Lawsuits

WASHINGTON - Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana said they improved his strength and posture. Celebrity Kim Kardashian boasted they allowed her to ditch her personal trainer. But federal and state officials said the rocker-bottom Shape-ups and other toning shoes made by Skechers USA Inc. don't live up to the hype from the company and its high-profile endorsers. On Wednesday, the Manhattan Beach company agreed to pay $50 million to settle false-advertising allegations by the Federal Trade Commission and the attorneys general of 44 states, including California, as well as the District of Columbia.

WASHINGTON — Already grappling with regulatory reviews of its troubled initial public offering, Facebook Inc. and the Wall Street banks that shepherded the deal are now under fire from lawmakers and lawyers. Two congressional committees said Wednesday that they would conduct preliminary inquiries into the IPO. And attorneys filed two separate lawsuits alleging that average investors were misled in the days before Facebook shares began trading Friday. "Shareholders suffered billions of dollars in losses," said Darren Robbins, a partner in the San Diego law firm of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dow, which filed one of the suits.

It was billed as a "shocking tell-all" and a "world exclusive," but the National Enquirer's March 26 cover story landed with a thud. TMZ, Page Six and other major players in celebrity gossip ignored the article in which a masseur claimed John Travolta offered money for sex. FOR THE RECORD: An earlier version of this article used the term "masseuse"; it should have said "masseur. " Five weeks after the issue left the checkout aisle, a DUI attorney from Pasadena put the anonymous masseur's tawdry tale in a lawsuit and it became an overnight pop culture sensation, topping Google News, trending on Twitter and meriting a segment on "Good Morning America.

It was the end of a long day in a stuffy Simi Valley office building. Ann Romney had been under oath for more than four hours, testifying in a sometimes contentious deposition about a pricey horse she sold that may or may not have been afflicted with a condition that made him unrideable. In the airless room, Romney was getting annoyed. "That really is -- that really is irritating," she said when the opposing attorney implied she didn't know who looked after her horse in Moorpark when she was at her home in Boston.

First of three parts Tiffany Lee wanted a car. She was weary of the two-hour bus ride to her job at a UCLA Health System clinic. She hated having to ask friends to drive her 7-year-old son to his asthma treatments. But as a single mother with three children, bad credit and a $27,000-a-year salary, she couldn't find a bank or dealership willing to give her a loan. Then a friend steered her to Repossess Auto Sales in Hawthorne. Another buyer might have balked at the deal she was offered.

G. D. Searle & Co. has agreed to settle all claims and lawsuits over alleged injury from the use of its Copper-7 contraceptive device that were brought by a law firm representing more than 100 such clients, a company spokeswoman said Thursday. Searle spokeswoman Kay Bruno said the agreement, which still requires approval from clients represented by the Minneapolis law firm of Robins, Kaplan, Miller and Ciresi of Minneapolis, bars disclosure of the settlement's terms and conditions, including the number of claims settled.

Robert Hill did not join the Los Angeles Police Department to become a millionaire. And yet, that's what happened in September when city officials cut the veteran cop and his lawyer a check for nearly $4 million. The money was compensation for the snide comments and other abuse Hill suffered at the hands of other LAPD officers after he reported that a supervisor used racial slurs and embezzled department funds. In the last decade, at least 16 other officers have won million-dollar-plus jury verdicts or settlements from the city in lawsuits in which they leveled accusations of sexual harassment, racial discrimination, retaliation and other workplace injustices.

A fraction of a penny is amounting to one big headache for 99 Cents Only Stores. Two years ago, the City of Commerce retailer — faced with rising inflation and higher costs — raised the top price of its goods to 99.99 cents from 99 cents. Company executives thought it was a clever way to increase sales while staying loyal to the chain's love for the number 99. But the move seems to be riling some customers who say they weren't aware of the nearly one-cent increase and felt duped into believing they were still paying 99 cents "only."

Hall of Fame receiver Art Monk is the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit filed against the NFL and helmet maker Riddell Inc. over long-term injuries as a result of concussions. The 82-page lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles last week along with two similar ones, with the three encompassing 193 former players. The suits were filed by the L.A.-based firm Girardi Keese. According to NFLConcussionLitigation, which first reported the latest litigation, more than 2,000 former players are currently suing the league over concussions.

The Internet has allowed tens of millions of Americans to be published writers. But it also has led to a surge in lawsuits from those who say they were hurt, defamed or threatened by what they read, according to groups that track media lawsuits. "It was probably inevitable, but we have seen a steady growth in litigation over content on the Internet," said Sandra Baron, executive director of the Media Law Resource Center in New York. Although bloggers may have a free-speech right to say what they want online, courts have found that they are not protected from being sued for their comments, even if they are posted anonymously.

