Lost Fingers Lawsuit, for Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Productions

Richard Houpert seeks $1 million in damages after being injured building sets for the comedy "That's My Boy."

A Boston carpenter has sued Sony Pictures, subsidiary Columbia, and Sandler's Happy Madison Productions after suffering an injury building sets for That's My Boy in May 2011. Richard Houpert had several fingers partially cut off and sustained fractures on his right hand, and he seeks $1 million in damages.

In his complaint, filed last week at the District Court in Boston, Houpert claims he was working with a table saw when his hand was "drawn into the saw." The saw was not properly fitted with safety components such as saw stops and safety guards, he claims, and the injuries to his right dominant hand have caused him loss of income.

 “The cost to provide saws with saw stops, guards, or other safety equipment was minimal compared to the enormity of the risk of injury to the users of the saws,” the complaint argues.

Houpert has also targeted Sony and Columbia. The plaintiff claims the film production companies did not ensure safety on set despite having set aside a monetary fund for that purpose.

The studios are not the only ones Houpert blames—he has also taken aim at Black & Decker, the manufacturer of the saw. The Black & Decker 3-horsepower Delta unisaw was "dangerous and defective," "not of merchantable quality and unfit for its intended and forseeable uses," the complaint holds, and Houpert claims negligence and breach of implied and express warranties.

Read More.... http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/adam-sandlers-happy-madison-productions-580521

Law Offices of Jonathan Franklin
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Call Us Now (310) 273-9600   
 http://www.jonathanfranklinlaw.com

Man's Suicide Aired Live, Family Sues Fox

The suit seeks unspecified damages for the sons of JoDon Romero, saying they have suffered signs of post-traumatic stress disorder since watching footage of their father shooting himself.

The family of an Arizona man whose suicide was carried live on the air by Fox News Channel last September is suing the cable network.

Read Full Complaint.... http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/custom/Documents/ESQ/Angela_Rodriguez.pdf

According to the complaint filed by Angela Rodriguez, the mother of JoDon Romero's three sons, aged 9, 13 and 15, the boys have suffered extreme emotional distress after seeing online video of their father pressing a handgun to his head and pulling the trigger. News Corp., Fox Entertainment Group and Fox News Network are named as plaintiffs in the complaint.

The footage had aired live on Fox News and was seen by millions of horrified viewers. Fox News covered the dramatic events across multiple programs on Sept. 28, 2012, as Romero led police on an 80-mile chase, during which he fired at squad cars and news helicopters. It was during Studio B With Shepard Smith that Romero, 32, exited his vehicle in the desert near Salome, Ariz., ran down a dirt road, tumbled, then stood up and shot himself in the head, to an audible gasp in the newsroom.

Host Shepard Smith, who had been narrating the coverage, shouted at the control room, "Get off, get off, get off, get off, get off, get off, get off — get off it, get off it, get off it!" A flustered Smith returned after a commercial break to explain that the network had "really messed up and we're all very sorry." Fox senior vice president Michael Clemente later released a statement explaining that "severe human error" has failed to censor the footage.

The suit states that the local Fox News affiliate successfully ran the delay, preventing Phoenix viewers from watching the suicide live. But it ran live in most other markets, and was on YouTube within minutes. According to the lawsuit, Romero's three sons were at school during the pursuit.

"Rumor of a suicide broadcast on live television generated considerable buzz among the students at the school, particularly with respect to the two older boys," the suit reads.

"After school, the older boys went home and began looking for the suicide on the Internet," the suit continues. The two boys then searched out the footage on YouTube and "as they watched, they realized in horror that they were watching their father."

Neither of the older two children has returned to school since viewing their father's death on YouTube, the complaint says. It then quotes an examining psychologist who found them to demonstrate "symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder that included flashbacks, repeated thoughts and feelings associated with viewing the video of their father shooting himself in the head, re-experiencing trauma, sleep disturbance, and intrusive thoughts."

"This psychological trauma is substantial and long-term. It will, upon information and belief, require long-term psychiatric and/or psychological treatment," writes Joel Robbins and Anne Findling, attorneys for the Romero family.

Read More.... http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/fox-news-sued-live-airing-570026

Law Offices of Jonathan Franklin
Open Evenings and Weekends this Summer
Call Us Now (310) 273-9600    
 http://www.jonathanfranklinlaw.com

Wolfgang Puck SUED Your Waitress Smashed My Skull

A woman who says she was dining at one of Wolfgang's D.C. locations ... when a waitress smashed her in the head with a pitcher ... and now she's suing the famous chef.

