Bill Cosby. Photo by The World Affairs Council of Philadelphia via Wikimedia Commons

A judge Monday delayed ruling until next month on a motion by Bill Cosby’s attorneys to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed against the comedian by former supermodel Janice Dickinson.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Debre Katz Weintraub said she needs additional information on whether statements by Cosby’s former lawyer, Martin Singer, are protected by a privilege related to the consideration or pursuit of litigation.

Cosby’s current lawyers maintain that the remarks are protected under the litigation privilege, as well as the First Amendment. A new hearing date was set for March 29.

Dickinson, 60, was present in court today. Her attorney, Lisa Bloom, said after today’s proceedings that she will supply the information the judge desires. She also said that Dickinson will appeal if Cosby wins the motion and the case is dismissed.

Dickinson’s suit, filed last May, alleges Cosby drugged and raped her in 1982 and later defamed her by falsely calling her a liar in two written statements provided to the media in November.

The complaint alleges defamation, false light invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Dickinson, who is among a number of women who have come forward in recent months to accuse Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting them, is seeking unspecified damages.

The suit alleges that Cosby sexually assaulted Dickinson in 1982 at a Lake Tahoe resort. The statute of limitations for a criminal case has expired, but Dickinson maintains she was defamed when Singer released statements on consecutive days in November 2014 that accused her of making up the story.

“The defamatory statements … had a natural tendency to injure Ms. Dickinson’s reputation in the entertainment industry in which she works and with the public worldwide,” the suit states.

Cosby’s legal team states in court papers that the letters were “pre- litigation” documents written in connection with a judicial proceeding and are therefore protected activity under the Constitution. They also address matters of public interest, according to the Cosby lawyers.

“At the time I issued the Nov. 18 and Nov. 19 (2014) statements, I also had prior personal experience with Ms. Dickinson in the course of my representation of a client against whom Ms. Dickinson made false paternity claims and other false accusations for pecuniary gain several years ago,” Singer states in a sworn declaration.

Cosby later fired Singer and replaced him with lawyer Christopher Tayback.

—City News Service

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Viacom’s Sumner Redstone in 2014. Photo via jewishbusinessnews.com

A former companion of ailing media mogul Sumner M. Redstone, who wants to regain authority to make medical decisions on his behalf, won a round in court Monday.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Cowan denied a motion by Redstone’s lawyers to dismiss Manuela Herzer’s petition.

Herzer, 51, is a former love interest of the 92-year-old Redstone, who ordered her out of his home in October.

Pierce O’Donnell, Herzer’s attorney, said his client should be allowed to resume making Redstone’s health decisions as she did before she was evicted.

He maintains that Redstone, the former board chairman of CBS Corp. and Viacom, the parent company of Paramount Pictures, is “tragically incapacitated.”

O’Donnell noted that in Cowan’s ruling, the judge cited the findings of Dr. Stephen Read, a psychiatrist who supported Herzer’s contention that Redstone lacked the mental capacity to make the change in his heath-care directive that removed Herzer.

“Suffice it to say, though not conclusive as to capacity, that those details are difficult to read in describing how this man is hanging on to life,” Cowan wrote in the 21-page ruling.

Cowan also wrote that Redstone’s personal physician maintains his patient does have the mental capacity to make such decisions on his own behalf.

“It will therefore be the court’s primary task at trial to determine which of these physicians most accurately states Redstone’s mental status,” Cowan wrote.

Redstone’s daughter, Shari Redstone, who was in court today, maintains that Herzer is upset that on the same day her father took away Herzer’s health- care directive, he also revoked a “very significant gift” to her, according to the judge’s ruling.

But the judge also penned that Herzer maintains that independent of any financial interests, she has cared about her former flame’s health for many years “without any help from Redstone’s family.”

O’Donnell contends Redstone was “brainwashed” by those around him and is “marooned and a prisoner in his own home in Beverly Park.”

Redstone’s lawyer, Gabrielle A. Vidal, told Cowan that the media mogul wants Herzer out of his life.

“Mr. Redstone does not want to see Ms. Herzer in his house,” Vidal said.

But Cowan said he has to follow the law and that sometimes “things get complicated.” The judge set five days for trial beginning May 6.

Redstone’s current health care advocate is Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman.

—City News Service

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Jenny Rivera at the Pepsi Center, August 22, 2009. Photo by Julio Enriquez/CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

A lawyer for relatives of four members of Jenni Rivera‘s entourage killed with her in the 2012 crash of a Learjet near Monterrey, Mexico, told a judge Friday he will pursue a default judgment against the aircraft’s owners.

Attorney Steven Archer represents family members of Rivera’s publicist, Arturo Rivera; makeup artist Jacobo Yebale; hairstylist Jorge Armando Sanchez Vasquez; and her lawyer, Mario Macias Pacheco.

Their lawsuit is consolidated with one that was brought separately on behalf of relatives of  Miguel Perez Soto, one of two pilots who died in the crash.

Starwood Management LLC is the only remaining defendant in the case, Archer said. Starwood is facing a possible default judgment because the company last took part in the case in February 2014.

All other defendants were dismissed, including Jenni Rivera Enterprises Inc. and Duncan Aviation Inc., which maintained the 1969 Learjet 25, according to Archer.

In September 2014, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Holly Kendig granted a motion striking Starwood’s answer to the part of the case filed by the Rivera entourage’s family members. That opened the door for the possible default judgment against Starwood that Archer said he will now pursue. Kendig scheduled a hearing for April 14 to update her on the default effort.

