Pizzeria owner wins millions in unusual lawsuit against village

Mount Prospect has agreed to a $6.5 million settlement that will end an unusual lawsuit filed by a restaurant owner who sued the village using a federal law more commonly used to bust organized crime. 1928 The village board on Tuesday night approved the settlement with the owner of Ye Olde Town Inn, Tod Curtis, […]

Chicago lawyer faces sanctions for suit against Malaysia Airlines

By Steve Schmadeke A Chicago aviation lawyer who made international news when she filed the first court action shortly after a Malaysia Airlines jet vanished earlier this year now faces sanctions from Illinois’ attorney disciplinary agency for filing the allegedly frivolous case. Monica Kelly held a heavily publicized news conference in Kuala Lumpur in March […]

Chicago cop wins $540K suit against sergeant accused of taunting him

Retired Chicago Police Sgt. Lawrence C. Knasiak was twice commended by the city council for his “dedication, professionalism and personal sacrifice” during a nearly 30-year career with the department. Apparently that sense of civic duty didn’t extend to cops he supervised, including a Jewish officer Knasiak allegedly called a “bloodsucking parasite,” the Sun-Times is reporting. […]

CHP Officer Hit Woman in Now-Viral Video With “All the Strength He Had”: Lawsuit

The woman seen on a now-viral video being repeatedly punched by a California Highway Patrol officer said her dress was violently ripped to expose her bare buttocks as she told the officer “I didn’t do anything to you,” according to a federal civil rights lawsuit filed last week and amended Friday. Marlene Pinnock, 51, said […]

Feds Failing To Act On Antibiotic Resistance Despite Grave Threat, Health Advocates Warn

Public health advocates are fuming over a new court ruling that they say could hasten the coming of the next pandemic. In a 2-1 decision released Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit ruled that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration need not consider banning the use of antibiotics in healthy food-producing […]

Man injured during team-building drill: lawsuit

By Christy Gutowski Tribune reporter 6:40 p.m. CDT, July 24, 2014 It was supposed to be a workplace exercise to build mutual respect, understanding and empathy between co-workers of an Addison fire safety company. Instead, according to a DuPage County lawsuit, one employee experienced “pain and suffering in body and mind” when he fell to […]

Ohio State band director fired after report finds sexualized culture

Michael Muskal Los Angeles Times 1:35 p.m. CDT, July 25, 2014 In the second recent scandal to cloud a nationally acclaimed marching band, the director of the Ohio State University band has been dismissed after investigators found a sexualized culture of rituals in the group that bills itself as the “Best Damn Band in the […]

Lawsuit: Inflatable sumo wrestling led to brain injury at Miami-Dade charter school

By David Ovalle dovalle@MiamiHerald.com During a Hialeah Gardens school “Spirit Day,” a teen girl dressed in an inflatable sumo wrestler suit for what was supposed to be a goofy match with a classmate. But a lawsuit claims the sumo fun went horribly wrong, leaving the teen with severe brain damage after her head repeatedly struck […]

UConn Settles Sexual Assault Lawsuit For $1.3 Million, But Won’t Admit Guilt

Tyler Kingkade The University of Connecticut will pay nearly $1.3 million to settle a lawsuit brought forward by five sexual assault victims, the school and the women’s attorney announced Friday, but it will not admit to wrongdoing in the cases. The lawsuit, filed against UConn on Nov. 1 by high-profile attorney Gloria Allred and co-counsel […]

City paid out $30K to settle 2012 lawsuit against chokehold cop Daniel Pantaleo

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — One of the two civil rights lawsuits against Daniel Pantaleo, the NYPD officer who put Eric Garner in a chokehold Thursday, ended up costing taxpayers $30,000 in settlement money, according to the plaintiffs’ attorney. The suit, which was settled in January, accuses Pantaleo and another officer of strip-searching two men on […]

Suburban school district seeks dismissal of bullying lawsuit

By Stephanie K. Baer Tribune reporter 3:31 p.m. CDT, July 10, 2014 St. Charles Community Unit School District 303 recently filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a former student who alleges the district did nothing to stop fellow drill team members from repeatedly bullying her. The suit, filed with the Kane County […]

