Plaintiff Yaakov Abdelhak appeals from a Law Division order that dismissed his defamation complaint against defendants, The Jewish Press, Inc., Oleg Rivkin, Richard Scharlat and Gabrielle Tito, for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, pursuant to Rule 4:6-2(a). The judge concluded that plaintiff's claims could not be resolved without excessive entanglement by the court and jury in issues of religi... More...   $0 (12-31-2009 - NJ)

Consumeraffairs.com, Incorporated ("Consumeraffairs. com") operates a website that allows consumers to comment on the quality of businesses, goods, and services. The present suit concerns various posts on this website relating to automobiles sold or serviced by Nemet Chevrolet, Ltd. ("Nemet").

Viewing certain of these postings as false and harmful to its reputation, Nemet brought suit aga... More...   $0 (12-29-2009 - VA)

Edward Patrick, M.D., Ph.D., appeals the order of the district court granting summary judgment to defendants Cleveland Scene and Thomas Francis, and denying summary judgment to Patrick, in Patrick’s action brought under the court’s diversity jurisdiction claiming that Cleveland Scene’s publication of Francis’s article Playing Doctor on October 27, 2004, was defamatory. Because we find that... More...   $0 (12-21-2009 - OH)

Family and Estate of Margaret Szulborski sued Lower Macungie on a defamation theory claiming that it defamed Ms. Szulborski when it alleged that she embezzled $2.5 million from it. Szulborski, also a former township employee who died in 2008 before her criminal case went to trial, was accused of stealing sewer fees she collected between 1999 and 2006.... More...   $200000 (12-19-2009 - PA)

[¶1] Mark Tibert, Melvin Tibert, Suzi Tibert, and William "Bill" Tibert ("Tiberts") appealed from a district court judgment entered after a jury verdict in favor of Minto Grain, LLC, William Slominski, and Katherine Slominski (collectively "Minto Grain") and against Tiberts jointly and severally in the amount of $455,000. Judgment against William "Bill" Tibert was limited to $305,000. We conclude... More...   $0 (12-17-2009 - ND)

¶1 Monroe Construction Company, L.L.C. (Monroe Construction) and Monroe Property Company, L.L.C. (Monroe Property) appeal an order of the District Court for the Fourth Judicial District, Missoula County, granting Dick Anderson Construction, Inc.’s (DAC) motion to confirm an arbitration award, and denying Monroe Construction’s and Monroe Property’s motion to vacate or modify the award. Monro... More...   $0 (12-08-2009 - MT)

Plaintiff Terry Hobbs moves for partial summary judgment as to the fair report privilege and opinion (Doc. No. 26) and moves for partial summary judgment as to his status as a public figure (Doc. No. 31). Defendant Natalie Pasdar moves for summary judgment on all claims against her (Doc. No. 38). Defendants Martha Seidel (now Martha Maguire), Emily Robison, and the Dixie Chicks move for summa... More...   $0 (12-01-2009 - AR)

Shemtov Michtavi, pro se, alleges defamation and
19 intentional infliction of emotional distress based on news
20 reports, published by the New York Daily News and the Polish
21 Daily News, that Michtavi, who is incarcerated, planned to
22 cooperate with prosecutors. Michtavi appeals from the
23 judgment of the United States District Court for the
24 Southern District of Ne... More...   $0 (11-26-2009 - NY)

The plaintiff appeals from the allowance of the defendant's special motion to dismiss under G.L. c. 231, § 59H, the "anti-SLAPP statute." [FN2] Because we conclude that the defendant did not make the requisite threshold showing that the plaintiff's claims are based solely on the defendant's protected petitioning activity, we reverse.

Background. On July 23, 2003, the plaintiff, James Cra... More...   $0 (11-25-2009 - MA)

Appellant’s motion for rehearing is overruled; however, we withdraw our opinion and judgment of September 11, 2009, and issue this opinion in lieu thereof.

Appellant, Elizabeth Overstreet, presents three issues contending the trial court erred in (1) finding that Appellee, Judge Bradley Underwood, in his official capacity, was not her employer for purposes of chapter 21 of the ... More...   $0 (11-16-2009 - TX)

Dr. DePree, a tenured professor, sued the University of Southern Mississippi’s president and various administrators and faculty members (“Appellees”) after he was removed from teaching duties in August 2007 and evicted from his office in the College of Business. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the Appellees and denied DePree’s motion for temporary and permanent inju... More...   $0 (11-12-2009 - MS)

Former Cheswold Police Chief Robbin Vann sued the Town Council of Cheswold on a wrongful termination, breach of contact and defamation theories claiming that he was fired in violation of the state Whistleblower Protection Act. Vann claimed that he was fired because he had contacted state police and the Department of Justice with an allegation that Edward Ryan, the town's first city manager, had f... More...   $290000 (10-31-2009 - DE)

Senior District Judge Michael Westergren sued Bruce Olson on a defamation theory claiming that Defendant read complaints made by a former college employee about him on a November 2006 radio show that were not true.