Meanwhile, Anthony Lopez, an attorney for the Rivera family, said attempts are still being made to serve Starwood with the separate lawsuit the singer’s relatives filed against the company in December 2014. A hearing on the progress of those attempts is scheduled June 22.

The crash occurred about 3:30 a.m. on Dec. 9, 2012 — 15 minutes after takeoff — in the mountains of northern Mexico. Rivera had just performed in Monterrey and was on her way to Mexico City to appear on the Mexican version of “The Voice.”

Rivera, 43, dominated the banda style of regional Mexican music popular in California and northwestern Mexico. She was one of the biggest stars on Mexico television and was popular on “regional Mexican” stations in California.

—City News Service

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Photo via YouTube

A judge refused Friday to dismiss a lawsuit filed by two women who allege they were infected with herpes by an actor.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Linfield stated in a seven-page ruling that the women, identified only as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2, had provided sufficient details for the case to proceed against Jay Tavare.

The judge also ruled the plaintiffs do not have to reveal their identities in their court papers.

The defendant won the Best Actor Award at the American Indian Film Festival in 1999 for his role in “Unbowed” and also had a role in the 2015 Kurt Russell film, “Bone Tomahawk.”

Their suit, filed in January 2015, alleges fraud, sexual battery, negligent transmission of general herpes, intentional infliction of emotional distress, fraud and a violation of the state Health and Safety Code.

Tavare’s lawyer, Martin Berman, maintained in his court papers that neither plaintiff discussed with Tavare whether the women or the actor had a sexually transmitted disease before they had intercourse with him. He also argues there’s no evidence his client intentionally exposed the women to herpes or that they received the virus from him.

But Linfield stated in his ruling that the plaintiffs’ attorneys allege Tavare “intentionally concealed and suppressed the fact that he had herpes and that plaintiffs could be exposed to the disease.”

Linfield also said that four cases cited by Berman do not support the lawyer’s argument that the plaintiffs cannot continue to pursue the case using anonymous names.

Asked to comment on Linfield’s ruling, Berman replied, “It is what it is.”

According to the plaintiffs’ court papers, neither woman had an STD before meeting Tavare. Jane Doe 1 says she began a relationship with Tavare in May 2012 and they began having sex five months later.

Tavare never mentioned having any STDs, “repeatedly lied to Doe 1 throughout their relationship and assured her that he was monogamous and clean” and, despite his claims of fidelity, “lured other women into bed with him,” the plaintiffs’ attorneys’ court papers allege.

Doe 1 began having vaginal pain in March 2013, but did not attribute it to an STD because she believed Tavare when he said she was his only girlfriend, the suit states. She broke up with Tavare in February 2014 and was contacted a month later by Doe 2, who said she had contracted herpes simplex virus 1 from the actor, the suit alleges.

Doe 1 learned in May 2014 that she had the herpes simples virus 2, the suit states.

Doe 2 and Tavare met in July 2013 and had sex in her Los Angeles hotel room, the first time she had intimate relations with anyone in two years, the suit states.

When she developed vaginal problems and emailed Tavare to tell him that she might have herpes, he replied, “Just don’t share this with anyone. It’s not as bad as you may think. One in four has it,” according to the plaintiffs’ attorneys court papers.

Lab tests confirmed in August 2013 that Doe 2 had HSV 1, according to the plaintiffs, who allege Tavare continued to have a relationship with Doe 1 seven months after Doe 2 told him about Doe 2’s infection.

Tavare maintains he never tested positive for either the HSV 1 or HSV 2, but did not take a lab test to support his claims, according to the plaintiffs’ court papers.

—City News Service

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Competing lawsuits from outraged Studio City neighbors – one of whom is a former rock star – created some confusion as both parties alleged far different Rashomon-style descriptions of allegedly violent events between the human participants and their dogs.

A former bass player for the Australian rock band INXS is being sued by the wife of a Studio City neighbor, who alleges the musician unleashed his dogs on her husband and the family dog.

Cindy Williams filed the lawsuit Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court against Garry Gary Beers. She alleges negligent infliction of emotional distress and seeks unspecified damages.

A representative for Beers could not be immediately reached today.

On Jan. 19, Beers and his wife, real estate agent Jourdan Conrad-Beers, sued Williams’ husband, Robert McGuigan, in Los Angeles Superior Court. The complaint alleges assault, battery, stalking and both intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

Beers, 58, was walking his two dogs, Evie and Millie, near his home on Babcock Avenue about 9 p.m. Dec. 23 when McGuigan, whom the guitarist had never before met, walked out of his front door with his own dog, according to the lawsuit.

Evie, a boxer who is a registered service dog, slipped out of her collar and began to approach McGuigan’s home, the Williams suit states. Both McGuigan and his wife, Cindy Williams, began screaming at Beers “even though Evie was just trying to greet them,” according to the Beers complaint.

Beers claims he tried to calm the couple, but they continued to scream at him. Upon hearing the shouting, Millie became agitated and pulled free, the suit says. Beers attempted to call Evie to him, but the dog could not hear him over the screams of McGuigan and Williams and the barking of their pet, according to the musician.

Beers was able to restrain Millie and was trying to secure Evie on her leash when McGuigan kicked him in the side of the face, the suit alleges.

McGuigan kicked Beers in the face several more times while the plaintiff tried to protect himself with his left hand and implored the defendant to “stop attacking me,” the suit alleges.

