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• Crocs: Ugly AND Dangerous?

  At least, that's what a lawsuit filed by one Kentucky mom suggests. Okay, not the ugly part, but really, don't we all already agree on that? Alison Cox Pregliasco of Louisville has filed a lawsuit against Crocs that holds the company responsible for injuries sustained by her three-year-old daughter. The girl was wearing a pair of Crocs while riding an escalator at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport when one of her shoes got caught in the gears. The shoe got shredded, the skin on the girl's big toe was torn off and two of her toes got broken. Pregliasco is seeking $4 million in damages and accusing Crocs of marketing the shoes to kids even though they are aware of the dangers posed by the rubbery, holey clogs.   Read More... Posted Jul 07 2008, 08:02 AM by Jen Chaney with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: lawsuit, Consumer Reports, crocs, Kentucky, Consumer Product Safety Commission, injuries, escalator, wearing Crocs on escalators

• Walgreens Sued Over Infant Death Caused by Cold Medicine

  Natural News.com reports that an Illinois woman has filed a lawsuit against both Walgreens and McNeil PPC Inc., parent company of Tylenol, because her son died after consuming cold medicines made by both companies. Devon Mehlberg-Alvarez died Oct. 8 -- three days before various infant and children's cold medications were pulled from store shelves -- due to dextromethorphan intoxication. The boy had taken both Infant Tylenol Cold and Decongestant Plus and Walgreen Pediatric Drops-Cough Plus Cold in the days preceding his death. Read More... Posted Jun 09 2008, 08:03 AM by Jen Chaney with | with 6 comment(s) Filed under: health, lawsuit, FDA, Tylenol, walgreens, Devon Mehlberg-Alvarez, Dimitria Alvarez, children's cold medicine, infant cold medicine

• In the Courtroom: Barbie v. Bratz

  The trial of the century -- okay, maybe the No. 2 Trial of the Century, just after R. Kelly -- is underway. It's Barbie v. Bratz in a civil suit destined to rock this nation to the very core of its being. As the court proceedings get underway, here is a brief primer on what's at stake in this battle of the less-than-progressive-toys for little girls. Read More... Posted May 29 2008, 08:32 AM by Jen Chaney with | with no comments Filed under: barbie, lawsuit, mattel, bratz, MGA Entertainment, Carter Bryant

• Identical Twin Discovered in a Spanish Clothing Store

  An identical twin who was raised as a singleton by the wrong family is suing the diapers off the maternity hospital and city where she was born more than 30 years ago. Her biological sister, and the girl raised in her place, are doing the same. It's sad that switched-at-birth stories aren't all that uncommon. Here's the kicker in this story: it was only by accident that they all found out about the mix-up.   Read More... Posted May 28 2008, 04:34 PM by Madeline Holler with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: twins, lawsuit, biological children, switched at birth, identical twins, Spain

• Johnson & Johnson Sued for False Adveritising

  A mother in Spokane, Wash., has filed a lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson. Why? She says their recent series of commercials, featuring the slogan "Having a baby changes everything," amount to false advertising. She is seeking $2.5 million in damages for what she calls pain, suffering and "a whole medicine cabinet full of Soothing Naturals Baby Wash I don't want to use." "Look, giving birth to my son Nathan changed a few things," said Sheila RosenRosen, 36, during a phone interview. "I never sleep, the house is messier and I learned what a nipple shield is. But pretty much everything else stayed the same. My husband still refuses to get the water heater fixed. The women in my stupid book club still think Nicholas Sparks is an awesome author. And that show 'Two and a Half Men' still isn't funny. So that's not everything, okay?"   Read More... Posted Apr 01 2008, 04:03 PM by Jen Chaney with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: lawsuit, april fool's day, Johnson & Johnson

