Crazy Sh*t Lawyers See Archive

Does your HS pic say “Lush”? Someone thought hers did…

January 9th, 2015. By LucyC

You know those cards and fridge magnets we all love with sarcastic quips and vintage photos of babes from last century?  “It’s okay, I didn’t want a real life anyway” and “Make your own damn dinner” are some of the slogans used in conjunction with pictures of smiling housewives on a products ranging from mugs, flasks, and sticky notes to towels, calendars and phone cases.

Ever wonder where all those pictures come from? Well, sit down Ethel, have I got a story.

Veronica Vigil, a married mother of two who lives in New Mexico—likely never gave these products a second thought—until one day when her daughter came home with a “novelty product” (read “flask”) that featured a photo of teenage Veronica complete with the appropriate beehive-inspired lid, taken decades ago—as in pre-social media—remember those days anyone?

And—the caption reads…“I’m going to be the most popular girl in rehab.” Oh yes—that will do wonders for your reputation. Which is precisely why Veronica is suing the maker of the products, one Anne Taintor Inc, and also a local gift store in Santa Fe that allegedly carried the products with her likeness on them.

Veronica is claiming that Anne Taintor Inc. somehow got hold of and used her high school graduation picture from 1970 without her permission and has defamed her by linking her image to a product that makes light of substance abuse, in direct conflict with the way Vigil lives her life. While we may expect, sadly, this kind of behavior from Facebook, which has also been sued of alleged use of images of members who did not knowingly give their permission—there’s no gray area with a high school grad picture circa 1970, I wouldn’t have thought.

Vigil’s attorney, Blair Dunn, is quoted in the Santa Fe New Mexican as saying he wasn’t sure which high school Vigil graduated from but believed it was either Española High School or Pojoaque High School.

According to the complaint, “Plaintiff is an active member of her church and does not consume alcohol or drugs… Given the seriousness of the issues of substance abuse in the community in which plaintiff resides, she has held herself out by reputation for her children and her community, to refrain from abuse or even use of alcohol and illicit drugs and has set an example that the issue is a very serious one that destroys families and lives.” FYI—Veronica and hubby have two grown children and operate an auto-restoration business in Española.

Taintor’s use of Vigil’s image has led others to think that Vigil “either has a problem with drugs and alcohol personally, or she condones the use of her image to make light of an important social issue that affects her community,” according to the complaint, and this use has caused her to be “held up to scorn and contempt.”

So how did the company get access to the graduation picture—or a year book—or whatever? Have they done this with anyone one else? Enquiring minds want to know!

Apparently, at the time the story ran in the SFNM, the product was not listed on Taintor’s website, but it was offered on Amazon for prices ranging from $21.95 to $25.29. Holy Hannah Batman! Where do you start?!

So who the heck is Anne Taintor you’re asking? According to her website and Wikipedia, she is a Harvard University graduate who has been “making smart people smile since 1985.” Wikipedia states: “Anne Taintor is an artist whose themes deal with domestic stereotypes, as viewed through the lens of mid-century advertisements typically found in publications such as Ladies Home Journal and Life. Juxtaposing these images with tongue-in-cheek captions, her work serves as a commentary on the stereotypes of women popularized in the 1940s and ’50s. She has been credited by some as being a pioneer in the pairing of mid-century imagery with modern slogans.”

The company is celebrating its 30th anniversary and currently has some 3,000 outlets in 25 countries. Had the company exhausted its supply of Ladies Home Journal imagery and so resorted to American high school pictures?

Virgil’s lawyer told the SFNM that Doodlet’s—a Santa Fe toy store and gift shop that has been in business since 1955 — is named in the complaint because the store has likely sold magnets and cards bearing the same image as the flask, and thousands of other Taintor products over the years. So how long as this been going on?

The owners of Doodlet, however, said in an answer to the complaint that they have never sold Taintor products bearing Vigil’s image and that they should not be a party in the suit.

Dunn claims other New Mexico outlets, including Talin Market in Albuquerque and Cost Plus, also have carried products with Vigil’s image.