Defendant claimed that the statements were true and further claimed that he had the right to repeat the allegations even if they were not true because Plaintiff was a public figu... More...   $10000 (10-31-2009 - )

Matrixx Initiatives, Inc. (“Matrixx”) is a pharmaceutical company that sells cold products through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Zicam, LLC. One of its main products is Zicam Cold Remedy, which comes in several different forms.1 Plaintiffs-Appellants are lead plaintiff, NECA-IBEW Pension Fund, and named plaintiff, James Siracusano, in a class action brought against Matrixx and three Matrixx exe... More...   $0 (10-30-2009 - AZ)

The plaintiff, a bariatric surgeon who lives and practices in New Jersey, brought this diversity suit in the federal district court in Chicago. He claims to have been defamed by the defendant, another bariatric surgeon, who practices in New York. The district judge dismissed the suit without prejudice, on the ground that venue in Chicago was improper, and the plaintiff appeals. The defendant cross... More...   $0 (10-23-2009 - )

Mark A. Pallotino, Sr. and Mark S. Pallotino, Jr. appeal from the district court’s judgment entered in favor of defendants. Because the district court has not disposed of all of the federal claims presented by plaintiffs in their complaint, we must dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction and remand to the district court for further proceedings.

I. Background

The main issue rele... More...   $0 (10-20-2009 - NM)

George Milam Hall submitted to a local newspaper, the Coffey County Republican (“The Republican”), an advertisement opposing the election bid of Judge Phillip M. Fromme. He paid to have the ad run on two occasions. The paper ran the ad the first time but not the second, instead running an ad supporting Judge Fromme, which was paid for and signed by a number of attorneys, including Coffey Count... More...   $0 (10-19-2009 - KS)

Following a jury trial, defendants Jovon Broadcasting and Joseph Stroud, the owner and operational manager of Jovon Broadcasting, were found liable for retaliation against plaintiff Jerri Blount, a former employee of Jovon Broadcasting. The jury awarded Blount a total of $3,082,350 in damages, which was comprised of $257,350 for back pay, $25,000 for physical and/or emotional pain and suffering, a... More...   $0 (10-16-2009 - IL)

This appeal challenges the trial court's grant of summary judgment which found privi-leged a restaurant employee's statements to a passerby and a police officer that a customer had "pulled a gun" inside the store. The plaintiffs, Sanford Kelsey and Thomas Williams, respective-ly, the suspected gun carrier and his companion (neither of whom actually had a gun), sued the restaurant operator, Papa Jo... More...   $0 (10-13-2009 - IN)

Six members of a joint venture sued two other members, primarily claiming breaches of fiduciary duties. The joint venture, most of whose members were Anchorage physicians, owned a medical services condominium on Laurel Street and leased it out for use as an ambulatory surgical center. The plaintiffs claimed in part that the joint venturer defendants and others were liable for moving the surgical c... More...   $0 (10-08-2009 - AK)

Rodney Thornton, Richard Thornton, Jr. d/b/a Eagle Drilling sued Quicksilver Resources and Jeff Cook on a defamation theory claiming that Quicksilver made numerous false and material misrepresentations about them and Eagle relating to drilling work performed by Eagle in North Texas.

Quicksilver and Cook denied that they had attempted to defame Eagle Drilling or the Thorntons. ... More...   $22000000 (10-03-2009 - OK)

In June 2006, Albert Snyder instituted this diversity action in the District of Maryland against Westboro Baptist Church, Incorporated (the "Church"), and several of its members (collectively, the "Defendants"). Snyder’s lawsuit is predicated on two related events: a protest the Defendants conducted in Maryland near the funeral of Snyder’s son Matthew (an enlisted Marine who tragically died in... More...   $0 (10-03-2009 - MD)

In this defamation suit, appellants, Patricia Vice and Kathie Slotter, bring an interlocutory appeal challenging the trial court's order that denied their summary judgment motion in favor of the appellees, Daniel J. Kasprzak, Patricia C. Kasprzak, and Katherine D. Kasprzak. In nine issues, Vice and Slotter argue that the trial court erred in denying summary judgment on three publications because (... More...   $0 (10-01-2009 - TX)

In June 2006, Albert Snyder instituted this diversity action in the District of Maryland against Westboro Baptist Church, Incorporated (the "Church"), and several of its members (collectively, the "Defendants"). Snyder’s lawsuit is predicated on two related events: a protest the Defendants conducted in Maryland near the funeral of Snyder’s son Matthew (an enlisted Marine who tragically died in... More...   $0 (09-25-2009 - MD)

A plaintiff corporation appeals an adverse summary judgment in favor of two of three defendants. The main issue raised is whether a dissolved foreign corporation can continue to maintain an action in Florida as part of “winding up” its business. We find the answer is statutorily controlled and the answer is yes. We therefore reverse and remand the case for further proceedings.

The pla... More...   $0 (09-23-2009 - FL)