Walter’s post about Tehmina Haque‘s lawsuit against American Airlines over her “fear” of an unrealized peanut allergy is not the first time her attorney, Kenneth Mollins, has attempted such a tactic.
Mollins appeared on CNN in July 2007 after filing a suit on behalf of a woman, Francine Dorf, who sued Con Ed over the steam pipe eruption in Manhattan that month. Dorf wasn’t injured: she just complained that the loud sound reminded her of September 11, entitling her to damages, in part because she could not “focus enough to read the romance novels that she checked out from the library.” (See also Improved Clinch blog.) My Google-fu was not acute enough to find the docket in New York state court; does anyone know what the status of that lawsuit is?
What I did find was another lawsuit brought by Kenneth Mollins, plaintiff. Mollins leased an Infiniti, but was dissatisfied with the quality of the Bluetooth system and the GPS. After five months of haggling and attempts to fix the supposed problems, Mollins still wasn’t satisfied, the dealer took the car back and refunded Mollins’s money, including the deposit and all the monthly payments made to date. In other words, Mollins got five months’ use of an Infiniti for free. Not good enough for Mollins: he sued, seeking additional damages for the damage the alleged inability to use a cell phone did to his business. The court denied his attempt to turn it into a class action and dismissed; the lawyers were Herzfeld & Rubin.
We obviously should start keeping track of Mr. Mollins.
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and it cost Nissan and the retailer exactly how much to get a judge to assert common sense…in writing?
Yet another example of the failure of the system to discipline an attorney who files meritless suits.
You can search the New York State Courts here by plaintiff name, defendant name, and lawyer name. I couldn’t find anything official on Dorf vs. Con Ed.
[…] Ted Frank at Overlawyered is glad you asked. The attorney for Dr. Haque, she who wants compensation for what could have been, is one Kenneth Mollins. Mollins other recent career highlights: representing Francine Dorf: Mollins appeared on CNN in July 2007 after filing a suit on behalf of a woman, Francine Dorf, who sued Con Ed over the steam pipe eruption in Manhattan that month. Dorf wasn’t injured: she just complained that the loud sound reminded her of September 11, entitling her to damages, in part because she could not “focus enough to read the romance novels that she checked out from the library.” […]
Is this the same Attorney Kenneth Mollins that is now helping “Customers injured in crush suing Wal-Mart”?
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/12/02/walmart.trampling.suit/index.html
In a claim against the Nassau County police department, the men also contend that they “sustained monetary losses as a result of health care and legal expenses … in the sum of $2 million.”
[…] Mollins whose skill in transforming seemingly minor or transient injuries into litigation Ted saluted in June (h/t commenter Don Parks). (”Customers injured in crush suing Wal-Mart”, CNN, Dec. […]