But according to Williams’ suit, she witnessed Beers’ dogs attack her husband and their dog, Dakota.

“Specifically, Williams watched her husband be dragged to the ground by the dogs while suffering pain, fear and anxiety as Beers’ two large dogs bit and attacked him.” the suit states.

Beers’ animals had “vicious dispositions” and a “dangerous character,” the Williams suit states. In contrast, Dakota  is “a gentle Labrador,” according to the Williams lawsuit.

Beers was a member of INXS from 1977 until the group disbanded in 2012. Lead singer Michael Hutchence committed suicide in November 1997.

Rashomon is the 1950 Japanese film that shows how people who witnessed the same event can end up with far different recollections.

—Staff and wire reports

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Advocates for the homeless said Tuesday that even as pledges are being made at City Hall to help them, police and other city employees continue to seize and destroy their belongings and falsely arrest them.

Eric Ares, a community organizer with Cangress, said there has been “a huge up-tick, on a daily basis,” of enforcement during the last two months that includes the seizure and destruction of property belonging to the homeless, such as medication, tents, tarps and blankets.

Ares said this increased enforcement activity is “particularly cruel” given statements being made by city leaders that they plan to put aside $100 million to help the homeless, and the recent adoption of a comprehensive plan to provide housing and services to the homeless.

“As you’re creating this long-term plan for housing, you have to stop giving tickets to people for being poor. Instead, enforcement is being increased for violations such as having a tent up at the wrong hour,” Ares told City News Service.

Cangress is one of two groups that joined four homeless individuals this week to file a lawsuit against the city, alleging enforcement sweeps of homeless encampments that have led to false arrests and property seizures without due process. The Los Angeles Catholic Worker, which operates a soup kitchen known as the “Hippie Kitchen,” is the other group in the case.

Their lawsuit alleges the city continues to treat homeless individuals in a way that has already been deemed by the court as unconstitutional.

“In addition to criminalizing homelessness with laws and actions the court has held to be unconstitutional, the city has also embarked on an unconstitutional campaign to seize homeless people’s property and to remove homeless individuals from the public sidewalks. The city has persisted with this approach despite repeatedly being rebuked by the courts,” the lawsuit said.

Rob Wilcox, a spokesman for the City Attorney’s Office, said it is reviewing the lawsuit and have no further comment.

The lawsuit alleges that since at least February, Los Angeles city crews known as the East Side Detail and RESET “have been assigned a deployment of trash trucks from the Department of Sanitation and Street Services, which are now present in Skid Row every day.”

The crews often show up with a “trash truck, a flatbed pickup truck, and/or a skiploader,” according to the lawsuit.

When someone is arrested, police and city crews use police tape to close off a part of the sidewalk, sometimes sequestering property that belongs to other people, and not the person arrested.

“LAPD officers and city workers often use this opportunity to seize and destroy property other than the property that belongs to the arrestee,” the lawsuit said.

“LAPD officers instruct city personnel to investigate property that does not belong to the arrestee; a single arrest can lead to the clearing of an entire city block.”

In these sweeps, personal property are “treated as if it is presumptively trash,” according to the lawsuit.

“The workers use knives to rip open tents, destroying them in the process,” the lawsuit said. “They crush the tent poles and items in the tent. When Bureau of Sanitation responds to a call from the LAPD regarding an arrestee’s property, they seize and dispose of nearly all of the property, including tents, blankets, shoes, clothing and often medications, medical assistance equipment such as walkers, diabetes testing machines and nebulizers, personal documents and other critical items.

“Items that the … Bureau of Sanitation determines should be thrown away are shoveled or thrown in a Department of Sanitation trash truck for immediate disposal.”

People who are arrested are also not given a chance to “pack up their belongings or to identify items that are critically important, like identification cards, medications or family photos” even when they can be put into a portable backpack that can be transported with them to be stored while they are in custody, the lawsuit said.

People whose items are confiscated along with those of the arrestee cannot retrieve them with help from the person who was arrested, the lawsuit said.

Meanwhile, anyone trying to retrieve their belongings after being released from custody are supposed to be given an inventory of the items, but often the descriptions are too vague for the person to know what was kept and tossed away, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also details alleged cases of improper arrests, including one that occurred when someone was cited for possession of a stolen shopping cart that did not actually belong to him.

In one example, a homeless individual named Carl Mitchell was asked by an LAPD supervisor “if a specific cart belonged to him.”

Mitchell said the carts he owned were two carts from the Hippie Kitchen, and not a third stolen cart that was next to him. He was nevertheless arrested and charged with a misdemeanor for possessing a stolen shopping cart.

The property in all three carts were then thrown into the back of a truck without separating them, according to the lawsuit. When Mitchell asked for his backpack, which contained medications, medical papers and other personal items, he was refused.

Mitchell was kept in custody for 18 hours at the Metropolitan Detention Center, then released at night into 40-degree weather in downtown Los Angeles, the lawsuit said. He slept on the sidewalk under a single blanket he found. He did not receive a receipt or inventory of the items seized from him and has been unable to retrieve his belongings.

The City Attorney’s Office rejected the charges against Mitchell.

–City News Service

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Chiptole. Photo via Wikipedia Commons

A former Chipotle employee sued the company Wednesday, alleging she and other female workers at its Woodland Hills eatery near the Warner Center were sexually harassed by four managers who also used security cameras to spy on women customers they found attractive.

