home improvement businesses, alleging a distribution of substandard windows and failure to deliver quality products as advertised. On Oct. 17, a class action complaint was filed in U.S. District Count for the District of Minnesota against Ohio-based Simonton Building Products LLC, previously known as Simonton Building Products …