Vigil’s lawsuit charges Taintor with defamation, invasion of privacy and unfair trade practices, seeks an unspecified amount of compensatory and punitive damages. Ya think? And, what about royalties?

Well, so much for the “good old days” (ie pre social media) when people didn’t have to worry about image and identity theft. That myth’s now busted.

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All Juiced Up to Include Family in your Startup? A Word of Caution…

December 30th, 2014. By LucyC

Now here’s a juicy tale…Father suing son and son counter suing father over an alleged squeeze out in juice bar market. Got that? The Big Apple, fittingly, is home to the successful fruit and vegetable drinks chain, Juice Press, and now, a couple of lawsuits between Marcus Antebi, 45, who founded the Juice Press stores, popular with celebrities (no comment), and his 72 year old father who opened his own franchise in New York, at the behest of his son.

Marcus Antebi’s trendy ‘fresh and healthy’ beverages, which include the Tumeric Tonic for $7 a bottle and Doctor Green Juice at $11 a shot, are enormously popular in Manhattan and the company grew to 25 stores over four years. Who knew. Why buy a juicer? I digress. So Marcus brought his father, a retired and overweight antiques dealer, into the business with his own franchise. (Dad, allegedly, lost 20 lbs by getting on board the fresh vegetable wagon. He’s reportedly boasted that it helped him lose the weight.)

But is seems the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree in this family: Dad decided to open an outlet in Florida, a market his son has been trying to get into for a year, reportedly. And, to add insult to injury his father also, allegedly, displayed a sign in his NY store window stating: “We are the only independently owned and operated Juice Press store in the chain. We hope you will continue to purchase all your juices, smoothies and food from us.” Nice. And—yes—there’s more—Dad also added unapproved menu items.

So, time to put down the carrots and lawyer up. First to file—David, the dad—with a pre-emptive lawsuit to open an outlet in Florida after his son allegedly threatened to block the spin-off. According to my favorite news source, The New York Post, David Antebi claims his son’s competitive nature is getting in the way of a good business opportunity. Sorry? Filing a pre-emptive lawsuit is not competitive? Who’s been drinking the KoolAid here?

Not surprisingly, Marcus is not happy. “I am particularly upset to learn about the complaint made by my father towards Juice Press—which is my baby, especially when I gave my dad the opportunity to make a career for himself operating a store, and to be healthy doing so,” he said.

So Juice Press (aka Marcus) is now countersuing to force Dad to take down the sign and remove unapproved items from his menu, which include a Chia Fireball juice and an Apple Cobbler. Dad’s not having it, claiming the countersuit is “a phony defense,’’ insisting, “It’s a simple sign thanking our customers.’’ (NYPost). And, he allegedly claims his son’s success has led to an oversaturation of the Manhattan juice-bar market that is negatively impacting his bottom line. Well, if Starbucks is any model to base oversaturation on, according to blogger John McCourt, who spent a year visiting every Starbucks in Manhattan, there are over 200 Starbucks locations just in Manhattan—forget about the other four boroughs. Somehow 25 Juice Press outlets doesn’t seem so…saturated.

But back to Juice Press…even more confounding, David (the dad) then said, he has “lost” his son over the dispute. What the heck’s in these drinks?

Marcus reportedly is arguing that his contract with his father “does not give him the right to use our proprietary information and/or our techniques in any way against us.” And, “We have been actively looking to open locations for over a year in the state that my father is now trying to compete in,” he said.

Dad’s version—his contract reportedly prevents him only from opening rival outlets in five states, namely New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania or Massachusetts.

Marcus told The Post he was “upset” by the lawsuit, but he will “continue to love my father.” ??

David also said that although he has a “terrible relationship” with his son, he’s still filled with pride for his son’s success. ?? “The product is excellent. Juice Press is the best. I give that to them,” he said.

While all the surrounding press may be good for business, maybe these two should sit down over a couple of martinis—shaken not stirred—olives optional.