“All four managers created a sexually charged atmosphere directed at female employees and customers,” the lawsuit alleges.

Ariana Castaneda is seeking unspecified damages on allegations of wrongful termination, sexual harassment, retaliation and discrimination.

The plaintiff, who worked for Chipotle from December 2013 until she was fired Feb. 10, was a lead kitchen worker at the chain’s Woodland Hills restaurant on Canoga Avenue, according to her court papers.

Her Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit names Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., along with Pablo Aguilar, identified as the restaurant’s general manager; supervisor Ruben Hernandez; and service managers Tommy Lee and Erick Morcillo.

A Chipotle representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Castaneda’s position required her to wear a particular uniform, accordin to the lawsuit, which alleges Aguilar purposely ordered a black uniform shirt for her that was too small. She claims that after she complained and asked for a larger shirt size, Aguilar replied, “Is it because your (breasts) are too big?”

Aguilar ordered another shirt for Castaneda, but it also was too small and he again harassed her about her breast size, the suit alleges.

The plaintiff also alleges Hernandez would try to forcibly hug her and would touch her under her shirt after putting his hands on ice or another cold substance. Castaneda complained and tried to push Hernandez away, according to her court papers.

Morcillo and Lee made inappropriate remarks about the breasts of a female former employee and mocked her because a customer made a critical remark about her on Yelp, the lawsuit alleges.

Morcillo also called female employees derogatory names in Spanish and would reply “whatever” when Castaneda protested, the suit alleges.

The Woodland Hills location is near a gym, and female patrons dressed in workout attire often visited the Chipotle restaurant, the suit states.

“Often, when an attractive woman would walk in, Aguilar would rush to the back office to use the security cameras so he could gain an overhead view of the customer’s cleavage,” the suit alleges.

“He would also make comments such as ‘Oh, look at that view,”‘ according to the lawsuit.

Aguilar, Hernandez and Morcillo often made inappropriate sexual remarks about the bodies of female customers, the suit alleges.

“The managers also would regularly issue a ‘manager comp’ for meals if they thought the female customer was attractive,” according to the lawsuit.

Castaneda says she hurt her left arm, left shoulder and lower back on Feb. 8 while taking out the trash. She alleges Morcillo questioned her about the validity of her injuries, harassed her and called her “lazy” for not helping to lift heavy boxes.

Two days later, Castaneda logged onto her Chipotle employee account and found out she had been fired, according to her court papers. She alleges she lost her job because she complained about conditions in the workplace.

–City News Service

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Attorneys for a group of homeless people and a local church Friday sued the city of Pomona over what they allege is an illegal practice of seizing and destroying the personal property of transients without notice, in violation of federal law.

Photo by John Schreiber.

According to the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles federal court, Pomona police regularly remove the identification material, benefits cards and prescription medication of the homeless — and once even threw the ashes of a homeless woman’s mother into a garbage truck while she looked on and pleaded in vain for them to stop.

A call for comment left with the Pomona city attorney was not immediately answered. The Pomona City Hall is closed Fridays, according to its website. Repeated calls to the business office of the city’s police department also went unanswered.

“The City of Pomona is breaking the law and endangering its citizens,” said Margaret Morrow, president and CEO of Public Counsel, which represents the plaintiffs.

“In a civilized society, it’s unacceptable for the government to seize and destroy individuals’ personal property for no reason,” she said.

“What makes Pomona’s practices so much worse than those of other local cities is that the property poses no threat whatsoever to the public but is nonetheless destroyed on the spot. There is no justification for taking and destroying someone’s benefits card, life-saving insulin, or personal identification documents.”

Morrow added that the courts have previously determined that such seizures violate the constitutional rights of the homeless.

“The practice, moreover, perpetuates the cycle of homelessness by leaving homeless people, who start off with little, without items they need to survive,” she said.

The suit, filed on behalf of more than a dozen people and the North Towne Christian Church, contends that the seized possessions “pose no health or safety risks to the community” and the practice appears to be part of a “deliberate strategy to expel homeless residents from Pomona, given their frequency, the nature of the items seized, and the openness and hostility with which they are conducted.”

— City News Service

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Los Angeles County Superior Court. Photo by John Schreiber.

(NOTE: This is an updated article that includes a statement from the archdiocese saying the lawsuit wrongly identified a school with a similar name to the one with which the late coach was affiliated. In addition, the archdiocese said the coach was a volunteer, not a school employee. An attorney for the plaintiffs, in a phone interview, declined to discuss the discrepancy.)

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles and a school were sued Friday by a teenage girl and her father, who allege those entities bear responsibility for her sexual abuse at the hands of a coach who killed himself after being confronted by her dad.

The plaintiffs are identified in the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit as John and Jane Doe, who are seeking damages of $10 million and $5 million, respectively.

The suit erroneously named St. Lucy’s Priory High School in Glendora as a defendant instead of St. Lucy Catholic School in Long Beach, according to the archdiocese, which released the following statement:

“The lawsuit appears to incorrectly name St. Lucy’s Priory High School and the Benedictine Sisters as defendants,” the statement read. “It appears that the lawsuit refers to St. Lucy’s School in Long Beach since it also names the late Scott Landerville, a former volunteer (coach). The complaint contains a number of claims, including an allegation of misconduct involving a former student, which the complaint states to have occurred, after the student was at our school. We will be investigating the matter and have not been served in the litigation.”

