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Denver

ADA: Colleges bend to accommodation demands

by Walter Olson on December 8, 2006

Amid a rapid rise in the number of students with disability diagnoses — diagnoses of learning disability, in particular — colleges and universities “have magnified services to help those students keep pace – from personal note-takers to high-tech computer equipment that reads aloud and types research papers. … The number of college students with disabilities has grown fivefold from three decades ago, when it was estimated at 2.3 percent.” At Regis University in Colorado, the number of students receiving accommodations has jumped more than fifty percent in three years, from 240 to 370. “The number of college students diagnosed with disabilities increased dramatically after the 1990 passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, [Regis disability services director Joie] Williams said.” About 600 students use the “Access Center” at Denver’s Metropolitan State College: its services, which by law are free to students, include uploading textbooks onto students’ iPods. (Jennifer Brown, “More colleges helping with disabilities”, Denver Post, Nov. 26). For accommodation demands at the high school level, see, e.g., this Mar. 24 post.

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Updates

by Walter Olson on December 1, 2006

Recent developments on past stories:

* Remember Shannon Peterson, the Denver condo owner who got sued by a neighbor who complained that she was taking baths too early? (Feb. 27). The case is still dragging on the better part of a year later, a judge having refused so far to throw it out. David Giacalone has the details (Nov. 30).

* Glamourpuss lawsuit-chaser Erin Brockovich, fresh from the humiliating dismissal (Nov. 18) of suits she fronted against California hospitals alleging Medicare overbilling, has been rebuffed in another high-profile case. This time a judge has dismissed twelve lawsuits brought by her law firm of Masry & Vititoe alleging that exposure to oil rigs at Beverly Hills High School caused cancer among students there (Martha Groves and Jessica Garrison, “School oil-rig lawsuits dismissed”, Los Angeles Times, Nov. 23) (via Nordberg who got it from Legal Reader). For more on the case, see Jul. 15 and Nov. 19, 2003, and Mar. 16, 2004. The New Republic has marked the occasion by reprinting its revealing 2003 article on the affair by Eric Umansky. P.S. More from Umansky, who has his own blog, here.

* Reader E.B. writes in to say:

Remember the group of parents (Oct. 23) who threatened litigation over their daughters’ playing time on the girl’s basketball team? The ones who demanded a six-person panel to oversee the selection of the players?

None of the parents’ daughters made the team. And they’re not happy about it. See C.W. Nevius, “Castro Valley hoops coach can’t win”, San Francisco Chronicle, Nov. 30.

* A court has dismissed the action (Aug. 10, 2005; Feb. 9, Feb. 20, Mar. 6, Jun. 28, 2006) by fair housing activists against Craigslist over user ads that expressed improper preferences or mentioned forbidden categories in soliciting tenants, apartment-sharers and so forth. (Anne Broache, “Craigslist wins housing ad dispute”, CNet, Nov. 17). However, blawger David Fish says the court’s reasoning was highly unfavorable to many other Internet companies generally, and may expose them to future liabilities (Nov. 15). Craigslist now has an elaborate page warning users that it is unlawful for them to post preferences, etc. in most situations not involving shared living space. Update: David Fish’s name corrected, apologies for earlier error.

* 3 pm update to the updates from Ted: “An Illinois intermediate appellate court overturned the $27 million verdict in Mikolajczyk v. Ford (which we reported on last year), ordering the lower court to replace the arbitrary jury verdict with a lower arbitrary number. Why the jury’s damage award is considered the product of passion and prejudice, but the same jury’s liability award is kosher, remains unclear. (Steve Patterson, “Court says $27 million crash award too much”, Chicago Sun-Times, Nov. 23).”

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Welcome radio listeners

by Walter Olson on November 30, 2006

I was a guest Wednesday afternoon on Lars Larson’s nationwide talk show, based at Portland Oregon’s KXL, to discuss federal judge James Robertson’s ruling ordering the U.S. Treasury to redesign U.S. paper money so as not to exclude blind users from reasonable access (see yesterday’s post). And at 10 a.m. Mountain Standard Time this morning (Thursday) I’m scheduled to join Mike Rosen on his popular show based at Denver’s KOA, on the same topic.

