April 2010

“Gay Dog” Defense Fails in Discrimination Case

A restaurant that refused to seat a blind patron because its workers allegedly believed his seeing-eye dog was gay has been fined $1,500 by the Australian Equal Opportunity Tribunal.  The restaurant, located in Adelaide, also agreed to provide a written apology to…




Princess Freed From Evil Associate’s Curse

So, I guess, if you are this guy, just because you are engaged to a beautiful Swedish princess doesn't mean you have to be nice to her, because when she dumps you, you can always go back to being an…


“Warning: Do Not Move 10,000-Pound Safe Without Help.”

As so often happens, a sad story has somehow managed to become a comical lawsuit. The widow of a Florida man who was killed when a safe fell on him has sued the retailer and manufacturer for allegedly failing to warn him of the…


Longest Known Sentence in a Legal Document?

Your assignment for this week is to diagram the following sentence, which appeared in a recent order issued by the U.S. Court of International Trade: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“CAFC”) having misread this court’s opinion…


Circuses Legal Again in Turkmenistan

Good news for circus-lovers in Turkmenistan — the ban has finally been lifted. Circuses were banned years ago by the country's former ruler, Saparmurat Niyazov.  MSNBC called Niyazov an "eccentric autocrat" but that is understating it just a bit.  Niyazov…


Bizarre-Lawsuit Coverage

Welcome to the many people who appear to be visiting via the Bing link on MSN’s “Bizarre Lawsuits” feature.  As it happens, the story MSN has linked to—the Dumouchel family’s threat to sue its cable company for giving it free…