Also named are former St. Lucy principal Diane Pedroni, who according to the school’s Facebook page retired last June, and Patrice Landerville, the ex- wife and special administrator of the estate of the late coach.

The allegations include child sexual abuse, assault, battery, negligence, false imprisonment and both intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

The girl was 17 years old when she was abused by Landerville in 2015, according to the suit, which says she first met him years earlier while her father and Landerville were coaching two different levels of girls’ basketball teams at St. Lucy’s. Landerville later coached Jane Doe in basketball and volleyball at the school, the suit says.

Her father and Landerville became good friends, and Landerville helped stage a 13th birthday party for her at his home, according to the complaint.

Landerville, who had a reputation at St. Lucy’s as a “stand-up guy” and regularly attended church and bible study, later began taking an interest in the girl by buying her roses on Valentine’s Day and driving her home from practice, according to the lawsuit.

John Doe wrote an email to Landerville stating that people were expressing concern about his conduct with young girls. He also wrote that was going to advise Pedroni about what he had heard, the suit states.

But Landerville went to Pedroni before John Doe could do so and told the principal he was resigning, the suit says. Pedroni was critical of John Doe for writing the email to Landerville and said it looked like the plaintiff was jealous of a fellow coach and wanted his job, according to the complaint.

Pedroni fired John Doe, but did nothing to investigate the rumors surrounding Landerville, according to the suit, which says Landerville was reinstated to coach at St. Lucy’s a year after he resigned.

John Doe agreed to reconcile with Landerville, believing at the time that St. Lucy’s had looked into the issues regarding his friend and young girls and found they were unsubstantiated, according to the lawsuit.

John Doe was injured in a car accident in February 2014 and moved to another state to live with relatives who could care for him. His daughter wanted to stay and finish high school in California, but wasn’t getting along with her mother and wanted to move out, the suit states.

“(Landerville) offered to take Jane Doe in for the remainder of her senior year in high school,” the suit states. “Jane Doe was very excited because she could stay in California, continue to play volleyball, be with her friends and finish her senior year.”

In September 2014, the teen moved into the home that Landerville shared with his daughter, his ex-wife and her husband and their three children, the suit states.

Within the next four months, Landerville began making remarks about the teenager’s body and denigrating her boyfriend and her father’s parenting, according to the complaint, which alleges he began sexually abusing her in February 2015. Meanwhile, her relationship with her father deteriorated, according to their complaint.

Jane Doe ultimately told her father about her sexual relationship with Landerville and moved in with her aunt until he could return to California and collect her belongings, the suit alleges.

Two days after being confronted by the girl’s father, Landerville, who was 56, shot himself in his back yard, the suit says.

The teen has since “had thoughts of suicide and severe guilt over Scott killing himself,” according to the suit, which alleges Pedroni knew or should have known of Landerville’s “dangerous and exploitive propensities” with young girls.

Peroni, the archdiocese and the school should not have allowed him to continue at the school or allowed him to come into contact with children without supervision, according to the lawsuit.

— City News Service

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Photo via Pixabay

A British law firm is suing Michael Jackson’s estate, alleging it is owned fees relating to business performed on behalf of the singer in Great Britain before his death.

Atkins Thomson Solicitors filed the breach-of-contract lawsuit Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, seeking $204,204 in damages.

The estate has refused to pay despite “multiple communications” from Atkins Thomson, the suit alleges.

Attorney Howard Weitzman issued a comment on the suit today on behalf of the Jackson estate.

“The estate doesn’t believe the attorneys’ claim for work allegedly done for Michael Jackson is valid and we intend to contest this lawsuit,” Weitzman said.

The suit says the firm began providing services to Jackson in 2007 on a variety of issues ranging from legal issues to public relations and real estate. Its lawyers spent hundreds of hours working on Jackson matters from December 2008 to June 2009, the suit states.

Atkins Thomson took its directions from former Jackson manager Frank DiLeo and others working on the singer’s behalf, according to the suit.

The work on behalf of Jackson increased in the spring of 2009 “due to plans Jackson had for business in Great Britain,” the suit states. “Counsel at Atkins spoke directly with Jackson a number of times in connection with these efforts.”

Jackson was preparing for a series of sold-out London concerts before his death on June 25, 2009, at age 50 of a drug overdose.

—City News Service

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Photo via Pixabay

A hospital patient who stuck pencils in her eyes in a suicide attempt, then saw a photo of her self-mutilation on the Internet three years later, settled her lawsuit against the two remaining defendants in the case — a nurse and the nurse’s former employer.

Douglas Johnson, who represents the 24-year-old plaintiff identified as Jane Doe, filed court papers on March 14 with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Allen White stating that his client has reached an agreement with nurse Kristin Ciasulli and her then-employer, HRN Services Inc. No terms were divulged.

Ciasulli was accused by the plaintiff of taking the photo at County-USC Medical Center.

The plaintiff previously agreed to a settlement with Los Angeles County and nurse Shannon Lipham for $497,000, according to court papers filed by defense attorneys. On March 7, White found that the settlement was in good faith.

The complaint was filed in October 2014 and stated that the woman was admitted to the county-run hospital in June 2011 after trying to kill herself by thrusting pencils into her eyes. She survived, but was blinded.

Lipham was a relief pool nurse employed by the county who also was assigned to care for the plaintiff, according to Doe’s court papers, which say Lipham acknowledged in a June deposition that she sent the photograph to her niece, who in turn gave it to a man named Joshua Shivers, who the plaintiff’s attorneys alleged posted the photo.