It was billed as a "shocking tell-all" and a "world exclusive," but the National Enquirer's March 26 cover story landed with a thud. TMZ, Page Six and other major players in celebrity gossip ignored the article in which a masseur claimed John Travolta offered money for sex. FOR THE RECORD: An earlier version of this article used the term "masseuse"; it should have said "masseur. " Five weeks after the issue left the checkout aisle, a DUI attorney from Pasadena put the anonymous masseur's tawdry tale in a lawsuit and it became an overnight pop culture sensation, topping Google News, trending on Twitter and meriting a segment on "Good Morning America.

Suspended New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma filed a defamation lawsuit Thursday against NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell , claiming the league's top executive made false statements that tarnished Vilma's reputation and hindered his ability to earn a living playing football. The suit in U.S. District Court in New Orleans claims Goodell, "relied on, at best, hearsay, circumstantial evidence and lies" in making comments about Vilma while discussing the NFL's bounty investigation of the New Orleans Saints.

A Bay Area nonprofit backed partly by groups known for battling teachers unions has filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn five California laws that, they say, make it too difficult to dismiss ineffective teachers. The suit, filed on behalf of eight students, takes aim at California laws that govern teacher tenure rules, seniority protections and the teacher dismissal process. "A handful of outdated laws passed by the California Legislature are preventing school administrators from maintaining or improving the quality of our public educational system," according to the lawsuit, which was filed Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court and announced Tuesday.

California's tenure protections for teachers go too far, and the Legislature has been unwilling to do anything about it. So it's easy to understand why Students Matter, an organization backed by a reform-minded entrepreneur in the Bay Area, is hoping the courts will do what lawmakers haven't. On Monday, it filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court seeking to overturn the statutes that undergird the tenure system. Those laws require schools to decide after 18 months whether a teacher deserves tenure, to lay off teachers based almost solely on seniority and go through an arcane, ridiculously lengthy and slanted appeals process before a bad teacher can be fired.

Hall of Fame receiver Art Monk is the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit filed against the NFL and helmet maker Riddell Inc. over long-term injuries as a result of concussions. The 82-page lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles last week along with two similar ones, with the three encompassing 193 former players. The suits were filed by the L.A.-based firm Girardi Keese. According to NFLConcussionLitigation, which first reported the latest litigation, more than 2,000 former players are currently suing the league over concussions.

In a legal victory for Honda Motor Co., a judge has reversed a small-claims judgment that would have forced the automaker to pay a Civic hybrid owner nearly $10,000 for overstating the vehicle's fuel economy. But while the ruling ends a high-profile battle with hybrid owner Heather Peters, Honda still faces numerous legal fights in Small Claims Courts across the country. In an unusual move that garnered national attention, the Los Angeles woman rejected a class-action settlement that would have paid Civic hybrid owners as little as $100 to $200 each and rebates on a new Honda purchase.

There are a number of curious — and, in some ways, troubling — trends at work in the litigation record of the Los Angeles Police Department. This city's police officers appear to be abnormally litigious, suing their department at rates far higher than their counterparts in other big cities. Juries here seem inclined to dole out substantial awards, sometimes for relatively minor injuries: One motor officer whose demotion cost him $27,000 in lost income was awarded $1 million at trial.

Well-connected lobbyists, political pressure and a good turnout at committee hearings used to be the special interest recipe for protecting turf in the state budget. Now, a potent new ingredient is being increasingly thrown into the mix: top-shelf litigators. Lawyers are being drafted in droves to unravel spending plans passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor. The goal of these litigators is to get back money their clients lost in the budget process. They are having considerable success, winning one lawsuit after another, costing the state billions of dollars and throwing California's budget process into further tumult.

John Travolta is now facing allegations of assault and sexual battery from a second anonymous male masseur, according to an amended complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court. Similar to the complaint filed Friday, the amended civil complaint goes into graphic detail about Travolta's alleged behavior - including unwanted touching and inappropriate nudity - while he was on the table for an in-room massage. While the first John Doe described events alleged to have taken place in Beverly Hills on Jan. 16, the second referred to an alleged encounter in Atlanta on Jan. 28, according to a court document obtained and published by Radar Online (Caution: Document contains graphic material)

The Los Angeles Unified School District was named in a negligence lawsuit filed this week on behalf of 20 former Miramonte Elementary School students who say they were victims of sexual abuse by a former teacher at the school. The lawsuit, which names several school board members as well as the current and former principal at Miramonte, claims that the district did not do enough to protect students who had lodged complaints about inappropriate conduct at the school. Mark Berndt, who in January was charged with 23 counts of committing lewd acts on children, was not named as a defendant in the suit.