Not so gentle

A New Age psychotherapeutic outfit based in Kittery, Maine, and nearby New Hampshire, the Gentle Wind Project “is a 24-year-old non-profit corporation that describes itself as being ‘dedicated to education and research aimed at alleviating human suffering and trauma.’ … The organization holds seminars across the country, selling “healing instrument” products for donations ranging from $450 to upwards of $10,000, asserting they have exclusive healing technology that is channeled telepathically from the ‘spirit world’ and has healing powers.” On a less serene note, the organization recently filed a lawsuit claiming that a husband and wife from Blue Hill, Me., Judy Garvey and James F. Bergin, and various other individuals defamed Gentle Wind by publishing a website criticizing the organization’s leadership and cautioning newcomers against excessive involvement. Garvey and Bergin were themselves formerly involved with Gentle Wind. (James Baker, “New age therapy group sues over Web site”, Foster’s Sunday Citizen (N.H.), Aug. 8)(more). The Gentle Wind Project’s side of the story may be found here and here. Update Jan. 19, 2006: federal judge dismisses suit.

Update: Illinois Democratic fundraising

Here’s an arresting statistic: “Of the $695,400 in [individual] donations to the Democratic Party of Illinois this year, all but $6,900 has come from lawyers or law firms.” (Brian Brueggemann, “Law firms give big to Illinois Democrats”, Belleville (Ill.) News-Democrat, Jul. 27; Trisha Howard, “Lawyers dominate in donations to Democrats”, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jul. 26). Five big plaintiff’s firms contributed $100,000 each, and there is reason to believe that the donations were intended at least in part to assist the campaign for Gordon Maag, the Democratic candidate for Illinois Supreme Court in a district that includes famed litigation hotspot Madison County. (Maag is turning down direct donations of more than $2,000). A report last month for the Illinois Civil Justice League and Illinois Lawsuit Abuse Watch has details (“Justice for Sale II”, Jul. 26 — PDF). Maag is facing Republican candidate Lloyd Karmeier, who’s being backed by business groups, in what is shaping up as a hard-fought campaign (see Mar. 20).

Update: Philly juries not kind to fen-phen plaintiffs

Contrary to some expectations, Philadelphia juries have not been proving a soft touch for “opt-out” plaintiffs who’ve journeyed there from around the country to sue drugmakers over alleged side effects from the diet-drug compound. One recent jury awarded a mere $4,000 to five women from Utah after a three-week trial, and another returned an outright defense verdict in a case brought by four Philadelphia women. Most of the plaintiffs exhibit heart murmurs and other subtle heart irregularities which they contend were brought on by the use of Pondimin and Redux, but a plaintiff’s lawyer says their case is weakened because most display no symptoms and are not under a doctor’s care for the claimed irregularities. “They don’t have treating doctors who will back up their stories,” agrees a lawyer for Wyeth. “The juries aren’t buying it.” (L. Stuart Ditzen, “Diet-drug lawsuits netting slim payoffs”, Philadelphia Inquirer, Aug. 16). For more on fen-phen, see Jan. 25, Jan. 6 and links from there; Apr. 28 ($1 billion verdict in Texas for fatality claimed to be linked to drug).

Germany: pub owner wrong to sack 100-beer-a-day worker

“A German waiter who was sacked for drinking up to 100 bottles of beer every day has won a case for unfair dismissal. The 50-year-old, who had worked at the Unter Taschenmacher pub in Cologne for eight years, admitted that his managers had repeatedly warned him not to drink at work.” The unnamed man conceded drinking the beer but said he had been traumatized by losing his “dream” job. The tribunal agreed and awarded him three months’ salary plus ?3,000. (“German pub owner left crying into his beer by tribunal ruling”, Personnel Today (UK), Aug. 24).

Icky road to wealth

A Philadelphia jury has awarded $4 million to 17-year-old Anastasia Roberts in her lawsuit against Grand King Buffet, a Chinese restaurant, over an incident in which Roberts chewed on and then spat out a foreign object in a sweet potato ball which proved to be a used bandage. According to her suit “Grand King threw the bandage away, destroying evidence”, and the offending object had blood and pus on it. Roberts, who per the allegations in the suit suffered mightily from post-traumatic stress over the affair, plans to become a nurse. (Dan Gross, “A ‘bloody’ $4M award for teen”, Philadelphia Daily News, Aug. 3; “A fuss over pus”, City Paper, Jan. 22-28).

They Came To Stay II

We previously covered the surprising side effect of legal reforms to protect tenants against landlords: homeowners in Florida discovering that a friend or relative invited as a guest gets to leave only when they want to leave without expensive litigation to evict them (Feb. 19). This had tragic results in Montgomery County, Maryland last week. 71-year-old Joyce Hadl charitably allowed a homeless woman, Susan L. Sachs, to stay with her rent-free in exchange for work around the house. According to a friend of Hadl’s, when Sachs started exhibiting signs of mental illness, “walking around the house and calling Hadl insulting names”, Hadl became alarmed and tried to get her to leave, but police called to the home concluded that they could not legally remove her. Hadl has since disappeared, and Sachs is now under police custody, having been charged with her first-degree murder. (David Snyder and Amit R. Paley, “New Arrests in Disappearance”, Washington Post, Aug. 26).

Drops baby from bridge, sues bridge owner over stress

Vancouver: “Nadia Hama, who dropped her infant daughter from the Capilano Suspension Bridge nearly five years ago, is pressing ahead with a suit against the operators of the privately owned tourist attraction. … Hama’s daughter Kaya, then 17 months old, miraculously survived the plunge after tree branches broke her 150-foot fall into the rocky canyon.” (“Woman who dropped baby from bridge sues bridge owner for stress”, Canadian Press/ AZCentral.com, Aug. 24). We last covered the case Oct. 8, 2001.