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More consumer protection that hurts consumers

by Ted Frank on November 13, 2006

A sardonic congratulations to the Washington DC lawyers who won a $1.4 million federal jury verdict against the Kroger subsidiary “King Soopers”, a Colorado grocery store that dared to give a 7-cents/gallon gasoline discount to customers who purchased $100 in groceries. Because of the “unfair trade” verdict, Colorado Safeway stores have announced that they will stop offering 10-cent/gallon discounts to customers who purchase $50 in groceries. Consumers everywhere will rest happy knowing that they have to pay more for gasoline and that lawyers profited from the experience. (Greg Griffin, “Safeway, too, caps customers’ gas savings”, Denver Post, Nov. 8). At least the Rocky Mountain News was sufficiently disgusted that it called for a repeal of the perverse 1937 law.

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Cheaters’ delight

by Walter Olson on November 1, 2006

“We have found that graduate students in general are cheating at an alarming rate and business-school students are cheating even more than others,” concludes a study by the Academy of Management Learning and Education of 5,300 students in the U.S. and Canada. …

However, what’s holding many professors back from taking action on cheaters is the fear of litigation.

(Thomas Kostigen, “Survey: M.B.A.s Are The Biggest Cheaters”, MarketWatch/ CareerJournal.com, Oct. 25; Al Lewis, “Wily MBA students lead cheating pack”, Denver Post, Oct. 2).

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Honorable mention: attorney Curtis Kennedy

by Walter Olson on October 27, 2006

Who says we shrink from giving lawyers favorable publicity? From a report earlier this month in the Rocky Mountain News:

The California law firm Lerach Coughlin sought $96 million in legal fees when it engineered a $400 million shareholder class-action settlement with Qwest Communications over alleged securities fraud.

So how much did Denver attorney Curtis Kennedy seek when he prevailed in getting those legal fees slashed to $60 million – thus providing $36 million more for the shareholders?

Only $40,500. That’s the 90 hours Kennedy spent on the case times his hourly rate of $300 times 1.5, according to a federal court filing this week. …

Other attorneys might have tried to get a percentage of the $36 million.

“I just think that would be hypocritical after asking the judge to apply moderation” to the $96 million request by Lerach Coughlin, Kennedy said.

Kennedy was representing the Association of U S West Retirees in the case. (Jeff Smith, “Lawyer asks for $40,500 in legal fees”, Rocky Mountain News, Oct. 12)(via Securities Litigation Watch).

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EEOC challenges Exxon’s pilot age limit

by Walter Olson on October 24, 2006

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued ExxonMobil last month over its policy of requiring pilots of its planes to retire at age 60. The federal agency prefers individualized assessments of age-related inability to handle the duties of the job — which in this case might mean that an employer would start the removal process for an elderly pilot only after a legally bulletproof file had been assembled documenting the pilot’s decline in capabilities.

Exxon Mobil spokesman Russ Roberts said the company’s policy addressed the issue of safety and was modeled after Federal Aviation Administration guidelines. He said the policy is long-standing and consistent, not arbitrary and discriminatory.

“Our pilots face the same challenges commercial pilots do flying large, complex, high-speed jets,” he said. “We told the EEOC that we would not change our safety practices in response to complaints filed by pilots.”

(Steve Quinn, “Suit Accuses Exxon of Age Discrimination”, AP/CBSNews.com, Sept. 23). At the Denver Post, columnist Al Lewis discusses this and other recent age-bias lawsuits (“Gray hair + pink slip = lawsuit”, Sept. 27). More on the subject: Oct. 19, etc.

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Welcome guestblogger Dave Kopel

by Walter Olson on March 20, 2006

I’ll be away on family business for a while, but our newest guestblogger, research director David Kopel of the Colorado-based Independence Institute, should have no trouble filling the gap. Well known as a participant at the Volokh Conspiracy, Dave is among the nation’s most prominent scholars on firearms and Second Amendment controversies, as well as a columnist at Denver’s Rocky Mountain News and a commentator on many other issues related to individual liberty. Welcome!