Ciasulli admitted during a deposition that she took a photo of the injured plaintiff and says she did so as a “teaching tool.” She says she later deleted the image and that it was not the photo that turned up on the Internet.

Up to a half-dozen other medical workers took similar images of the plaintiff when the injured La Canada Flintridge resident was brought into the County-USC Medical Center emergency room, according to Ciasulli.

Ciasulli worked at the time for HRN Services, which supplies hospitals with temporary and supplemental healthcare employees.

Shivers uploaded the image in July 2014 onto “one of the most visited shock websites in the world,” the suit says.

A week later, Shivers placed the same photo onto a “popular entertainment and social media website,” according to the plaintiff’s attorney, who says it has received more than 192,000 Internet views.

Ciasulli said she did not send a copy of the photo she took to Lipham.

Shivers in deposition testimony said he didn’t know how the photo he posted was taken, but said it was given to him by Alexis Brennecke Siwek, the niece of a nurse at the hospital.

—City News Service

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Janice Dickinson attending Luisa Diaz’s Havana White Party at Berri’s Café in Los Angeles, California on August 27, 2014 – Photo by Glenn Francis of www.PacificProDigital.com. Photo by Toglenn (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

Months ago, Dickinson went public with her story that Cosby drugged and raped her in 1982 in Lake Tahoe, Nev., and filed suit against Cosby, claiming he defamed her when he denied her accusations.

Today, the 61-year-old former supermodel told the Daily Mail  she was simply going for a doctor visit with stomach pains but then the doctor found a lump in her right breast.

“I’m always optimistic,” Dickinson said. “Initially when the doctor found the lump, it hurt. It became quite painful when you touch it. That’s the point when I knew this is serious — when the doctor touched this little lump in my right breast, about the size of a pea, and I went, ‘Bingo, I have cancer.’”

Dickinson also told the Daily Mail after having a mammogram and a biopsy, she’s been diagnosed with early stage ductal carcinoma in situ: the most common kind of breast cancer, which is, fortunately, highly treatable.

“It’s still quite shocking. Today I got very scared,” Dickinson told the Daily Mail “I just get very scared, and it hit me. But I am not gonna let that define me, the fear. I’m going to get through this. I’ll be just fine, kiddo.”

The supermodel said she will undergo minor surgery soon followed radiation treatment and a course of medication most likely for rest of her life. Her doctors have, at this point, ruled out a mastectomy.

Fans on Twitter are already rallying behind her with positive messages.

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Photo via Pixabay

Wells Fargo Bank will pay $8.5 million to settle a lawsuit alleging it was too slow to notify customers that phone calls were being recorded, county prosecutors announced Tuesday.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office filed the civil complaint in conjunction with the state Attorney’s General’s Office and district attorneys in Riverside, San Diego, Alameda and Ventura counties. The complaint alleged the bank failed to notify members of the public in a timely and adequate manner that phone calls were being recorded.

“Wells Fargo failed to recognize that Californians place a high value on privacy,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said. “Today’s settlement takes another step toward ensuring that consumers’ rights are protected.”

Wells Fargo did not admit any wrongdoing in the settlement, and the company has worked with authorities to change its notification policies. The bank also agreed to implement an internal compliance program to ensure that changes are made.

The bank will pay civil penalties totaling $7.61 million and will pay $384,000 to cover prosecutors’ investigative costs. It will also contribute $500,000 to the Consumer Protection Prosecution Trust Fund and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.

Prosecutors noted that California law is strict about requiring both parties in a conversation to be alerted at the outset if a call is being recorded.

—City News Service

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Former supermodel Janice Dickinson can move forward with the bulk of her lawsuit against Bill Cosby that alleges that she was defamed when a former attorney for the comedian accused her of lying about being raped by the comedian, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Debre Katz Weintraub denied a motion by Cosby’s attorney, Christopher Tayback, to toss the allegations on grounds that former Cosby attorney Martin Singer expressed an opinion when he issued a Nov. 19, 2014, news release concerning Dickinson’s truthfulness.

Dickinson’s suit, filed May 20, 2015, alleges Cosby drugged and raped her in 1982 and later defamed her by falsely calling her a liar in two written statements Singer provided to the media on consecutive days in November 2014.

The complaint alleges defamation, false light invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The judge said Singer never investigated Dickinson’s allegations sufficiently before concluding she was lying. She said that before penning the statement, Singer should have consulted “the most direct source: Cosby himself.”

Cosby ratified Singer’s conduct by not saying anything about the press statement, Weintraub said.

The judge also said it was undisputed that both Cosby and Dickinson were celebrities. Dickinson’s lawyers established a framework for showing that Cosby knew or should have known that Singer’s statement that the plaintiff was lying about being raped was false, Weintraub said.

“A jury could infer malice in the face of Cosby’s silence,” the judge said.

The judge did find that a statement Singer gave the media the day before the Nov. 19 press statement was not defamatory. The judge said it was not a press statement, but instead a letter to two media members warning that Cosby could sue if Dickinson’s rape allegations against him were published. She said the Singer statements in that correspondence were protected speech.

Dickinson, 61, was present in court. Her attorney, Lisa Bloom, tweeted after today’s hearing, “Victory. Court rules we go to trial against Bill Cosby. Huge win for my client Janice Dickinson.”

Bloom said Singer is a sophisticated lawyer who could have crafted the Nov. 19 statement to avoid any defamatory context.