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Too Sexy for his Job? Lawsuit says Boss-Lady Looking for Love, not getting any…

December 3rd, 2014. By LucyC

Ok—brace yourselves for crazy sh*t lawyers see…

I’m too sexy for my job, too sexy for my boss, too sexy for my … gosh! I’ve been fired! Wait just a cotton pickin’ moment here! And no, this is not about Bill Cosby or Jian Ghomeshi. This, my friends, is the tale of a middle-aged mechanic from Long Island (species description) who recently lost his job for refusing to date his boss. Fifty-three year old Robert Inchierchiro, who is described by the New York Post as being a balding, paunchy former school mechanic, has become a bit of a sensation, having filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Nassau BOCES, a vocational school where he says he was fired for rejecting the advances of his married supervisor, Lisa Rice.

According to Inchierchiro’s complaint, he was also bullied by two now former bosses for rejecting his Rice’s entreaties. And, they even visited the workplace of his girlfriend—one “Vanessa”—who shall remain unidentified. Apparently, Inchierchiro began dating Vanessa while working at the school. Rice had been his supervisor for about a year at that point. Um. Unrequited workplace infatuation? Among other things, I’m thinking.

The trouble apparently started in August this year, when 50-year old Lisa Rice bought Inchierchiro a ticket for a “work-related” cruise. The caveat? No girlfriends allowed, at least not on her dime. If Vanessa wanted to go, she’d have to buy her own ticket, the lawsuit states. Rice apparently also asked Inchierchiro to drive her to the event, which implied she saw the outing as a “date”.

“Bob, uncomfortable with . . . Lisa’s jealousy of Vanessa . . . told Lisa that he would have to get back to her,” the filing states.

On the day of the cruise, Rice told Inchierchiro she was sick and would not be going to the event, so he asked a buddy to accompany him—good idea. Or not. Ah, not. This guy couldn’t win for losing. When he was on the cruise, Rice showed up at his home all dressed and ready to rock. According to the complaint, she “asked Vanessa if Bob was ready to go to the cruise.” When she was told that Bob had gone with a friend, Rice allegedly called Inchierchiro, in front of Vanessa, saying: “How could you do this to me? You know I got all dolled up! Why would you go without me?” Really, where shall we start?

The following Monday Inchierchiro was confronted by his 57-year old supervisor Lori Rowcroft, for going on the cruise with his friend instead of Rice. The lawsuit states that Rowcroft demanded he apologize to Rice. Still with me? (I don’t think any guy could make this up—it’s way too complicated).

The lawsuit states that when Inchierchiro called to apologize, Rice cried, “I can’t believe you’d do this. How dare you!” From that point on, Inchierchiro alleges Rice excluded him from events and told the  superintendent that he had damaged a new GPS system, for which Inchierchiro was placed on paid leave.

Last month, Inchierchiro complained to another supervisor, days later he was fired, the lawsuit states.

“My client was courageous to stand up to sexual harassment in the workplace,” said Inchierchiro’s lawyer, David Rosenberg. “We are seeing more female-on-male sexual harassment in the workplace.”  Bring on the HRT, I say. This reads like a daytime soap.

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“American Hustle” in a Tussle? Exploding Microwave Scene is Center of Lawsuit

November 6th, 2014. By LucyC

Fact or fiction—or somewhere in between. For science journalist Paul Brodeur, it’s about the fact that the fiction got in the way. He’s filed a lawsuit against the makers of the movie American Hustle, alleging the scene in which Jennifer Lawrence’s character Rosalyn tells her husband, Irving, played by Christian Bale, that microwaves take the nutrition out of food. “That’s bullshit,” Irving replies, and his wife shows him a magazine and says, “It’s not bullshit. I read it in an article. Look, by Paul Brodeur.” Bingo—lawsuit.

Brodeur was a staff writer for The New Yorker for nearly 40 years, so yes—he would have seen the birth of the microwave and remembered the fear and enthusiasm with which the kitchen device was welcomed. To say it was controversial when it hit American kitchens would be an understatement, but, as we know, we embraced it regardless of the fiction, facts, whatever. The main concern was radiation. Brodeur addressed this in a book he wrote entitled “The Zapping of America”, about the ‘dangers’ of microwave radiation.  BUT—according to his lawsuit, he never claimed that microwaves remove the nutrition from food during the cooking process.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Brodeur told the Huffington Post, way back in January 2014—when American Hustle was playing to packed cinemas, that the film had incorrectly attributed the faulty science to him. His resulting lawsuit names  the producers and distributors, Columbia Pictures, Atlas Entertainment and Annapurna Pictures, as defendants, who clearly should have known better.

