ADVERTISING
GETS MORE RISKY
The
California Supreme Court has ruled that companies can be sued
for false advertising over policy statements made in public relations
campaigns. Get the details to see if your company must now be
even more careful with its ads. Kasky v. NIKE, California Supreme
Court, Case No. S087859, May 2, 2002.
SMOKING
GUN E-MAILS: LESSONS FROM MERRILL LYNCH
The
investigation of Merrill Lynch and other Wall Street firms by
the State of New York again raises the awareness that an adverse
party-and a jury-may get to read your business's most private,
unguarded comments. Read about what Merrill Lynch really thought
about Internet stocks their analysts were publicly hyping, and
consider the implications of disclosing your business's E-mails.
New
on the McTexLaw Commercial Real Estate Resource Center
TEXAS
COMMON SENSE REJECTS RETAILER LIABILITY ARGUMENT
A
Texas jury has refused to hold a retailer liable for selling a
firearm to a mentally unstable person. Read about the plaintiff's
interesting argument that may question your common sense. Marshall
v. Wal-mart Super Centers, Inc., Tarrant County District Court,
Case No. 236-154399-94, May, 2002.
LAND
USE RESTRICTION vs. FREE SPEECH PROTECTION (Posted 5-15-02)
Somewhere
along the way purveyors of "adult entertainment" hit
on the idea that their form of entertainment was free speech protected
by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. With a picture
worth a thousand words, the protection for live shows, arcades,
video stores and such must be enormous. Not so, says the U.S.
Supreme Court, which supported Los Angeles' efforts to curb the
concentration of its adult entertainment businesses in Hollywood.
Hugh Grant, beware. Los Angeles v. Alameda Books, Inc., Case No.
00-799, Decided May 13, 2002.
ONLY
IN AMERICA
There
is an epidemic of obesity in America. New studies report the cost
of medical procedures and lost work due to obesity. Diabetes is
increasing in overweight children. The U.S. Surgeon General is
worried about it. But now this slight setback. In San Francisco
a health club put up a billboard that said "When the aliens
come they'll eat the fat ones first." Apparently, that and
a few others like it offended some fine local citizens. So, San
Francisco enacted a new city ordinance prohibiting employers from
discriminating against those horizontally or vertically challenged.
This is fact-I'm not making this up.
Last
summer Jazzercise, a fitness chain, refused to certify 240 pound
Jennifer Portnick as an instructor because she did not appear
to be fit. So, she did the all American thing, and sued Jazzercise.
The first week of May, 2002, Jazzercise not only settled the lawsuit
with Ms. Portnick, but they also agreed to drop the requirement
that its instructors look fit. Of course, she called it a "civil
rights victory." LBJ must be turning over in his grave.
As
for me, I'm going to wait until I weigh about 300 pounds, and
then sue McDonalds for billions on the grounds that its Big Mac
combo meal was just too tasty to resist. After all, it's gotta
be somebody's fault but mine. Don't laugh too hard-this is exactly
what we are doing to tobacco companies today.