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Sued for taking baths too early

by Walter Olson on February 27, 2006

Shannon Peterson, a special education teacher in the Arvada, Colo. public schools, “can’t believe she’s being sued for bathing before leaving for work.” But the elderly couple who lives upstairs from her Denver condo unit have been complaining about noisy pipes, and unfortunately for Ms. Peterson they happen to have a son, Sheldon Smith, who’s an attorney at the large law firm of Holland and Hart. Represented by their son, the Smiths “sued Peterson just before Christmas, citing the ‘reckless and negligent use of her bathtub.’” Before that, the younger Smith had fired off a letter to Peterson, saying her “intransigence … and tortuous conduct have resulted in incredible sleep deprivation for Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Your obstinacy has ruled the day. That will now cease.” According to the Denver Post, his demand letter insisted that Peterson not run water in her bathtub before 8 a.m. Peterson says she can’t afford steep legal fees on a schoolteacher’s salary; a judge has scheduled a hearing on the suit for March 22. (Mike McPhee, “Lawsuit: Baths swamp sleep”, Denver Post, Feb. 21).

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Newspaper defends Craigslist

by Walter Olson on February 20, 2006

Dogs defending cats dept.: Denver’s Rocky Mountain News editorially criticizes the “fair housing” complaint against the online service over allegedly improper rental, roommate and property-sale ads (“Meddlers eye online freedom”, Feb. 19)(see Feb. 9).

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Indian land claims: give us Denver

by Walter Olson on January 12, 2006

We’ve covered this set of issues numerous times in the past, but here are some fresh details:

When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act became law in 1988, no one imagined that it would become a Trojan Horse that would deliver Las Vegas-style casino gambling into communities across America. Having saturated local markets, many tribes are now seeking to acquire land near other, sometimes-distant, population centers, and converting it to “sovereign” territory, in an effort to shoehorn casinos into areas where they’re often not wanted by local populations. Once land becomes part of a reservation, it typically becomes exempt from local taxes, state labor laws, municipal ordinances, zoning restrictions and environmental review. In one of the most egregious cases, in 2004, the Cheyenne-Arapahoe Tribes of Oklahoma filed a 27 million acre land claim which included all of Denver and Colorado Springs, but offered to drop it in exchange for the approval of a Las Vegas-style casino near Denver Airport.

“These efforts are being funded by ‘shadowy’ developers who underwrite the litigation expenses, lobbyist fees and even the cost of land in exchange for a cut of the profits,” James T. Martin, the executive director of the United South and Eastern Tribes, told the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in May 2005. “If even one of these deals is approved, the floodgates for this kind of ‘reservation shopping’ will open throughout the country.” (Mr. Martin, it should be said, is no opponent of gambling: his organization includes tribes whose main goal is to thwart new competition against their own casinos.)

(Fergus M. Bordewich, “The Least Transparent Industry in America”, Wall Street Journal, Jan. 5)(subscriber-only).

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Vexatious litigant jailed for contempt

by Walter Olson on January 11, 2006

“Former Steamboat Springs [Colo.] resident Kay Sieverding, who has been in jail since September, was released Wednesday after she agreed to dismiss her numerous federal lawsuits.” U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham had ordered Sieverding committed to jail for contempt of court after she continued to file lawsuits he described as “frivolous”, “abusive” and “gibberish”, including refilings of lawsuits she had already lost. “Sieverding has filed lawsuits against not only her former neighbors but also Steamboat Springs officials, the local newspaper, several individual lawyers and the entire Colorado and American Bar Associations, among others. She has filed the lawsuits in Colorado U.S. District Court, and also in federal courts in Illinois, Minnesota, Kansas and the District of Columbia.. …The judge said he will issue an additional order prohibiting Kay Sieverding from filing any more lawsuits, anywhere in the United States, without an attorney or his permission.” (Karen Abbott, “Pledge gets woman out of jail”, Rocky Mountain News, Jan. 5; Alicia Caldwell, “Woman Held Over Lawsuits”, Denver Post, Dec. 19)(via Jonathan B. Wilson, here and here).

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Home Depot toilet-seat case

by Walter Olson on November 18, 2005

Vincent Carroll of Denver’s Rocky Mountain News has a good column on the incident (“Stick it to them“, Nov. 11). You know you’re in trouble when a “bad experience that your grandparents would have shrugged off after a day or two becomes the traumatic focus of your entire existence.” See Nov. 14.

