Laurie Fine, the wife of the ex-Syracuse basketball coach, Bernie Fine, has filed a lawsuit against ESPN and two employees alleging that the network and its employees committed libel against her when they accused her of, among other things, knowingly permitting the sexual molestation of children in her home by her husband.
An employee of imploding law firm Dewey & Leboeuf has filed a class action lawsuit against the firm over layoffs that went into effect on May 10, 2012. The plaintiff claims that Dewey failed to provide the pre-termination notification required under federal and state WARN Acts before laying off the employees.
The Department of Justice has filed a civil lawsuit against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office alleging that Arpaio and the Sheriff's Office violated the constitutional rights of Latinos and engaged in retaliatory campaigns against their critics. The lawsuit comes after negotiations between the Sheriff's Office, Arpaio, and the Justice Department broke down after Arpaio refused a settlement agreement that included an independent monitor.
The California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS), one of the largest public pension funds in the country, has filed a derivative lawsuit against Wal-Mart over the reports of widespread bribery by the retailer's Mexico division that have enveloped the company in scandal in recent weeks. CalSTRS claims that Wal-Mart directors, both past and present, violated their fiduciary duties to shareholders by engaging in the Mexican bribery schemes, failing to investigate the allegations once they surfaced, and failing to inform shareholders of the alleged wrongdoing of Wal-Mart officers.
The Department of Justice has charged a former BP engineer with two counts of obstruction of justice in the first criminal case to come out of the devastating 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The DOJ accuses Kurt Mix of intentionally destroying evidence sought by federal criminal authorities during their investigation into the largest accidental marine oil spill.
Two African-American plaintiffs have filed a class-action lawsuit against American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. and the producers of "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" reality shows alleging racial discrimination in the selection of the lead roles for the shows. The principal plaintiffs argue that the shows have never featured a person of color in the lead role, and accuse the producers of failing to provide people of color auditioning for lead roles with the same opportunities to compete that their white counterparts received.
A group of media companies has filed a motion asking the judge presiding over the trial of George Zimmerman for the shooting death of Trayvon Marting to vacate an earlier order that sealed the judicial and public records in the case. The companies argue that the defendant failed to show that the closure of the records was necessary to prevent a "serious and imminent" threat to the administration of justice.
The Department of Justice has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple, Inc. and several book publishers alleging that the companies conspired to limit e-book price competition in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act.
During oral arguments in a Fifth Circuit case challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, the court asked the Department of Justice about its views on the authority of courts to review Acts of Congress. The request came after President Obama stated his belief that the Supreme Court should uphold the Affordable Care Act. In his response, Attorney General Eric Holder states that the power of courts to review the constitutionality of legislation is so firmly established that it is "beyond dispute." Holder also reminds the circuit justices of Supreme Court precedent holding that Acts of Congress are "'presumptively constitutional,'" and states that President Obama's remarks were "fully consistent" with those principles.
Facebook has filed its answer to Yahoo!'s lawsuit which accused the social networking company of infringing on several of its patents. Not to be outdone, Facebook's answer contains a countersuit that alleges that Yahoo! has infringed on several of Facebook's patents.
