Ward v. Cisco Systems, No. 08-4022 (W.D. Ark. filed March 13, 2008).
Status: Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed claims against blogger; claims against blogger’s former employer remain. After withdrawing his suit in Texas state court, patent attorney T. John Ward, Jr. sued the author of the Patent Troll Tracker blog (www.trolltracker.blogspot.com; now members only) and his employer.
The plaintiff than voluntarily dismissed the claims against the blogger, 2008 WL 4079286 (Aug. 28, 2008), levaing only the claims against the blogger's employer.
Trial on the remaining claims is scheduled for February 2010.
Showing posts with label Employer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Employer. Show all posts
Odelson v. Doe, No. 2007-L-008807 (Ill. Cook County filed Aug. 21, 2007).
Status: Pending
Attorneys Burton Odelson and Mark Sterk sued over statements in the anonymous Proviso Insider blog (provisoinsider.blogspot.com; no archive before 2008) that they were going to be indicted for advising a local school board member on how to lie to a grand jury. Although originally filed against a John Doe defendant, the plaintiffs amended the suit to claim that the statements were written by District 209 School Board President Emanuel "Chris" Welch. While Welch says that he contributes to the blog, he denies writing the statements at issue in the suit. On June 26, 2008, Welch filed his own suit against Odelson and Sterk, as well as his former employer, alleging that they conspired to fire him after removing Odelson and Sterk’s law firm as counsel to the school board.
Links and Court Documents:
Docket: https://w3.courtlink.lexisnexis.com/cookcounty/Finddock.asp?DocketKey=CAAH0L0AAIIAH0LD
http://www.prairiestateblue.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=3382
http://forestparkreview.com/main.asp?SectionID=3&SubSectionID=3&ArticleID=2849&TM=76073.96
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-proviso-legal-fees_24jun24,0,1234016.story
http://forestparkreview.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=38&ArticleID=3304&TM=29435.78
http://provisoinsider.blogspot.com/2008/06/proviso-board-president-chris-welch_26.html
Status: Pending
Attorneys Burton Odelson and Mark Sterk sued over statements in the anonymous Proviso Insider blog (provisoinsider.blogspot.com; no archive before 2008) that they were going to be indicted for advising a local school board member on how to lie to a grand jury. Although originally filed against a John Doe defendant, the plaintiffs amended the suit to claim that the statements were written by District 209 School Board President Emanuel "Chris" Welch. While Welch says that he contributes to the blog, he denies writing the statements at issue in the suit. On June 26, 2008, Welch filed his own suit against Odelson and Sterk, as well as his former employer, alleging that they conspired to fire him after removing Odelson and Sterk’s law firm as counsel to the school board.
Links and Court Documents:
Docket: https://w3.courtlink.lexisnexis.com/cookcounty/Finddock.asp?DocketKey=CAAH0L0AAIIAH0LD
http://www.prairiestateblue.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=3382
http://forestparkreview.com/main.asp?SectionID=3&SubSectionID=3&ArticleID=2849&TM=76073.96
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-proviso-legal-fees_24jun24,0,1234016.story
http://forestparkreview.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=38&ArticleID=3304&TM=29435.78
http://provisoinsider.blogspot.com/2008/06/proviso-board-president-chris-welch_26.html
Eastwood v. Goodman, No. ______ (Ill. Cir. Ct. Kane County
Status: Unknown
The owners of a court reporting company sued a woman who had worked as a court reporter for the company, after she began a blog titled “Let’s Stop Eastwood-Stein,” (stopeastwood-stein.blogspot.com) stating that she was never paid, and soliciting similar stories from others. The fate of the case is unknown, but the blog has been removed.
Links and Court Documents:
http://www.citmedialaw.org/threats/bescr-v-goodman
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=79395&src=5
Status: Unknown
The owners of a court reporting company sued a woman who had worked as a court reporter for the company, after she began a blog titled “Let’s Stop Eastwood-Stein,” (stopeastwood-stein.blogspot.com) stating that she was never paid, and soliciting similar stories from others. The fate of the case is unknown, but the blog has been removed.
