Tag: lawsuit

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Former Donor Seeks Class Action Lawsuit Against Aaron Schock Over Donations

Former congressman Aaron Schock

The Daily Beast is reporting that a former donor of Rep. Aaron Schock plans to sue for a refund.

Howard Foster, a Chicago lawyer and former donor to the Congressman, will be the lead—and so far, only—plaintiff in the case against Schock, two sources familiar with the matter tell The Daily Beast. He has retained Steve Berman, a Seattle lawyer famous for launching high profile class action lawsuits against the likes of Exxon Mobil and Enron, to file the case tomorrow in Chicago Federal Court.

Schock resigned last month after it was revealed that he had claimed tens of thousands of dollars in false mileage reimbursements for use of his personal vehicle, among other spending irregularities.

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Rhode Island Supreme Court Throws Out Firefighters’ Lawsuit Over Driving In Gay Pride Parade

In 2004, Providence firefighters Theodore Fabrizio and Stephen Deninno filed suit against the city of Providence, Rhode Island, for being assigned to drive a fire truck during an annual gay pride parade in 2001.

The men sued saying their constitutional rights were violated arguing that as practicing Roman Catholics they did not “support, encourage,nor condone homosexual behavior.”

Today, the Rhode Island Supreme Court issued their ruling.

Writing for the entire court, Justice William Robinson III called driving a fire truck in a parade a “legitimate work assignment” and said as public servants they were “relatively anonymous.”

“The respondents’ appearance in the parade, solely as members of the Providence Fire Department, did not constitute a form of expression on their part. Rather, it was simply the accomplishing of a task assigned to an engine company of the Providence Fire Department,” Robinson wrote.

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Accuser drops sex abuse lawsuit against X-MEN director Bryan Singer

Bryan Singer

Variety reports that after a whole lot of bluster and attention, the sex abuse lawsuit against X-MEN director Bryan Singer has died a quiet, voluntary death:

The sexual abuse suit against Bryan Singer has been dropped by accuser Michael Egan, four months after the “X-Men: Days of Future Past” director was accused of abusing Egan when he was a minor.

A federal judge granted Egan’s motion for motion for voluntary dismissal in U.S. District Court in Hawaii on Wednesday.

Egan has also dropped his lawsuits against former Disney executive David Neuman and former TV exec Garth Ancier.

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FOX News’ Neil Cavuto shuts down Michele Bachmann on GOP House lawsuit against President Obama

Interviewing Michele Bachmann on Wednesday, FOX News’ Neil Cavuto referred to John Boehner and House Republicans’ lawsuit against President Obama for using executive power on issues that they have blocked in Congress as a “waste of time.”

The clip below begins with Bachmann saying “Very clearly the American people are absolutely outraged…”  What she doesn’t seem to grasp is that the American people are outraged at a do-nothing Congress.  And if it takes President Obama using executive orders (which are within his legal bounds) to get SOMETHING done for the American people, better that than nothing at all.

I should note that Barack Obama issued 182 executive orders between 2009 and 2014. President George W. Bush issued 291 executive orders between 2001 and 2009.  So, clearly Obama is not doing anything unusual here.

Cavuto became more impatient with Bachmann as the discussion went on:

“Where was your rage when Democrats were going after President Bush on the same use of executive orders, because I think you knew then that that was a waste of time, and I think you know in your heart of hearts this is a waste of time now.”

“Crazy-eyes” Bachmann just continued on with her pre-printed talking points as if it all made sense. 

Cavuto finally cuts unexpectedly to a commercial break.

(via ThinkProgress)

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X-Men director Bryan Singer responds to molestation charges

Bryan Singer, director for “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” has announced he will not take part in any media events for the upcoming release so that the recent lawsuit filed against him for allegedly molesting a 17 year old boy 15 years ago do not become a bigger distraction from the film.

From Variety:

“The allegations against me are outrageous, vicious and completely false.

“I do not want these fictitious claims to divert ANY attention from ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past.’ This fantastic film is a labor of love and one of the greatest experiences of my career.

“So, out of respect to all of the extraordinary contributions from the incredibly talented actors and crew involved, I’ve decided not to participate in the upcoming media events for the film.

“However, I promise when this situation is over, the facts will show this to be the sick twisted shake down it is. I want to thank fans, friends and family for all their amazing and overwhelming support.”

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Muslim Boston Marathon victim sues Glenn Beck for slander and defamation

Muslim victim of Boston Marathon bombing sues Glenn Beck for defamation and slander (via Raw Story )

A Muslim victim of the Boston Marathon bombing has sued Glenn Beck for defamation and slander after the talk show host accused him of funding the attacks. Race spectator Abdulrahman Alharbi filed a federal lawsuit against Beck and his companies, The…