“He could have couched it as a statement of opinion if he wanted to,” Bloom said.

Tayback declined any immediate comment on whether his client will appeal.

Dickinson is one of dozens of women who have come forward to accuse Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting them. Her suit alleges that Cosby sexually assaulted her in 1982 at a Lake Tahoe resort. The statute of limitations for a criminal case has expired.

Cosby, 78, previously fired Singer and replaced him with Tayback. Dickinson’s lawyers sought without success to add Singer as a defendant in their client’s case.

—City News Service

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Bill Cosby. Photo by The World Affairs Council of Philadelphia via Wikimedia Commons

A judge in Santa Monica agreed Wednesday to postpone next week’s planned deposition of Bill Cosby in connection with a lawsuit filed by a woman who claims the comedian sexually assaulted her at the Playboy Mansion in 1974 when she was 15 years old.

Cosby’s attorneys asked for the delay so the comedian can focus on the criminal case pending against him in Pennsylvania.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Craig Karlan agreed to delay Cosby’s deposition, which had been scheduled for April 7, but said he may reconsider if the Pennsylvania case drags on too long.

Cosby was deposed in October by attorney Gloria Allred, who represents Judy Huth. Huth alleges in her court papers that she has suffered “psychological damage and mental anguish” throughout her life, but only recently discovered the problems were “caused by the sexual abuse perpetrated by Cosby.”

Her lawsuit, filed in 2014, alleges sexual battery, intention infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

Cosby, 78, has been accused of drugging and sexually assaulting nearly 50 women across the country, although he has denied any wrongdoing. He had not been charged with a crime until Dec. 30, when he was charged in Pennsylvania with aggravated indecent assault. Prosecutors allege he sexually assaulted Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee, in January 2004 after plying her with drugs and wine.

Although Cosby’s deposition in the Huth lawsuit will be put on hold, Karlan agreed to allow attorneys to depose other witnesses in the case. Allred announced in court that she plans to take a deposition from Playboy founder Hugh Hefner.

—City News Service

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A judge said Monday he believes some of the claims of “Bones” stars Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz and two of the show’s executive producers — all of whom are seeking profits from the show — may belong in arbitration.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Richard Rico took the case under submission and said he would rule within a week or two, without saying which claims he thought may need to be arbitrated and which should stay before him.

Lawyer Glenn Pomerantz, on behalf of 20th Century Fox Television, urged the judge to order all of the claims arbitrated, while attorneys for Deschanel, Boreranaz and executive producers Kathleen Reichs and Barry Josephson said none of them should.

Josephson started the litigation by suing Fox on Nov. 25. Deschanel, Boreanaz and Reichs filed their separate complaint five days later. The plaintiffs in both cases are seeking millions of dollars.

Attorney John Berlinski, on behalf of Deschanel, Boreanaz and Reichs, said Fox’s arbitration petition should be denied because his clients’ lawsuit primarily concerns the network’s alleged refusal to pay monies owed.

“This is a case about under-payment of profits,” Berlinski said. “They have failed to pay us monies due.”

Berlinski declined after the hearing to guess which claims Rico hinted may need to be arbitrated and said he hoped the judge decides that none of them do.

Pomerantz said the parties intended under their agreements to arbitrate any disputes.

“All we have to do is offer a plausible interpretation of the contract,” Pomerantz said.

Reichs is a forensic anthropologist who authored the “Temperance Brennan” novels on which “Bones” is based and the Brennan character is portrayed by Deschanel. Reichs alleges she is owed a 5 percent profits share, while Deschanel and Boreanaz maintain they are entitled to 3 percent.

Josephson maintains the network underreported more than $20 million in monies, leaving less money to be paid to him.

The suits include such claims as breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and fraudulent inducement.

—City News Service

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A former Walgreens worker is suing the drug store chain, alleging she was fired because she was transitioning from male to female and the company ignored her complaints of mistreatment by co-workers.

Dinker “Katrina” Passricha also alleges in her Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit filed Tuesday that she was subjected to disparaging remarks by co- workers and that nothing was done when she reported their conduct to management.

The suit’s allegations include retaliation as well as harassment and discrimination due to gender and sexual identity. She seeks unspecified damages.

A Walgreens representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The suit says Passricha worked for seven months at a downtown Los Angeles Walgreens until her firing in December. She says she was told she was losing her job for not getting along with a store manager, who she alleges threatened her with termination less than a week before she lost her job.

“This was one last slap in the face to plaintiff,” the suit states. “Defendants essentially said they are OK with managers who talk about (lewd conduct) and terrorize someone because they are different. Walgreens’ behavior is utterly shameful.”

According to the lawsuit, Passricha was regularly asked if she watched “she-male porn.” One supervisor asked her to explain why her breasts were so large and would ridicule her for using the women’s restroom, the suit alleges.

Her co-workers refused to call the plaintiff by her preferred name of “Katrina” and continued to refer to her as “Dinker,” knowing it would upset her, the suit states.

Instead of taking action against her co-workers, Passricha herself was written up when she complained about her mistreatment, the suit states. She then sought help from higher-ranking managers, but they also refused to assist her, the suit alleges.

“Defendants simply saw plaintiff as an overly sensitive ‘she-male’ who liked to complain,” the suit states.

None of Passricha’s complaints were investigated and management never spoke to witnesses or met with the plaintiff. “Instead, they allowed the harassment and discrimination to continue,” according to the lawsuit.