Links and Court Documents:
http://www.citmedialaw.org/threats/bescr-v-goodman
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=79395&src=5
Opera Tower LLC v. Lechuga, No. 2008-3086-CA-01 (
Status: Dismissed by plaintiff
The developer of the
Links and Court Documents:
http://www.miamicondoinvestments.com/2008/01/29/opera-tower-llc-tibor-hollo-sues-me-for-25m/
http://www.miamiherald.com/business/story/397182.html
http://cbs4.com/video/?id=46869@wfor.dayport.com
http://www.miamiherald.com/business/story/856198.html
Complaint: http://media.miamiherald.com/smedia/2008/01/28/20/Complaint.Revised.source.prod_affiliate.56.pdf
The Permanente Medical Group, Inc. v. Cooper, No. RG05203029 (Cal. Super., Alameda County filed 2005), appeal dismissed, No. A113601 (Cal.
Status: Summary judgment granted to plaintiff.
In July 2004, Elisa D. Cooper discovered that internal, technical computer information available on a public web site maintained for computer maintenance purposes by her former employer, Kaiser Health Plan, included patient information. She posted a link to the data on her blog, Corporate Ethics (http://www.livejournal.com/users/corphq/), and later posted the information itself. She also filed a complaint with the federal Office of Civil Rights, which enforces the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). That office, in turn, notified Kaiser, which sought and eventually received a preliminary injunction against Cooper’s posting of the material, arguing that her dissemination of it violated the confidentiality agreement that Cooper signed while working for the company. The California Department of Managed Health Care then ordered Cooper to remove the material -- its first action against an individual, rather than a health plan, since the agency’s founding in 2000. The agency also fined Kaiser $200,000 for posting the patient data to a publicly-accessible site. In the suit against Cooper, the court granted summary judgment to Kaiser on Dec. 19, 2005. Cooper’s appeal of this was dropped.
Links and Court Documents:
http://www.blogherald.com/2005/03/18/kaiser-permanente-sues-blogger-over-patient-information/
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/03/24/BAGFIBU2AT1.DTL
http://www.thestandard.com/internetnews/002902.php
Docket available via http://www.alameda.courts.ca.gov/domainweb/
Status: Summary judgment granted to plaintiff.
In July 2004, Elisa D. Cooper discovered that internal, technical computer information available on a public web site maintained for computer maintenance purposes by her former employer, Kaiser Health Plan, included patient information. She posted a link to the data on her blog, Corporate Ethics (http://www.livejournal.com/users/corphq/), and later posted the information itself. She also filed a complaint with the federal Office of Civil Rights, which enforces the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). That office, in turn, notified Kaiser, which sought and eventually received a preliminary injunction against Cooper’s posting of the material, arguing that her dissemination of it violated the confidentiality agreement that Cooper signed while working for the company. The California Department of Managed Health Care then ordered Cooper to remove the material -- its first action against an individual, rather than a health plan, since the agency’s founding in 2000. The agency also fined Kaiser $200,000 for posting the patient data to a publicly-accessible site. In the suit against Cooper, the court granted summary judgment to Kaiser on Dec. 19, 2005. Cooper’s appeal of this was dropped.
Links and Court Documents:
http://www.blogherald.com/2005/03/18/kaiser-permanente-sues-blogger-over-patient-information/
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/03/24/BAGFIBU2AT1.DTL
http://www.thestandard.com/internetnews/002902.php
Docket available via http://www.alameda.courts.ca.gov/domainweb/
Guajome Park Academy, Inc. v. Duperry, Civil No. 06-658 (S.D Cal. filed March 24, 2006).
Status: Pending; settlement talks ongoingIn March 2006, theGuajome Park Academy , a charter school in Vista , Cal.
Links and Court Documents:
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/07/17/news/coastal/21_41_317_16_05.txt
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/07/18/news/top_stories/22_18_317_17_06.txt
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/11/07//news/sandiego/5_00_4311_6_06.txt
Amended complaint at http://www.nctimes.com/pdf/GUAJOMEVMcCulloch.pdf
Status: Pending; settlement talks ongoingIn March 2006, the
Links and Court Documents:
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/07/17/news/coastal/21_41_317_16_05.txt
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/07/18/news/top_stories/22_18_317_17_06.txt
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/11/07//news/sandiego/5_00_4311_6_06.txt
Amended complaint at http://www.nctimes.com/pdf/GUAJOMEVMcCulloch.pdf
Eclipse Aviation Corp. v. Doe, No. 108CV110380 (Cal. Super., Santa Clara Co. dismissed July 31, 2008).
