Daniel Fisher News
Black workers can sue Harley-Davidson over claims of nooses, racist graffiti at plant
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Legal Newsline) - Claims that African-American workers were subjected to nooses, Confederate flags and racist graffiti at a Harley-Davidson factory are enough to allow a hostile workplace suit to proceed even if the plaintiffs never saw such things themselves, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled.
A deal is a deal: Lawyers get their contingency fees from wrongful death suit
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (Legal Newsline) - A mother whose lawyers negotiated a $2.5 million settlement over the death of her son lost her bid to prevent lawyers hired by her grandchildren to get a piece of the fees after a Missouri appeals court ruled contingency-fee contracts awarding more than a third of the money to attorneys were valid.
A cancer warning label on Roundup would be unconstitutional, Ninth Circuit rules
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - California can’t order the manufacturer of Roundup weedkiller to place a cancer warning on the product because it would be misleading to consumers and violate the First Amendment, a federal appeals court ruled.
Man wins $5,000 for eating crab-stuffed fish he thought was hash browns
ST. LOUIS (Legal Newsline) - A man who claims he had a severe allergic reaction from eating crab-stuffed cod he thought was hash browns will have to live with $5,000 in damages, not the $50,000 he was seeking, after a Missouri appeals court upheld a jury verdict finding him 90% at fault for his own injuries.
Fee? Tax? Missouri city argues both ways to keep DirecTV case in state court
ST. LOUIS (Legal Newsline) - Despite presenting contradictory arguments over whether it was trying to charge a “tax” or a “fee” on video streaming services, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the City of Creve Coeur, Mo., can continue to litigate the question in state court.
Latest opioid ruling puts MDL judge further out of step on public nuisance
A federal judge soundly rejected the “public nuisance” theory behind most opioid litigation, further isolating the judge in charge of thousands of similar lawsuits who has consistently ruled in favor of plaintiffs on this very question.
Missouri court rejects proposed class action of unharmed workers worried about their lungs
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (Legal Newsline) - An attempt to form a class action seeking medical monitoring for thousands of workers exposed to metalworking fluids failed, as a Missouri appeals court upheld its dismissal because there was no evidence the plaintiffs needed future monitoring for lung disease that typically shows symptoms immediately.
Judge told to get moving on case that would tell St. Louis police how to handle protests
ST. LOUIS (Legal Newsline) - Citing an influential appellate judge’s declaration that “the era of micromanagement of government functions by the federal courts is over,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has dissolved a proposed class action on behalf of future protestors against the City of St. Louis and put a strict time limit on a temporary injunction limiting how police can enforce unlawful-assembly ordinances.
Unneeded prostate surgery justifies punitive damages, Missouri Supreme Court rules
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Legal Newsline) - The children of a man who died after what may have been unnecessary prostate surgery were entitled to punitive damages, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled, even though a subsequent change in the law has put them out of reach in such cases.
Plaintiff lawyers to square off in hearing over $800 million Roundup fee
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - Plaintiff lawyers leading multidistrict litigation against Bayer AG over its Roundup herbicide are scheduled to face off against dissident lawyers in federal court in California tomorrow as a judge hears arguments for and against an 8.5% “common benefit” fee that opponents call an $800 million “money grab.”
No mistrial over failure to admit evidence of C.R. Bard's corporate conviction
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Legal Newsline) - A woman who sued the manufacturers of her pelvic-mesh implants isn’t entitled to a new trial over the fact she wasn’t allowed to tell jurors about one company’s prior criminal conviction, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled Oct. 13.
New alliance between gov't and private lawyers: Suing Netflix and Hulu
A handful of law firms, some of whom are also deeply involved in opioid litigation, are convincing local government officials to sue Netflix, Hulu and other video streaming services over taxes they claim the companies should pay under laws originally aimed at cable television operators.
Johnson & Johnson makes plea against multibillion-dollar verdict from bundled talc trial
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Legal Newsline) - Johnson & Johnson has asked the Missouri Supreme Court to reverse a $2.1 billion talc verdict against it, saying lower courts misapplied the law and improperly bundled nearly two dozen plaintiffs from around the country into a single trial despite a U.S. Supreme Court decision prohibiting the practice.
Missouri's rules have changed, but J&J still gets $2.2B blast from the recent past
ST. LOUIS (Legal Newsline) - A Missouri appeals court’s decision upholding what became a $2.2 billion talc verdict against Johnson & Johnson represents a thorough rejection of J&J’s argument it was subjected to an unfair trial process. It’s also a relic of the past.
Battle between states and cities for opioid money escalates as Ohio AG makes play for control of litigation
CINCINNATI (Legal Newsline) - Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has asked a federal appeals court to halt or dismiss the first two bellwether trials in opioid multidistrict litigation, in a major escalation of the long-brewing fight between state AGs and cities/counties seeking their own share of opioid lawsuit proceeds.
Oklahoma judge feeds the 'monster' with $572M opioid ruling against Johnson & Johnson
Sixteen years ago in a case involving gunmaker Sturm, Ruger & Co., a New York appeals court refused to apply public nuisance law against the manufacturer of a legal product, saying that doing so would transform nuisance law “into a monster that would devour in one gulp the entire law of tort.”
Private lawyers stand to make $90 million as judge hits Johnson & Johnson with $572M opioid ruling
NORMAN, Okla. (Legal Newsline) - A state judge in Oklahoma has blamed Johnson & Johnson for the state's opioid crisis and ordered it to pay $572 million in damages, extending public nuisance law beyond its traditional boundaries into what may become an all-purpose tool for government lawsuits against product manufacturers.
Massive Roundup verdict, in wake of EPA ruling, shows how uncertainty and embarrassing emails can trump science
On April 30, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency declared glyphosate, the active ingredient in the widely used weedkiller Roundup, to be safe. Less than two weeks later, a California jury ordered Bayer AG to pay $2 billion to a couple who blamed their non-Hodgkin's lymphoma on Roundup.
Talc supplier's bankruptcy could be what Johnson & Johnson needs to bring order to costly asbestos litigation
WILMINGTON, Del. (Legal Newsline) - Johnson & Johnson has borrowed a page from the legal playbook pioneered by breast-implant manufacturer Dow Corning to try to consolidate thousands of talc lawsuits in a single federal court for resolution.
Ahead of talc test, NYC judge gives good news to asbestos defendants
The January 31 decision could have especially strong implications for lawsuits over talcum powder