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“$16.3 million in lawyer fees OK”

by Walter Olson on September 12, 2005

Waving big fees through the gate:

A Denver District Court judge overseeing a $50 million class-action settlement from Qwest Communications shot down a shareholder group’s request to limit plaintiff attorney fees to $10 million.

Judge John Coughlin gave short shrift to arguments presented by the Association of U S West Retirees, which asked the court — at the very least — to delay settlement approval until attorneys submitted detailed documentation of their hours and expenses.

At a fairness hearing [Aug. 30], the judge ruled the class counsel, led by Los Angeles law firm Lerach Coughlin, was entitled to $15 million, or 30 percent of the settlement, plus an additional $1.3 million in out-of-pocket expenses….

[The retiree association] wanted proof of each firm’s time records and questioned several six-figure expenses, including $176,000 for meals, hotel and travel and $105,000 for photocopying.

“That’s 25 cents a page using your own office copy machine,” Denver attorney Curtis Kennedy, representing the retirees, said Tuesday after the hearing. “Don’t we at least get a discount for volume? Why not 5 cents a page?”

…[L]ast month, the association filed its objections over attorney fees, complaining that the more than $16.3 million Lerach had requested would leave just $33 million to be distributed among the thousands of plaintiff shareholders they represented….

[Kennedy] said the blanket $15 million contingency award represented 2.3 times what the plaintiff lawyers actually put into the case. Paralegal time alone would be compensated at the rate of more than $400 an hour.

“Times are changing,” he told the judge. “Shareholders are beginning to feel they need to step up and object…that these attorney fees are getting out of hand.”

How often will they feel it worth objecting if, as here, they get the back of the judge’s hand for their troubles? (John Accola, Rocky Mountain News, Aug. 31).

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“Bet-your-company” cases

by Walter Olson on July 15, 2005

On the rise, say Denver lawyers (Amy Fletcher, “Huge lawsuits threaten businesses”, Denver Business Journal, Jun. 17)(via CCJL).

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They mixed those children up/And not a creature knew it

by Walter Olson on March 18, 2005

At North Suburban Medical Center outside Denver, nurses mistakenly gave the wrong newborn to a mother to breast feed. The mistake was discovered after a few minutes, the infant having declined the proffered refreshment, but the woman’s family is now suing and the other family is considering suing too. (“Mom Sues Hospital Claiming She Nursed Wrong Baby”, KMGH-TV, Mar. 16)(title allusion).

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Sued for leaving cookies on porch

by Walter Olson on February 4, 2005

Colorado: “Two Durango teens thought they’d surprise neighbors with nighttime deliveries of home-baked treats. But one woman was so terrified, she sued and has won.” But Wanita Renea Young, 49, was so unnerved by the knocks at her door at 10:30 p.m. that she called sheriffs and then sought emergency room care for an anxiety attack. The teenage cookie-leavers, Taylor Ostergaard and Lindsey Jo Zellitti, wrote her letters of apology, but she sued anyway and won $900. (Electa Draper, “Cookie klatch lands girls in court”, Denver Post, Feb. 4). More: National Review Online notes the case and radio host Steve Gill tells how to send the girls money. A day or two later: public support and media appearances roll in for the cookie girls (Denver Post, Feb. 6; more). And David Giacalone enters a dissent.

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A university athlete’s heirs

by Walter Olson on December 30, 2004

But the lion took the biggest share:

Relatives of an Oklahoma State basketball player killed in a university plane crash in 2001 were awarded a $1.6 million settlement, a newspaper [The Oklahoman] reported Monday….

Lawson, a 21-year-old junior guard, was one of 10 men who died Jan. 27, 2001, when an airplane carrying members of the basketball program crashed in a Colorado field on the way back from a basketball game at the University of Colorado….

Lawson’s son, Ramses B. Hereford, received $440,139, his parents, Daniel Lawson Sr. and Phyllis Lawson, each received $223,238 and the remaining money — nearly $730,000 — was awarded to attorneys for legal fees and costs, according to court records.

Contributing to the settlement are North Bay Charter, the owner of the downed airplane; the estate of the late pilot, Denver Mills; Marathon Power Technologies, a maker of airplane parts; and Oklahoma State University. Wichita-based Raytheon Aircraft did not settle, and a lawsuit continues seeking to saddle it with the blame for the crash. (“Legal wrangling not finished”, AP/ESPN, Dec. 19).

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