Status: Withdrawn by plaintiff
Eclipse Aviation, which manufactures very light jet aircraft, sued several John Does in New Mexico state court, alleging that they were current and former employees who had violated their confidentiality agreements by contributing and posting comments to the Eclipse Aviation Critic blog, http://eclipseaviationcritic.blogspot.com, which was active until 2007, and its successor, the Eclipse Aviation Critic Next Generation blog, www.eclipsecriticng.blogspot.com. Eclipse then filed a related action in
Links and Court Documents:
http://www.charterx.com/resources/article.aspx?id=3286
http://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/302137nm04-22-08.htm
Docket: http://www.sccaseinfo.org/pa6.asp?full_case_number=1-08-CV-110380
Motion to quash subpoena: http://www.charterx.com/mediafiles/store/58773/128547467269195924.pdf
Coverage of settlement: http://www.charterx.com/resources/article.aspx?id=3444
Mayhew v. Dunn, No. _____ (Vt. Super. Ct., Windham County filed Nov. 16, 2007).
Status: Claims against blog dismissed (March 13, 2008)
Effie Mayhew, a volunteer with Rescue, Inc., which provides emergency medical services in southern Vermont, sued former Rescue Inc. executive director David Dunn and the owners of the iBrattleboro.com community blog site over comments posted to the site by Dunn. Dunn was responding to criticism in a previous, anonymous posting on the site and a letter by Mayhew that was published by the Brattleboro Reformer. The comment that Dunn posted on iBrattleboro.com alleged that Mayhew and other critics had been involved in improper sexual behavior on Rescue, Inc. premises. On March 13, 2008, the court dismissed the claims against the blog, citing section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
Links and Court Documents:
http://www.ibrattleboro.com/article.php/20080319160658538
http://www.citmedialaw.org/threats/mayhew-v-dunn
http://www.citmedialaw.org/blog/2007/libel-lawsuit-filed-against-ibrattleboro-founders-grotke-lepage
http://www.reformer.com/headlines/ci_7577612
http://www.ibrattleboro.com/article.php/20071127175654420
http://www.wcax.com/global/story.asp?s=7827009
Complaint: http://www.citmedialaw.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2007-11-08-Mayhew%20Complaint.pdf
Opinion dismissing claims: http://www.ibrattleboro.com/pdf/iBrattleboro_opinion.pdf
Status: Claims against blog dismissed (March 13, 2008)
Effie Mayhew, a volunteer with Rescue, Inc., which provides emergency medical services in southern Vermont, sued former Rescue Inc. executive director David Dunn and the owners of the iBrattleboro.com community blog site over comments posted to the site by Dunn. Dunn was responding to criticism in a previous, anonymous posting on the site and a letter by Mayhew that was published by the Brattleboro Reformer. The comment that Dunn posted on iBrattleboro.com alleged that Mayhew and other critics had been involved in improper sexual behavior on Rescue, Inc. premises. On March 13, 2008, the court dismissed the claims against the blog, citing section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
Links and Court Documents:
http://www.ibrattleboro.com/article.php/20080319160658538
http://www.citmedialaw.org/threats/mayhew-v-dunn
http://www.citmedialaw.org/blog/2007/libel-lawsuit-filed-against-ibrattleboro-founders-grotke-lepage
http://www.reformer.com/headlines/ci_7577612
http://www.ibrattleboro.com/article.php/20071127175654420
http://www.wcax.com/global/story.asp?s=7827009
Complaint: http://www.citmedialaw.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2007-11-08-Mayhew%20Complaint.pdf
Opinion dismissing claims: http://www.ibrattleboro.com/pdf/iBrattleboro_opinion.pdf
Snyder v. Millersville University, Civil No. 07-1660 (E.D. Pa. bench verdict Dec. 3, 2008).
Status: Bench verdict for defendants
Millersville University refused to grant a B.S. in education to plaintiff Stacey Snyder after college officials and the supervisors of her full-time student-teaching assignment discovered a photo on her MySpace page showing her dressed in costume and drinking from a plastic cup, labeled “Drunken Pirate." Based on this and prior poor evaluations of Synder’s conduct and knowledge, the student-teaching supervisors barred her from completing the program, causing the university to refuse to grant her a degree.