—City News Service

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A judge awarded nearly $1.1 million in attorneys’ fees Friday to a woman who previously won more than $7 million from a jury that found she was harassed and punished by the founder of Bikram Yoga for speaking out against harassment of women in the workplace.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mark Mooney said the amount was reasonable based on the amount of hours Minakshi Jafa-Bodden‘s lawyers worked on her lawsuit against Bikram Choudhury from before trial until up until today’s hearing.

Jafa-Bodden’s lawyers had recommended $2.9 million, but Choudhury’s attorney, Mark Share, said the award should have been no higher than about $350,000.

In January, the jury awarded Jafa-Bodden $924,554 in compensatory damages and $6.7 million in punitive damages, finding that she was subjected to harassment, discrimination and retaliation by the 70-year-old Choudhury.

“I looked through the bills myself and this was a heavily litigated case,” Mooney said.

However, the judge said he agreed with Share that a “multiplier” should not be applied that would have given Jafa-Bodden an amount closer to what she sought.

Mooney said those types of fee enhancements are normally given in cases that are difficult to find lawyers to take. In contrast, Jafa-Bodden’s employment suit was one of many like it on the courthouse docket, except for the fact that Choudhury was a successful businessman and had some name recognition.

“There is no shortage of attorneys in employment cases,” Mooney said.

Share told Mooney he doubted Jafa-Bodden’s lawyers put as much time into the case as they claimed. He also said their billing was vague.

“We need some detail, that’s what we’re lacking here,” Share said.

But attorney Mark Quigley, on behalf of Jafa-Bodden, said he toiled during weekends on the case and that he and those lawyers working with him had to take extraordinary measures just to get the case to trial.

Quigley said he visited the Nixon Presidential Library & Museum to research whether Choudhury was telling the truth when he testified he met with the former president while Nixon was suffering from advanced thrombophlebitis, a swelling of veins due to blood clots, in his left leg.

Quigley said his hourly rates were reasonable and that he could have charged more.

“I did not bill for a lot of work I did on this case,” he said.

Quigley also said taking cases on a contingency basis always carries some risk. He alleged that Choudhury has fled the country and hidden his assets.

“We will chase him to the ends of the earth,” Quigley said.

Jafa-Bodden sued Choudhury and his West Los Angeles-based Yoga College of India in June 2013.

Choudhury’s lawyers said Jafa-Bodden lost her job in 2013 because she did not tell her boss she wasn’t licensed to practice law in California.

They also maintained she worked for a law firm and that neither Choudhury nor the college employed her, but she testified he gave her office space, supplies and yoga college business cards.

Choudhury teaches the “hot yoga” technique in which sessions are conducted in temperatures that often are above 100 degrees.

—City News Service

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Puddle of Mudd frontman Wes Scantlin screams out lyrics during his rock band’s performance at BayFest 2011 on Marine Corps Base Hawaii, July 16, 2011. Celebrating its twenty-second year as Hawaii’s largest summer music festival, the three-day event, sponsored by Marine Corps Community Services, opened the base’s gates to the local community, featuring concerts by Cecilio and Kapono, Hoobastank, Puddle of Mudd and Joe Nichols in addition to contests, carnival rides, food booths and military static displays.

The lead singer and co-founder of Puddle of Mudd is being sued by a Los Angeles police officer who says she was injured after falling through a wooden landing at a Hollywood property the entertainer owned.

Nicole Montgomery alleges negligence by 43-year-old Wes Scantlin in his maintenance of the property.

A representative for Scantlin could not be immediately reached for comment.

Montgomery says she went to the Sunset Plaza Drive property on a call on Aug. 13, 2014. She walked up a flight of stairs to a wooden landing, but the surface gave way and she fell several feet to the ground, according to the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit filed Monday.

Montgomery suffered serious injuries, according to her court papers.

—Staff and wire reports

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The San Diego County Water Authority Wednesday announced the filing of another lawsuit over rates charged by the Metropolitan Water District, a Los Angeles-based water wholesaler.

In its complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, the Water Authority contends the rate structure approved Tuesday by the MWD board for 2017 and 2018 used the same methodology as costs from 2011-14 that were previously ruled illegal by a Superior Court judge.

MWD was ordered to pay $243 million in damages to the SDCWA, which takes in water from various local and imported sources, and distributes it to local water districts and cities.

The MWD is appealing the judge’s rulings.

The Water Authority estimated that the 2017-18 rates will overcharge San Diego by $134 million.

“We don’t relish the prospect of more litigation, but MWD’s repeated refusal to follow the law damages San Diego County ratepayers and cannot be allowed to stand,” said Mark Weston, chairman of the SDCWA Board of Directors.

“The Water Authority has prevailed on the merits of two similar cases and we intend to continue challenging MWD’s rates as long as MWD tries to operate outside the law,” he said.

MWD spokesman Bob Muir told City News Service that the water agency expects to ultimately prevail in the litigation.

“That case is under appeal,” Muir said. “We’re moving ahead with our rate structure, which we believe is valid.”

The legal dispute between the two agencies is based on charges for transporting water to San Diego County. Agencies are required to only charge for the cost of providing a service, but the Water Authority has contended that the MWD has overcharged.

SDCWA lawyers are expected to ask to have the new lawsuit transferred to the San Francisco judge who has presided over the prior cases.

The MWD provides water to more than 19 million people in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Diego and two other counties.

–City News Service

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