Tamara Mason-Williams filed the lawsuit in L.A. County Superior Court, claiming she was eating at Wolfgang's The Source Restaurant back in April ... when a waitress walloped her dome with a "heavy metal water pitcher."

Tamara says the incident left her with a nasty concussion -- and Wolfgang's restaurant is 100 percent to blame because of its "negligently trained" staff.

She's now suing for an unspecified amount in damages for lost income and medical expenses.

Read more...  http://www.tmz.com/2013/02/01/wolfgang-puck-sued-concussion-source-restaurant/#ixzz2JgCgp8RP

9 Black ex-Contestants plan to sue "Idol" producers

The 9 black ex-contestants claiming the contestants were publicly disqualified based on their dubious criminal backgrounds ... solely because they're African-American.

TMZ obtained a letter submitted to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by New York attorney James Freeman, requesting permission to sue Fox and the show on behalf of his nine clients. In the letter, Freeman claims there is a racist pattern in the "Idol" disqualification process.

Freeman alleges that only nine "Idol" contestants had been publicly disqualified since the show debuted in 2002, and all happened to be black. He claims the show enacted a "cruel and inhumane" scheme, which included background checks and arrest inquiries, to humiliate the contestants on live TV and perpetuate "destructive stereotypes" that made his clients appear to be "violent criminals, liars and sexual deviants."

Nigel Lythgoe, producer of "American Idol," told TMZ he was "shocked" by the "ridiculous" allegations.

full list of disqualified contestants and more details on the lawsuit:  http://www.tmz.com/2013/01/25/american-idol-racism-lawsuit-corey-clark-disqualified-contestants-letter-discrimination/
                          According to Freeman, NONE of the contestants who were disqualified from the show based on their criminal backgrounds were convicted of the crimes for which they were charged at the time of their disqualification. But Freeman adds, "Yet their personal and professional lives remain permanently and severely impaired by [the show's] continuing violations of our nation's laws."  Freeman's letter is the first step towards a lawsuit -- and we're told as soon as he gets the green light from the EEOC, he plans to file the docs in court.

Although seven of the nine contestants were booted due to legal issues, two were not. Chris Golightly (Season 9) was disqualified when "Idol" learned he had an existing contract with a boy band, Billboard reported. And Ju'Not Joyner (Season 8) was not publicly disqualified, according to Zap2It, though he never advanced past the semifinals.

As for whether or not any non-black contestants were publicly disqualified, Zap2It cites Delano Cagnolatti (Season 1) and Joanna Pacitti (Season 8), who were both dismissed on air.

"American Idol," which has crowned three black winners in its history, has been accused of racial biases several times. When Phillip Phillips beat Jessica Sanchez to win the Season 11 cycle, the show was accused of being racist. In November 2012, judge Nicki Minaj had a spat with rocker and co-judge Steven Tyler and accused him of making a racist comment about her judging qualifications.

Read More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/25/american-idol-racism_n_2550281.html

Lawsuit Claims SyFy's 'Face Off' Stolen From Pitch Meeting

SyFy and owner NBC Universal were sued Friday by a production company that claims it pitched a show on make-up artists but the network took the idea and instead created the hit reality series Face Off.

The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges breach of implied-in-fact contract, breach of confidence, unfair competition and other charges.

Read Full Complaint.... http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/custom/Documents/ESQ/SyFy.pdf

The Results Group, which formerly was known as Studio City, says that in May 2009 a meeting was arranged by an agent at William Morris to pitch a make-up competition show hosted by a female actor. It centered around a $100,000 prize.

The pitch meeting with SyFy allegedly was attended by an executive from The Results Group, a producer it brought in, a consultant and its agent. After the meeting, Results Group allegedly was told the network had decided not to pursue a TV series based on its idea and materials.

When the company learned SyFy was doing a similar series, it asked for evidence the series was not copied from the pitch. In response, SyFy allegedly provided documents that said Face Off had been planned prior to the pitch meeting. When the show debuted on SyFy in January 2011, the Results executives felt what they saw was very much like what they pitched. In the first episode, contestants had to make up models to look like either a beetle, an ostrich or an elephant. The suit says that conceit was substantially similar to the show that was pitched.

The suit seeks damages to cover the lost credit and producing fees, the cost of the suit and other punitive damages to be determined by a judge. Results Group also wants any money the network made off the show.

Read More... http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/lawsuit-claims-syfys-face-stolen-415602