TV Weather Anchor Hiring Decisions Are Acts in Furtherance of Free Speech

Thanks to a California intermediate appellate court’s recent reversal of a Los Angeles County trial court, CBS is halfway towards the early dismissal of a discrimination lawsuit filed by a man CBS declined to hire for a weather anchor position. The case is Hunter v. CBS Broadcasting Inc.

The plaintiff, Kyle Hunter, filed a gender and age discrimination complaint against CBS Broadcasting Inc. asserting that CBS violated the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. He alleges that two local CBS television stations in Los Angeles …

November 12, 2013 Contract

Tribeca Film Festival Sues Developer for $100 Million in Breach of Contract Lawsuit

The Tribeca Film Festival was founded in 2002 by Craig Hatkoff, Jane Rosenthal, and Robert DeNiro. It has generated an estimated $750 million in economic activity for New York City. It has strong ties to the community, a commitment to making cultural programming available to the public, and over four million people have attended its many cultural events. It seems that the Tribeca Film Festival would make a splendid business partner. Somehow, however, one developer is managing to botch the relationship.

Pier 57 in the …

August 8, 2013 Doping / MLB

A-Rod PED Scandal Goes On … And On

On Monday, Major League Baseball suspended Alex Rodriguez and 12 other players in connection with their use of performance enhancing drugs obtained from the, ahem, wellness clinic Biogenesis run by Anthony Bosch. Ryan “I would bet my life that this substance never entered my body” Braun was already suspended a few weeks ago. The Miami New Times first broke the Biogenesis story in January 2013. MLB began an investigation immediately, but the paper wouldn’t turn over its supporting documents to MLB. Bosch, of course, denied …

January 28, 2013 NCAA

Updates on Penn State Litigation

In Mike McQueary’s civil suit against Penn State for retaliation in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal, Penn State filed a motion to stay the case pending the resolution of parallel criminal cases against three of the school’s former administrators. The judge denied the motion, reasoning that while there may be common witnesses (the administrators), there are no common issues to warrant a stay. The focus of the criminal cases, said the judge, is what the administrators knew about Sandusky’s crimes when they testified

December 20, 2012 NCAA

Judge Grants Jerry Sandusky’s Motion for Post-Trial Evidentiary Hearing

Penn State’s Jerry Sandusky was already convicted on 45 counts related to child molestation and was sentenced to 30-60 years. The trial judge has now granted Sandusky’s motion for a post-trial evidentiary hearing. Sandusky is seeking to overturn the verdict or obtain a new trial on the grounds that his lawyers did not have enough time to prepare for trial. The judge brought the case to trial about seven months after Sandusky’s arrest. The defense attorneys claim this violated Sandusky’s right to due process because …

December 20, 2012 NCAA

Former Penn State VP Intends to Sue Former General Counsel for Malpractice

The Penn State ugliness just keeps getting uglier. Last week, former Penn State vice president Gary Schultz filed a writ of summons indicating his intent to sue Penn State’s former general counsel Cynthia Baldwin for legal malpractice. The writ does not provide specifics about what Schultz’s allegations against Baldwin will be. But the allegations in the forthcoming lawsuit will probably go something like this: Schultz was called to testify before a grand jury in 2011. Baldwin was Schultz’ lawyer at the grand jury proceeding. Baldwin …

December 13, 2012 NCAA

Penn State Cover-Up Cases Delayed so that the Court Can Analyze Attorney-Client Privilege Issues

Due to issues concerning attorney-client privilege, Pennsylvania judges postponed a preliminary hearing and a trial in the Penn State sexual abuse cover-up cases. The criminal trial of Penn State’s former vice president Gary Schultz and former athletic director Tim Curley was scheduled to begin next month. They are charged with perjury and failure to report suspected child abuse. There was also supposed to be a preliminary hearing this week in a separate case against Schultz, Curley, and former Penn State president Graham Spanier in which …

October 23, 2012 NCAA

Update: Penn State Seeks Stay of McQueary Suit

On Monday, October 22, 2012, Penn State filed a motion to stay former assistant football coach Mike McQueary’s whistleblower and defamation lawsuit. McQueary’s suit alleges wrongdoing by former Penn State athletics director Tim Curley and former vice president Gary Schultz. Curley and Schultz allegedly failed to report child abuse after McQueary told them he saw Jerry Sandusky raping a boy in a shower. McQueary testified about this to a grand jury, and then Penn State allegedly fired him as a result. Curley and Schultz are …

October 19, 2012 NCAA

ANALYSIS: McQueary Files Whistleblower and Defamation Suit Against Penn State

Mike McQueary, a former assistant football coach at Penn State, has filed a $4 million whistleblower and defamation lawsuit against the school. The suit stems from Penn State’s alleged retaliation against McQueary after he testified against school officials during the child sex abuse scandal.

According to the McQueary Complaint filed in Pennsylvania state court, in 2010, McQueary testified before a grand jury that he saw Jerry Sandusky sexually abusing a child in the showers at Penn State in 2001. McQueary testified that he reported the …