Knotty Issues of eDiscovery
A barista was fired from Starbucks for “inappropriate conduct and threatening violence to Starbucks and its employees.” Mai-Trang Thi Nguyen v. Starbucks Coffee Corp., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 113461 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 7, 2009). The Plaintiff in turn sued for sexual harassment, retaliation, religious discrimination, violations of the California Occupational Safety[…]
Read morePlaintiffs brought a motion for a new trial because of an email sent by a juror to the Plaintiffs’ attorney four days after a defense verdict. Wilgus v. F/V Sirius, Inc., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 100094 (D. Me. Oct. 27, 2009). The email stated: [D]id you know your plaintiff[s] advocated[…]
Read moreIn United States v. Shelnutt, a member of the press requested the right to “Tweet” a criminal trial on Twitter. The court denied the request pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure Rule 53. United States v. Shelnutt, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101427 (M.D. Ga. Nov. 2, 2009). Federal Rule of Criminal[…]
Read moreSocial networking litigation will be written by the end users of those websites. In Bass v Miss Porter’s School, the Defendant school sought from the Plaintiff discovery of her alleged teasing and taunting on Facebook. Bass v. Miss Porter’s Sch., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 99916 (D. Conn. Oct. 27, 2009).[…]
Read moreLaningham v. Carrollton-Farmers Branch Indep. Sch. Dist., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86305 (N.D. Tex. Sept. 17, 2009) is a factual intense case of a cheerleader claiming unconstitutional gender bias on alleged cheerleader on cheerleader sexual harassment, which deprived the Plaintiff of her educational opportunities. The Plaintiff lost at summary judgment,[…]
Read moreA soldier was convicted for being absent without leave (AWOL) after finding out his Army unit’s deployment was extended to a year in Iraq. United States v. Scheuerman, 2009 CAAF LEXIS 812, 7-8 (C.A.A.F. 2009). The Defendant claimed he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, which is why he went AWOL. […]
Read moreA lot can happen in 140 characters. Someone can tag their way right into a lawsuit with a Wall to Wall Message, a public note or a Tweet. This is one of those cases. Procedural History In a defamation case, a Philadelphia attorney (Plaintiff Corcoran) with a boutique copyright practice[…]
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The ease of creating a MySpace profile (or Twitter) that impersonates a celebrity has to be nerve racking for actors, rock stars, and anyone else who is “famous.” Riggs v. Myspace, Inc., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 37109 (W.D. Pa. May 5, 2009) is the story of a Plaintiff who created[…]
Read moreA Facebook user in Massachusetts was facing criminal charges in Massachusetts for criminal harassment and threats to commit a crime from Facebook messages. Skerry, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38804, 1-2 (D. Cal. 2009). The Petitioner sought the emergency deposition of Facebook’s “recorder keeper” because of the concern Facebook periodically purged its information system. Skerry, 2-4.
Read moreEvery now and then, there comes a case that gives me law school flashbacks. Professor Rohwer, my old Contracts professor, this one’s for you. Harris v. Blockbuster, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31531 (N.D. Tex. Apr. 15, 2009) involves Blockbuster allegedly violating the Video Privacy Protection Act. Blockbuster Online (an online[…]
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