Monthly Archives: February 2013

Assault, Civil Rights, Class Action, Negligence, Tort Reform

School Sued After 25 Years of Sex Abuse Accusations

A bit over 25 years ago, children at the elite Poly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn were allegedly sexually abused by the football coach, Philip Foglietta. Back in August, 10 alumni and 2 summer camp students sued the school. While the group could not file under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, Judge Frederic Block allowed two individuals to move forward with the RICO claim, as they had donated money to the school. 11 of the plaintiffs were also allowed to pursue the case for negligence and Title IX sexual abuse claims.

Though Foglietta died in 1998, the case claims that the abuse lasted over a 20 year period, from 1966 to 1986. While accusations were made, threats were made to conceal, refutations made by the former headmaster William Williams, and none of the accusations before 1991 (the year Foglietta retired) were ever found.

While Poly Prep did ask for dismissal of the case, it continues on past three-year statute of limitations. The school believes that the case “will ultimately be dismissed following a hearing,” but has also pursued settlements with the plaintiffs.

Breach of Contract, Defamation, Malpractice

Law Firm Can’t Change its “F” Grade

Kaufman, Englett & Lynd(KEL), a law firm, sued the Central Florida Better Business Bureau (BBB) for false advertising in violation of the Landham act, “disparagement of business”, and breach of contract. BBB’s business revolves around rating law firms, and allegedly gave the law firm disparaging and misleading reviews, an F rating, all the while breaching accreditation agreement with the company. After receiving the grade, many of their clients supposedly left.

Nonetheless on February 20, Judge John Antoon ruled that the misrepresentations are not ads because the BBB and KEL do not compete commercially. Furthermore, it was decided that KEL, though based in Florida, could not claim personal jurisdiction as it neither owns shares nor controls daily operations in the BBB. Nonetheless, Judge Antoon refused to provide supplemental jurisdiction over the state law claims, meaning that KEL is free to try again in state court.

Malpractice, Medical Malpractice, Wrongful Death

Death by Drunkenness

Back in July 2012, Bryan Lee Glenn’s family filed suit against IP Casino Resort and Spa in Mississippi for $75 million for continuously serving drinks that caused his death.

Glenn had picked up a check for $15,000 in 2009 for a deposit on the family’s new living space. Nonetheless, Glenn began betting up to $1,000 a hand on blackjack and ordering two drinks at a time — whiskey and cola and shots of tequila. The suit says a dealer, pit boss, waitress and security guard were among those who refused to intervene after Glenn was falling down drunk and his family begged the casino to stop serving him.

His family had to leave to take another family member home, but returned to the casino to find Glenn collapsed in their hotel room. Glenn’s friend tried to revive him for 25 minutes using CPR and continued to do so even after the casino medic arrived because the doctor lacked a “mouthpiece.” 20 minutes following that, an ambulance crew arrived, but too late as Glenn died on the scene.

Breach of Contract, Civil Rights, Defamation, Employment

Gay Auditor Sues Against Library of Congress

Last August, Peter TerVeer, a talented gay former auditor for the Library of Congress’s Inspector’s General Office, filed suit against his old boss, John Mech, harassed him with religious homophobia and eventually got TerVeer fired.

Though originally close friends, the two grew apart after Mech’s daughter saw TerVeer liking Two Dads.us Facebook page. After that, the religious lectures began, and TerVeer complained to the Equal Employment Opportunity office and Mech’s supervisor Nicholas Christopher, though to little avail. Mech (with Christopher’s help) allegedly “continued to manufacture a negative paper trail” to downgrade TerVeer’s performance ratings. Advised to take an extended medical leave to deal with stress, he was ultimately fired for missing 37 consecutive work days though the library officials had signed off for disability time off.

The lawsuit claims discrimination based on “sex stereotyping” and violation of Title VII of the U.S. Civil Rights Act. Terveer wants his old job, back pay, compensatory and punitive damages for emotional distress, and an order restraining Mech.

Attorney Malpractice, Breach of Contract, Financial, Malpractice

Children’s Lawyer Jailed for Misallocating Award Funds

John William Coates, a Texas Children’s Personal Injury Lawyer, pleaded guilty last August to withholding $600,000 from the Travis County court registry and his clients from 2002 through 2010. As an attorney to the minors, Coates was to accept awards on behalf of his clients from insurance companies and place that money into a court registry until the child turned 18.

Coates however, kept many of the awards for his personal use, but would deposit the funds into the registry before the child came of age. Sometimes though, the money wasn’t there in time.

Coates now resides at Travis County Jail under a 10-year prison deal, and could be released on probation after six months for good behavior if he agrees to certain conditions, like relinquishing his law license.

Chest Diseases, Malpractice, Medical Malpractice, Negligence, Product Defect

Children’s Motrin Suit Ends with $63 Million Payout

Samantha Reckis was 7 years old when she took Children’s Motrin with ibuprofen and suffered through blindness, temporary short-term memory loss, 20% lung capacity, and toxic epidermal necrolysis, a rare but severe side effect that caused the loss of 90% of her skin.

Now at 16, Reckis has been granted $63 million against Johnson & Johnson for the lack of warning on the labels. She had taken Motrin before the incident with little reaction, but on November 23rd, following a fever, symptoms started showing.

Johnson & Johnson debated the claims, alleging that Motrin is “labeled appropriately” and when used as directed is “a safe and effective treatment option for minor aches and pains and fever.”

Attorney Malpractice, Breach of Contract, Class Action, Malpractice

Sewer Service Lawsuit Turned Class Action

Earlier in September, Judge Denny Chin agreed to a class action case of thousands of plaintiffs who had been sued for unpaid debts and had default judgments entered against them. The issue began when debt purchaser Leucadia National Corp. and NY law firm, Mel S. Harris and Associates, that specializes in debt collection, used tactics to keep the plaintiffs from finding out about legal action until default judgment was issued.

One of the tactics “sewer service” made sure that notices were either improperly delivered or never served at all. By Judge Chin’s standards, the two companies violated the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act NY state’s general business law, and the Racketeer influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. While Leucadia remained silent, , Harris Associates denied the claims and said it had not broken any laws and that plaintiffs had not proven the existence of an alleged conspiracy to defraud defendants.

Assault, Civil Rights, Electrocution

Attorney Sues for Stunning Twice

Florida attorney Carl Roland Hayes was shocked twice with a stun gun at a code enforcement hearing after slapping the officer escorting him from the meeting. According to Hayes, Donald Miller was in plain clothes and failed to identify himself, and the second shock happened when Hayes “lay face down on the ground—compliant and nonresistant.” Last September, he filed a suit against Miller for unspecified damages and legal fees.

Meanwhile, police claim that Hayes was significantly upset when addressing the board to a violation notice he received for installing nonconforming windows in his building. The force claims that the force was “reasonable and necessary” because Hayes struggled and “took a fighting stance.” After being handcuffed and cooperative, no force was used.

Attorney Malpractice, Defamation, Malpractice

Defense Team Fighting Itself

Attorney Joel Brodsky defended Drew Peterson, a convicted murderer, last year along with defense lawyer Steven Greenberg. Now Brodsky is suing Greenberg in a libel case, alleging that Greenberg submitted a “false narrative” to the Chicago Tribune.

It was intended to pay Brodsky back for trying to oust Greenberg from the case, and depicted him as a liar and incompetent. Brodsky was put “in a false light in the public eye,” having his reputation damaged and causing profit losses. Currently Greenberg, lead lawyer on Peterson’s legal team is still trying to overturn his conviction for murdering his new wife and bring him a new trial.