• Wal-Mart Going After Disabled Woman's Insurance Settlement

  Almost eight years ago, 52-year-old Debbie Shank was involved in an accident that left her severely brain-damaged, with little short-term memory.  She lives in a nursing home, confined to a wheel chair, unable to care for herself. She was, however, awarded $700,000 in a lawsuit against the trucking company that caused the accident.  Once legal fees were deducted, the remaining $417,000 was placed in a trust to pay for Debbie's long-term care (an example of bloodsucking attorneys that could be a post in its own right). But Wal-Mart, Debbie's former employer, claims that money belongs to them, and filed a suit against the family.  And they won.   Read More... Posted Mar 26 2008, 01:33 PM by asflutz with | with 20 comment(s) Filed under: lawsuit, Wal-Mart, health insurance, insurance settlement, Debbie Shank

• Seinfeld Says He Was Joking About Cookbook Author As Killer

  Jerry Seinfeld's lawyers asked a judge to throw out a lawsuit filed by Missy Chase Lapine, author of a cookbook with many similarities to Jessica Seinfeld's "Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food." We've covered this one for a while, and you might remember that it all kinda started when people began noting that "Deceptively Delicious," published in October of last year, seemed an awful lot like  "The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals," which came out six months earlier.  Before you assume anything...   Read More... Posted Feb 26 2008, 05:31 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 6 comment(s) Filed under: celebrity, lawsuit, lawyers, missy chase lapine, fame, plagarism, jessica seinfeld, jerry seinfeld, deceptively delicious, publicity, cookbooks, defamation, court, copyright, seinfelds

• The Best of FameCrawler: Week of Feb. 22

  BREAKING NEWS: Jennifer Lopez Gives Birth to Twins Gene Simmons Sex Tape Heath Ledger's Death Taking A Toll On Jake Gyllenhaal Miley Cyrus: Grounded Until Menopause Naked Lindsay Lohan Channels Marilyn Monroe - And Nicole Kidman? Playboy Hot List Which Movie Star Just Miscarried? Genesseret.com: Is Gene Simmons' Sex Tape a Tool of the Devil? All Eyes Are On a Pregnant Nicole Kidman - In a See-Through Dress Steve Zahn, You Could Have Had the Large Popcorn for Only a Quarter More!   Posted Feb 22 2008, 04:20 PM by Whit Honea with | with no comments Filed under: birth, twins, lawsuit, gene simmons, Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Lopez, sex tape, lindsay lohan, heath ledger, famecrawler, Jesus, playboy, miley cyrus, Marc Anthony, Steve Zahn, jake gyllenhall, nude, j. lo, marilyn monroe, baby on blog

• And You Thought Asshole Rehabilitation Was Impossible

  As you scroll through the Strollerderby posts, you may have occasionally wondered, "How could these snarky little snippets, scrolling down my screen, too many to actually read, have any impact at all in the world?     Read More... Posted Jan 31 2008, 02:01 PM by asflutz with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: lawsuit, Tomas Delgado, Iriondo Trinidad, car accident

• Seinfelds Get Sued For Plagiarism and Slander

  Oh, perhaps you remember the saga of the hidden vegetable cookbooks? Jessica Seinfeld came out with a book on secreting vegetables in your kids' food, Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food. This book bore remarkable similarities to a book that came out a month earlier, by Missy Chase Lapine, called The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals. When I posted about this scandal, the publisher commented here and denied plagiarism played any part in Seinfeld's book. Around the same time, Jerry Seinfeld went on Letterman and echoed that denial, adding, "Now you know, having a career in show business, one of the fun facts of celebrity life is wackos will wait in the woodwork to pop out at certain moments of your life to inject a little adrenaline into your life experience." He also went on to comment on Missy Chase Lapine's name, saying, "if you read history, many of the three-name people do become assassins. Mark David Chapman. And you know, James Earl Ray. So that's my concern." Those are the murderers of John Lennon and Martin Luther King, Jr., by the way. And that, folks, is why the Seinfelds are now being sued by Missy Chase Lapine for slander and plagiarism. But you know what I think is one of the worst parts of this whole thing? Read More... Posted Jan 08 2008, 06:33 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 9 comment(s) Filed under: healthy eating, nutrition, lawsuit, vegetables, missy chase lapine, jessica seinfeld, jerry seinfeld, sue, deceptively delicious, assholes, court case, fame celebrity, plagiarism

