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lawsuits
lawsuits
Twilight Producers Get Into Documentary, Lawsuit Business Simultaneously
Apparently, the most dangerous creatures stalking the lush woodlands of Forks, Washington — the real-life town that's also the setting for the insanely popular Twilight series of books and movies — aren't the hunky teen vampires with sparkly skin or shirtless Native American werewolves, but documentary filmmakers that dare to tread on the feet of the films' producers. More »
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Ripoff Video Maker "Vision Media Television" Renames As "Great America HD"
"Vision Media Television," after getting exposed in a NY Times story as a ripoff production company, has changed its name to "GreatAmericaHD" and is back to its same tricks. The way it works is they call up non-profit organizations with an alluring pitch: a chance to be featured in a nationally-broadcast PBS show anchored by established broadcaster. In this case, Hugh Downs. What they don't tell you is that you'll have to front upwards of $20,000 in production costs, and the "program" they shoot will never see the light of day. More »
Judge Censured, Barred For Ordering Lawyer To Be Paid In Gift Certificates
A judicial commission for California judges censured and barred the recently retired judge Brett C. Klein for showing bias, abusing authority, and grandstanding to the press. At issue was his January 2009 alteration of a class action settlement, where he ordered everyone, including the attorneys, to be paid the same way: via $10 gift vouchers from a woman's clothing store. More »
Oh Snap: NY AG Sues EX-Bank Of America CEO For Fraud
Andrew Cuomo has announced a lawsuit against Bank of America's former CEO Kenneth D. Lewis, its former CFO Joseph L. Price, and the company itself, for "duping shareholders and the federal government in order to complete a merger with Merrill Lynch." Uh oh! More »
Update On Woman Sent To Jail For Using Gift Cards At Best Buy
(NY1)
Last month, New York City's NY1 news channel produced a news segment on the woman who was arrested for paying with AMEX gift cards at a Best Buy. If you read our earlier post with Ilona's email, you already know most of the basics, but you can see the problematic gift cards and hear Ilona describe the experience in her own words. It turns out that after she was released, she went back to Best Buy for either a refund or the DVD player, but had to leave without either one--she was told she'd have to contact American Express to resolve the problem. More »
Experian Sued Over Deceptive FreeCreditReport.com Ads
Freecreditreport.com is getting class action sued, baby. Their ubiquitous singing ads make it sound like you'll go their website and get a free credit report, but they don't tell you that's only after you sign up for a $14.95 monthly credit monitoring service. "FreeCreditReport.com tells people they will get something for free, and you do, but you have to pay for something else, and there's not sufficient notice," said John Balestriere, lead attorney. I agree, so I made up my own parody Freecreditreport song: More »
Burger King Employees Accused Of Racially Motivated Hate-Spitting
A black man is suing Burger King in a federal discrimination lawsuit because he says white Pennsylvania Burger King employees spat in his burger, the AP reports in a story on the Huffington Post. More »
Get $1000 In Ameriquest Mortgage Settlement
If your home mortgage was serviced by the defunct Ameriquest or its affiliates, you could stand to receive payouts starting at $1,000. Just enter your loan number on the settlement website and it will tell you if you're eligible. The $325 million settlement came after a multi-state investigation which found shady lending practices that failing to disclose that loans had adjustable rates, failing to disclose the terms of the loan, refinancing homeowners into inappropriate loans, inflating home appraisals, and charging excessive fees. [ameriquestmdlsettlement.com]
South Butt Rebuts North Face
"South Butt," sued by North Face for trademark infringement, has filed a delightfully nyah-nyah answer to the apparel maker's legal claims. While North Face asserts that South Butt is sewing confusion and mistake among consumers, and deceiving them, the parody company, intent on a 1st Amendment defense, insists that that "the consuming public is well aware of the difference between a face and a butt." The rest of the fun filing, inside... More »
Bank Sues Victim To Avoid Replacing $200k In Stolen Funds