In his complaint, Brodeur claims that by attributing to him a “scientifically unsupportable statement,” the filmmakers have damaged his reputation. “The scene from the movie American Hustle where the defamatory statement was made is highly offensive to a reasonable person,” the complaint states. Brodeur is alleging libel, defamation, slander and false light, and he claims to have suffered $1 million in damages, the HR states.

BUT—you knew there was a but—American Hustle may be a challenge for a libel suit because the opening of the film states “Some of this actually happened.” The film is loosely based on true events, and the filmmakers purposefully maintained a distance from truth in the film. The basis for libel typically rests on the defendant presenting as true a statement that he or she knows or should know is false.

American Hustle was written by Russell and Eric Warren Singer and starred Christian Bale, Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Amy Adams. It was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including best film.

Personally, the ‘microwave scene’ as I shall refer to it, was one of my favorites. But I have to confess, I didn’t even notice the name of the journalist, nor do I remember the article in any detail, probably because I was laughing so hard. What do I remember is that the scene humorously captured the cultural paranoia and ignorance surrounding the microwave in the 1970s, ignorance and paranoia that Brodeur was arguably trying to dispel.

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Facebook Status: Baby Due! Legally, It’s Complicated…

October 31st, 2014. By LucyC

An interesting ruling about Facebook recently—reflective of changing generational attitudes on appropriate communication. Bottom line, while it may be OK to tell friends and family that you’re expecting a baby via Facebook—the social media goliath is not an appropriate medium by which pregnant women may notify the biological father of the child, according to the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

The ruling stems from a case brought by the biological father of a child who was given up for adoption by the birth mother. Billy McCall alleged he had no knowledge of the child until “a week after the child was born.” The mother had voluntarily given up her rights a little over a month after giving birth, however, according to The Wall Street Journal, McCall had his parental rights terminated in 2013 by a trial court almost a year after the baby had been born. When McCall learned of this he didn’t want to give up his child, which left the adoptive parents in a mess and possibly without the child they assumed would be theirs.

It turns out that in Oklahoma courts recognize that unwed fathers have some parental rights with regard to their children, as long as they are given proper notice of their existence and acknowledge them. FYI Oklahoma is not the only state that recognizes paternal rights of children born out of wedlock. Apparently, courts want to see whether a father in that situation acknowledged that the child was his and subsequently took steps to take responsibility for parenting.

In his lawsuit, McCall claimed that he did acknowledge parentage and take steps to parent, but was late in doing so because of a lack of notice of the pregnancy by the mother. For the record, she alleges she sent him a Facebook message at some point before she gave birth. And the court said…sorry—but an FB message ain’t gonna cut it.

I realize this may seem antiquated, but snail mail is still an option, if you know to use it. I would have thought there are several advantages to the good old pony express—not the least of which would be privacy. But, what do I know. I’m not sure it’s something I’d want to find out about on FB—if I were the father. And, how do you know it’s not a hoax?

In delivering the Supreme Court’s 6-3 majority ruling, Justice Douglas Combs wrote that Facebook is “an unreliable method of communication” which is insufficient to meet the state’s requirement that mothers give notice of pregnancy to fathers. While this ruling is clear, the law generally is not, so much. For example, while General Motors uses FB to notify customers of recalls—most notably the recent defective ignition switch recall, it’s not clear whether notice of lawsuits can be served on FB, for example.

Enquiring minds want to know—what happens if the servers go down, or your account is hacked, or the recipient doesn’t use FB regularly? If the intended recipient doesn’t get the intended message for any of those reasons, would FB be liable? Assuming someone has regular access to FB is dangerous, particularly in cases such as this, as the adoptive parents are finding out to the misery. In a case where a baby is being adopted at or shortly after birth, termination of parental rights, based on the assumption the biological father knows about the child, is a very big deal for all concerned. Hearts will be broken and lives changed forever. I wonder if an email would suffice?

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