• Sperm Donor Doesn't Have To Pay Child Support

  This one is maybe a bigger deal than it seems like at first: The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that Joel L. McKiernan will not have to pay child support. Up until now he has been giving ex-girlfriend Ivonne V. Ferguson $1,500 a month to support twin boys, at the ruling of lower courts. Now, his paternity is not in question, but the issue is that McKiernan donated his sperm to Ferguson after they broke up with the agreement that he would not have to pay child support and would not have visitation rights. (Moral number one: Do not donate sperm to an ex-girlfriend.) What do we weigh here, the best interests of the children or the rights of a sperm donor?   Read More... Posted Jan 04 2008, 12:38 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: lawsuit, insemination, child support legislation, Supreme Court, paternity, sperm donor, sue, court decision

• Mom Sues YouTube Over Lame Home Video

  Hey, speaking of kidults, did you hear the one about the mom who is suing YouTube "to protect [her] fair use and free speech rights"?  Stephanie Lenz's video of her infant son dancing to Prince's "Let's Go Crazy" was yanked due to copyright violation.  Said Lenz, "I was really surprised and angry when I learned my video was removed... Universal should not be using legal threats to try to prevent people from sharing home videos of their kids with family and friends."  Her lawyers claim that Universal (who own the rights to the song) is is abusing a Digital Millennium Copyright Act provision, which calls on websites to remove copyright material at the behest of owners. I say let's Get Lawsuit Crazy, shall we?  The video's nothing to write home about - just send it to your family and friends, and be done with it, already.  Now, if the baby was dancing to "Erotic City," we might have something worth fighting over...   Posted Jul 30 2007, 07:33 PM by Alisyn with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: youtube, lawsuit, parents behaving badly, Prince, copyright laws, let's go crazy

• "Our Sub Showed Us 'Brokeback', and It Was So Traumatic!"

  The family of an eighth grader is suing the Chicago Board of Education, because a substitute teacher allegedly showed the film Brokeback Mountain in class. Dude, if I had known you could sue whenever a sub showed a movie, I'd be rolling in cash right now. I mean, they're asking for $500,000 in damages! What? Oh, it actually looks the family is going to court because the R-rated film supposedly caused the girl "psychological distress" and she had to undergo treatment and counseling. Now, before you think the girl and her family are just a bunch of drama queens, let's think about this. I mean, Brokeback is a film about two gay cowboys who have to hide and deny their love for each other for fear of social retaliation. Perhaps this young girl wasn't aware of the pain gays and lesbians have had to face when small-minded people practice hate. I'm sure when she saw the film, she was so disturbed by the truth about homophobia that she became traumatized. It's hard for kids to swallow how insanely prejudiced people can be. Now that she's undergone counseling and her eyes are open to the oppression that still persists, I'm sure she and her family will start marching in Pride parades and campaigning for gay rights, so that no one will have to experience that level of pain again. You don't think that was it? Anyway, I was also psychologically traumatized by this film- when it didn't get the "Best Picture" Oscar. (Crash? WTF?) But I'm not sure I want my child watching R-rated films in school. I'd much rather she saw them in the traditional way: by sneaking into the theater with her friends. The family suing says they felt they had no recourse other than litigation, since they already complained to administrators in the past when some of the school reading material contained curse words. How much you wanna bet it was Catcher in the [Goddamn] Rye?   Posted May 16 2007, 07:03 AM by Kelly Mills with | with 6 comment(s) Filed under: school, lawsuit, homophobia, gay, brokeback mountain