What constitutes adequate security for a bank? PlainsCapital Bank in Lubbock, Texas says what it currently has is enough, and if after all that some crooks still manage to steal your money, it's not the bank's fault. The bank has preemptively sued a business customer, Hillary Machinery, to absolve itself from any liability on what it couldn't get back from the more than $800,000 that was stolen by foreign hackers last November. More »
Dating Site eHarmony Settles Same-Sex Class Action For $2 Million
In 2008, eHarmony responded to complaints that it wasn't serving gay and lesbian customers by setting up a second website, Compatible Partners, and keeping those customers separate from the official site. Some users sued the company, saying anyone with bisexual interests were being forced to pay twice for the same service. Now eHarmony has settled the class action and will allow members of either site to participate on the other one without having to pay a second time. More »
AT&T Announces Proposed Settlement Over ETF Class Action Lawsuit
(Photo: on2wheelz)
Chris wrote in to us this afternoon, "I found this gem in my AT&T wireless inbox [today]. I received no notification it was there, just happened to notice that I had a new message from AT&T online." It's an announcement that AT&T Mobility has arranged a proposed settlement over a class-action lawsuit concerning early termination fees. If it's approved, there'll be a settlement fund created from which AT&T customers "may receive monetary or other benefits." More »
Tyson Chicken Settles Class-Action Suit, Will Pay $4.4 Million To Consumers
(Photo: protohiro)
If you bought Tyson chicken from 2007 to 2009, you may want to start keeping tabs on the new settlement being considered by Tyson to settle the class-action suit against it. The agreement was filed earlier this week, and a review is scheduled for tomorrow. If approved, approximately $4.4 million will supposedly be available to disburse to consumers. More »
Bank Of America Seizes Wrong House, Causes Big Stink. No, Really.
(Photo: RichardBH)
Last October, Bank of America screwed up and seized a vacation home that didn't belong to them. They also changed the locks and shut off the power, leaving 75 pounds of salmon and halibut rotting for a week before it was discovered, writes Laura Elder of the Galveston Daily News.
The owner, Dr. Alan Schroit, and his wife discovered what had happened when they showed up on Halloween to prepare for a party they were going to host the next day. More »
The owner, Dr. Alan Schroit, and his wife discovered what had happened when they showed up on Halloween to prepare for a party they were going to host the next day. More »
KFC Sues Self In Game Of Legal Chicken
(Photo: Meg Marco)
According to a Bloomberg story in BusinessWeek, KFC is suing itself, sorta. More »
Palm Coast Travel Sues Customer And A Blogger
Travel blogger Elliott is not having a good year. First Homeland Security showed up on his doorstep with a subpoena demanding he name his sources, and now a travel agency is suing him for his reporting about their unauthorized sale of travel insurance. More »
Lawsuit: Goldman's Bonuses Eclipsed Earnings
(Photo: 666isMONEY)
Goldamn Sachs gave out more in bonuses than it earned in income last year, according to a lawsuit filed by a pension plan. The suit says that Goldman's revenue was inflated by government bailouts, yet it continued to pay out 50% of revenue as bonuses. [Reuters]
Lawsuit: Funeral Home Returns Mom's Brain With Personal Items
(Photo:AlishaV)
According to a lawsuit filed in New Mexico State District Court in Albuquerque, a woman's brain was returned to her family in a bag of personal effects. More »
Lawsuit: Yoga Chain That Teaches "Brain Wave Vibration" Is Cult
(Photo: piez)
Former employees have filed a suit against Dahn Yoga, an Arizona-based chain of yoga centers. According to CNN, the suit charges that the chain is a "a totalistic, high-demand cult group" and that employees are submitted to "psychological manipulation, indoctrination and various techniques of coercive thought reform designed to induce them to become [founder] Ilchi Lee's disciples and devote themselves to serving him and his 'vision.'" More »
Make Debt Collectors Give You Money By Suing Them
(Photo: Furryscaly)
This may not work for everyone, but it worked for Jeff. He tells Consumerist that after he filed Chapter 13 bankruptcy, Sallie Mae representatives continued to call him, which is sort of illegal. So his bankruptcy attorney sued them. And won a $4,000 settlement. More »