Newspapers Move to Unseal Chicago’s Opioid Lawsuit

The Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times and USA Today have moved to intervene in the lawsuit the city of Chicago is prosecuting against pharmaceutical companies over the epidemic of opioid painkiller abuse. The three newspapers want to intervene to unseal redacted portions of the city’s complaint and to access documents the City of Chicago […]

Homeless Man’s Lawsuit: Joliet Cops Drove Him To Small Town, Dumped Him During Winter Freeze

Mike Parker (CBS) – Brian Davidson is a homeless man who panhandles on the streets of Joliet. Because of that, he says police have harassed, ticketed him and intimidated him time after time. He recalls one night in December when he had a run-in with two police officers downtown. “Next thing I know, they’re handcuffing […]

Florida jury awards $23 billion punitive damages against RJ Reynolds

  By Barbara Liston ORLANDO Fla. Sat Jul 19, 2014 6:32pm EDT (Reuters) – A Florida jury has awarded the widow of a chain smoker who died of lung cancer punitive damages of more than $23 billion in her lawsuit against the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, the nation’s second-biggest cigarette maker. The judgment, returned on […]

When the Boss Says, ‘Don’t Tell Your Coworkers How Much You Get Paid’

Under the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (NLRA), all workers have the right to engage “concerted activity for mutual aid or protection” and “organize a union to negotiate with [their] employer concerning [their] wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment.” In six states, including my home state of Illinois, the law even […]

Former Twitter employee alleges age discrimination in lawsuit

By Riley Snyder A former Twitter employee is suing the company, alleging that the social media giant fired him for being too old. The lawsuit was filed by former Twitter employee Peter Taylor, who alleged he was fired last year with no warning and a month after the then-57-year-old underwent surgery to remove kidney stones. […]

Whitman County assessor faces sexual harassment lawsuit

Kip Hill The Spokesman-Review Whitman County’s longtime assessor is in federal court in Spokane this week, fighting a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by an employee. Joe Reynolds, who has served as assessor in Whitman County since 1991, described his office as “loose” and that employees “talked nasty at times,” according to court filings. Yet Brenda […]

Cleveland settles federal lawsuit with families of police chase victims Timothy Russell, Malissa Williams

By John Caniglia, The Plain Dealer on July 16, 2014 at 2:00 PM CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cleveland has settled a federal lawsuit for an undisclosed amount of money with the families of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams, who were killed after a 2012 car chase in which police officers fired 137 shots at Russell’s car, […]

Naperville student sued for striking pedestrians in driver’s ed class

By Christy Gutowski Tribune reporter 2:02 p.m. CDT, July 15, 2014 A Naperville teen who struck two pedestrians during a driver’s education class last year has been named in a recent lawsuit. The student is accused in a DuPage County lawsuit of striking a teen and her friend last July 12, 2013 in Naperville. The […]

Kansas City woman files lawsuit against Monster Energy Drink after husband’s death

Amy Hawley A Kansas City woman launches the latest lawsuit against Monster Energy Drink. Heather Felts said her husband, Shane, died after consuming about one energy drink a day for two weeks. The drink’s manufacturer, she said, touts the energy drink as a dietary supplement when there are few to no documented health benefits. Felts […]

Mom sues third-grader and parents for alleged bullying

A suburban mother has filed a lawsuit claiming an elementary-school student bullied and beat up her son, a third-grader at the same Mount Prospect school. In the lawsuit, which also identifies the boy as a plaintiff, Deveri Del Core, claims there was “continuous” bullying of her son throughout the 2013-14 school year. The lawsuit filed […]

St. Paul to settle police officer’s sexual harassment lawsuit for $60,000

By Emily Gurnon The city of St. Paul will pay a former police officer $60,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit she filed last year. Sgt. Aine M. Bebeau claimed that her juvenile unit supervisor, Cmdr. Eugene Polyak, made “inappropriate sexual statements to her” at work and that department brass retaliated against her when she […]