• Shiloh Jolie-Pitt's Very First Legal Battle

  It's bound to happen sooner or later: a celebri-baby's very first lawsuit.  Awww.  I wonder if Red Envelope sells an engraveable gift for this special occassion.  What's all the fuss about? Seems Mama Angelina Jolie isn't too pleased that a French perfumer wants to release a scent called "Shiloh." The mother-daughter pair have filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to block Hors Lá Monde Corp., a jewelry-design and fragrance company owned by Symine Salimpour, from naming its latest perfume Shiloh. Hors Lá Monde applied for the trademark last June. I'm sorry, but what the eff? Since when are names patentable?  And I ask this question knowing absolutely nothing about patent law. I mean, shoot. I would be thrilled if someone created a perfume called "Stefania" as long as it didn't contain musk and spice notes with patchouli-vanilla undertones. What does Shiloh smell like? Humiliation and adultery? The perfume designer claims that the fragrance has been in the works for two years and that the name (as hard as it must be for Brad and Ange to believe) is completely unrelated to the Jolie-Pitt "love child." The designer, who is Israeli, claims the name Shiloh (Hebrew for "his gift") has special significance for her. Hey all you Charlie's, Anais's, and Enjoli's out there (you know there is one): follow this case closely. You could have some money coming your way.   Posted Apr 19 2007, 06:06 PM by Stefania Pomponi Butler (CityMama) with | with 6 comment(s) Filed under: Celebrities, angelina jolie, lawsuit, celebrity babies, brad pitt, Brad and Angelina, shiloh jolie pitt

• What To Do When Mommy Gets Inseminated With Some Random Dude's Sperm? Sue, Of Course!

  Of course.  It's what what we sue-happy Americans do, isn't it?  But in the case of the Thomas and Nancy Andrews, it seems that suing the Park Avenue sperm bank that accidentally inseminated Nancy with sperm belonging to someone other than her husband, could do more harm than good - because the insemination resulted in the birth of their 21/2 year-old daughter, Jessica.  Jessica's parents say "While we love Baby Jessica as our own, we are reminded of this terrible mistake each and every time we look at her."  Why?  Because Jessica, born to a white father and a Dominican mother, is black.  DNA tests confirmed that Jessica's father is not Thomas Andrews.  Now the Andrews family has been given permission by a NY judge to sue the sperm bank for malpractice. Through court documents, the Andrews said "We underwent a complex medical procedure for the sole purpose of bearing a child of our own... we were never informed that this type of mishap could occur... this type of mishap is almost unimaginable.  We fear that our daughter will be the object of scorn and ridicule by other children, both in school and as she grows up."  (Ridicule?) They certainly have a case for malpractice, no doubt about it.  I shudder to think about how I'd feel in Nancy Andrews position (betrayed?  confused?  angry?) But what about their daughter?  Her feelings have to be taken into account here.  She is a living, breathing person, being raised in a family that is suing a sperm bank over her skin color.  How's that going to make her feel about herself as she grows up?  If some random white dude's sperm was used in the insemination process, they'd be none the wiser... Is a couple thousand dollars going to be worth the pain they may cause for their little girl down the road?   Posted Mar 23 2007, 11:41 AM by Alisyn with | with 7 comment(s) Filed under: lawsuit, sperm bank, artificial insemination, jessica andrews

• MySpace Sex Suit: "Where Were the Parents?"

  The "where were the parents?" club is in fine form, following a judge's decision to throw out a $30 million lawsuit against MySpace.com by the family of a 13-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted by a man she met on the social networking site. The girl, known in the case as Julie Doe, befriended a 19-year-old, who lied about his age to gain her confidence and then assaulted her. The girl's parents argued MySpace should have better restrictions on age. Says the judge: "If anyone had a duty to protect Julie Doe, it was her parents, not MySpace." Read More... Posted Feb 16 2007, 07:32 AM by Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: news, parents, laws, lawsuit, bad parenting, blogs, MySpace, criminals, absent kids

• Chicago Woman's Suit Claims She Was Urged By Employers To Abort

  There's maddeningly little information about Amy Pamanauskas' suit, filed this week in federal court. She was fired in 2005, she claims, for refusing the advances of two of her managers at a Chicago-area Giordano's restaurant. She claims they not only sexually harassed her, but was urged to terminate her pregnancy because it made her less attractive to her bosses, one of whom allegedly brougt her a special tea to drink to induce miscarriage. Read More... Posted Jan 25 2007, 10:54 AM by Patti with | with no comments Filed under: pregnancy, lawsuit, sexual harassment, chicago

• Pregnant Women Fired From Maternity Clothing Store?