She sued to force the university to grant the degree, and on First Amendment grounds. But after a three-day bench trial, the judge ruled that any order forcing granting the degree would violate public policy, since such a degree would indicate that Snyder had successfully completed the program. On the First Amednment claim, he ruled that Synder’s sudent-teaching under the university’s auspices, while unpaid, essentially made her an employee of the university, who was protected on free speech grounds only for statements regarding public issues, which the MySpace posting was not.
Links and Court Documents:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2008/12/court_rules_against_teacher_in.html?nav=rss_blog
Bench ruling: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/Decision%202008.12.03.pdf
Complaint: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/0426072pirate1.html
Status: Bench verdict for defendants
Millersville University refused to grant a B.S. in education to plaintiff Stacey Snyder after college officials and the supervisors of her full-time student-teaching assignment discovered a photo on her MySpace page showing her dressed in costume and drinking from a plastic cup, labeled “Drunken Pirate." Based on this and prior poor evaluations of Synder’s conduct and knowledge, the student-teaching supervisors barred her from completing the program, causing the university to refuse to grant her a degree.
She sued to force the university to grant the degree, and on First Amendment grounds. But after a three-day bench trial, the judge ruled that any order forcing granting the degree would violate public policy, since such a degree would indicate that Snyder had successfully completed the program. On the First Amednment claim, he ruled that Synder’s sudent-teaching under the university’s auspices, while unpaid, essentially made her an employee of the university, who was protected on free speech grounds only for statements regarding public issues, which the MySpace posting was not.
Links and Court Documents:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2008/12/court_rules_against_teacher_in.html?nav=rss_blog
Bench ruling: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/Decision%202008.12.03.pdf
Complaint: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/0426072pirate1.html
Eclipse Aviation Corp. v. Doe, No. D-202-CV-200802624 (N.M. Dist. Ct., Albuquerque. dismissed July 30, 2008).
Status: Withdrawn by plaintiff
Eclipse Aviation, which manufactures very light jet aircraft, sued several John Does in New Mexico state court, alleging that they were current and former employees who had violated their confidentiality agreements by contributing and posting comments to the Eclipse Aviation Critic blog, eclipseaviationcritic.blogspot.com, which was active until 2007, and its successor, the Eclipse Aviation Critic Next Generation blog, www.eclipsecriticng.blogspot.com.
Eclipse then filed a related action in California state court, seeking a subpoena to compel Google to reveal information to identify 28 “John Does” who contributed to the sites. Eclipse obtained the subpoena from theCalifornia
http://www.charterx.com/resources/article.aspx?id=3286
http://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/302137nm04-22-08.htm
Docket: http://www.nmcourts.gov/caselookup/app?component=cnLink&page=SearchResults&service=direct&session=T&sp=SD-202-CV-200802624
Motion to quash (Cal.) subpoena: http://www.charterx.com/mediafiles/store/58773/128547467269195924.pdf
Coverage of settlement: http://www.charterx.com/resources/article.aspx?id=3444
Status: Withdrawn by plaintiff
Eclipse Aviation, which manufactures very light jet aircraft, sued several John Does in New Mexico state court, alleging that they were current and former employees who had violated their confidentiality agreements by contributing and posting comments to the Eclipse Aviation Critic blog, eclipseaviationcritic.blogspot.com, which was active until 2007, and its successor, the Eclipse Aviation Critic Next Generation blog, www.eclipsecriticng.blogspot.com.
Eclipse then filed a related action in California state court, seeking a subpoena to compel Google to reveal information to identify 28 “John Does” who contributed to the sites. Eclipse obtained the subpoena from the
http://www.charterx.com/resources/article.aspx?id=3286
http://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/302137nm04-22-08.htm
Docket: http://www.nmcourts.gov/caselookup/app?component=cnLink&page=SearchResults&service=direct&session=T&sp=SD-202-CV-200802624
Motion to quash (Cal.) subpoena: http://www.charterx.com/mediafiles/store/58773/128547467269195924.pdf
Coverage of settlement: http://www.charterx.com/resources/article.aspx?id=3444
Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company v. D'Avella; Civil No. L-515-07 (N.J. Super. filed Aug. 24, 2007).
Status: Confidential settlement.
Brothers Mark and Matthew D'Avella filmed a parody rap music video after hours in the A&P supermarket where they worked, and posted it to their blog site (www.fakelaugh.com) and YouTube. The supermarket company sued for defamation, business and product disparagement, and trademark infringement. The parties reached an undisclosed settlement, and the video was removed from the web.
Links and Court Documents:
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