Miscellaneous

• Lockhead to Pay for Racial Discrimination

  Michael Phelan | January 07, 2008 10:47 AM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  Lockheed Martin Corporation has agreed to pay a former African American employee $2.5 million to settle a racial discrimination case filed by the U.S. Equal Employment and Opportunity Commission. The former employee, a 45 year old aviation electrician, said he was called racial slurs and threatened by four co-workers and a supervisor between 1999 and 2001. When he complained about how the...

• Frivolous Tales About Lawsuits

  Michael Phelan | November 26, 2007 4:35 PM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  The Seventh amendment to the Constitution of the United States says, "In suits at common law...the right to trial by jury shall be preserved." This right has been under attack by so-called tort reformers who want to preserve the right to trial for corporations while restricting it for citizens. One tactic of the tort reform movement has been to devise talking points to scare the public about...

• Merrill Lynch Rips Off Mentally Incompetent Philanthropist

  Michael Phelan | October 22, 2007 4:03 PM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  A Florida jury found that Merrill Lynch took advantage of New Jersey philanthropist George Rothman and his wife. Both Rothmans were declared mentally incompetent in 1999. According to a lawyer for the Rothman family, Merrill Lynch took advantage of the couple's deteriorating mental condition to shift their money into investments that would pay higher commissions. The lawsuit alleged that a...

• How to Save Hundreds of Dollars on Auto Insurance

  Michael Phelan | September 17, 2007 9:16 AM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  Thanks to a tip from fellow injuryboard blogger, Ben Glass, I recently contacted my automobile insurer to report that my eldest child matriculated from his high school and is now attending college. When our auto insurer learned that my son would not have a car on campus, it lowered our annual premiums by almost $700.00. My son is still an insured driver on our policy, but the carrier now deems...

• Local Grocer Wins $16 M Against National Chain

  Michael Phelan | July 19, 2007 5:55 PM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  Richmond's own Johnny Johnson won a $16 million verdict against grocery giant, Supervalue, Inc., the nation's third largest grocery chain. The jury awarded $15.5 million for negligent misrepresentation and $500,000 for intentional infliction of emotional distress. Johnson started in the grocery business as a bag boy and worked his way up to manager. In the early 1990's, Richfood, Inc....

• Frivolous Judge Hit With Ethics Complaint

  Michael Phelan | May 16, 2007 3:10 PM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  Judge Roy Pearson, Jr., who filed a $65 million lawsuit against a dry cleaner for losing a pair of his pants, has brought great embarrassment to the legal profession. The profession is fighting back. The American Association for Justice, formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, filed an ethics complaint against Pearson with the D.C. Bar.

• Allianz Life Accused of Selling Bogus Annuities to Senior Citizens

  Michael Phelan | April 19, 2007 4:55 PM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  There is a potential nationwide settlement involving Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America and the sale of deferred annuities to persons over the age of 65. The allegations asserted against Allianz are that they conspired with a network of insurance sales agents to fraudulently induce people 65 years of age or older to purchase deferred annuities by means of misleading...

• Florida Experiments with Commercial Litigation Courts

  Aubrey Ford | March 21, 2007 1:03 PM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  A new court in Tampa, Florida seeks to resolve commercial litigation matters between businesses. The Complex Business Litigation Division is a new court established to resolve business-related cases such as contract disputes, non-compete agreements, trade secrets claims, and other business matters. The Tampa court is part of a trend in various parts of the United States to establish business...

• Corruption and Stock Option Backdating Settlement of $28.7 Million

  Aubrey Ford | March 18, 2007 9:50 PM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  The SEC and the Sun-Times Media Group Inc concluded a civil settlement of $28.7 million with ithe company's former President and Publisher David Radler relating to claims of backdated stock options and other transgressions in a commercial litigation matter. The SEC settlement includes a $5 million civil penalty, one of the largest on record against an individual. Radler has already plead...

• Jury Awards $17.4 Million to Retirees for Termination of Pension Payments

  Aubrey Ford | February 28, 2007 4:34 PM | 0 CommentsRichmond, VA

  In a complex commercial litigation matter involving employee pension rights, jurors in Butte, Montana ordered Northwestern Corporation to pay $17.4 million in compensatory damages and $4 million in punitive damages to 15 retired executives who sued after the company terminated their supplemental pensions. This case affirms the rights of executives and employees to the continuation of pension...