  This has to be the definition of irony: "A maternity-clothing retailer has agreed to pay $375,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging it refused to hire qualified applicants because they were pregnant -- and then fired an assistant manager who complained about it" I actually feel kind of sorry for Motherhood and their president Rebecca Matthias. I like that store. I spent hundreds of dollars there when I was pregnant. They are saying that the just settled out of court to save money and that they would never discriminate against pregnant women. I bet they get short term pregnant workers all of the time that are just in it for the employee discount. I know I considered it when I was expecting. While this company may or may not be guilty I know that this practice exists in the business world. I can't prove it, but I still think I lost my last job because I was pregnant. Of course I was too sick to care at the time. This particular story is kind of funny, but when pregnant women who need work can't find it, it isn't humorous at all.  Posted Jan 15 2007, 10:16 AM by Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah with | with no comments Filed under: lawsuit, Motherhood, maternity

• Kraft Gets Crafty With "All Natural" Advertising, Lawsuit Claims

  A Florida woman -- backed by a militant nutrition group (really, there's such a thing) -- is suing Kraft Foods on the grounds of false advertising, claiming the Capri-Sun juice pouches found in lunch boxes and soccer-match coolers across the country are not as "all natural" as they claim. The reason? The juice drink contains high fructose corn syrup -- which is synthetically produced, according to the suit. Linda Rex said she threw away the pouches after she got home, read the ingredients and realized the drinks were "nearly identical to soda." The effort is valiant. High Fructose Corn Syrup exploded onto the food scene in the 1980s and is cited as one of the major reasons behind America's epidemic of fatty, fatty two-by-four-ism. But lady, Capri-Sun is made by Kraft. Did you really think it was all natural? We're talking about the same company that makes Tang, Oreos and Jello. Kraft makes guacamole without, well, guacamole. This is the company that makes Velveeta, which, in the event of a nuclear war, will be the only foodstuff left for cockroaches to eat. Well, maybe Twinkies. But you get the point. Natural is not Kraft's middle name. (It's Altria, for the record, so you should be lucky corn syrup is the only synthetic found in the juice.) As a health freak consumer, I don't need a lawsuit to tell me to look beyond the flashy label for the list of ingredients. I just read the list of ingredients. If it has corn syrup, I pass -- especially if I'm buying something for my daughter. I don't need a lady who can't read labels in the store to help me decide what to buy. Andddd ... scene. Posted Jan 11 2007, 11:00 AM by Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: healthy eating, health, products, behavior, lawsuit, cspi

• Why I am Going to Start Forcing My Kids to Watch Sucker Free Sundays

  I was thinking of having my children classically trained on the piano. I remember back when I was in college the kids who could accompany the other music students made a ton of money on the side. A lot of the piano majors were paying for school that way. Then I read this article by Paula Reed Ward in the Post-Gazette.com about a high school kid who won $90,000 by suing his school district. Anthony Latour writes and records his own rap records. In April of 2005, while he was still in middle school, he was arrested at school and taken away in handcuffs. They expelled the boy due to complaints from the parents of other students who saw his lyrics online and found them threatening. A lawsuit was filed on his behalf by the ACLU. Latour's attorney, Francis Moore, says that if Anthony had lived in a more urban area this would have never even been an issue. $25,000 will be put into an account that Anthony Latour will not have access to until he turns 18. Moore says that he hopes the high schooler decides to use the money from the settlement for college. Instead of those piano lessons I am just going to by the kids some nice Eminem cds. Hell, the entire Snoop Dogg catalogue, a nice drum machine and a mixing board has got to be cheaper than four years even at a state college, right?   Posted Jan 02 2007, 05:42 PM by Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah with | with no comments Filed under: lawsuit, rap, school districts, Anthony Latour, ACLU