USC Lawsuit: Parents of Murdered Chinese Grad Students Say School Lied to Solicit Foreigners

Categories: Lawsuits

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CBS LA
Ming Qu and Ying Wu were killed in Qu's BMW after a late night of studying.
L.A. police and politicians have been tripping over themselves to regain the public's confidence after two USC graduate students from China were murdered in a BMW outside their apartment near campus.

The mayor apologized profusely. The LAPD added 30 more officers to the Southwest Division. The City Attorney assigned a special city prosecutor to focus solely on cases around USC. University officials tried to throw money at the victims' parents "as a gesture of kindness and sympathy." But it wasn't enough to keep this thing out of court:

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Skechers Don't Give You Kardashian Booty, Unfortunately

Categories: Lawsuits

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Skechers
You bought a pair of Skechers Shape-ups and you still don't have Kim Kardashian's behind?

You could get a refund.

Really.

In announcing its settlement with the Manhattan Beach footwear company, the Federal Trade Commission cited the firm's marketing claim -- which was made, in part, via an endorsement deal with Kardashian -- that the shoes could ...


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Sarah Tressler, Stripper-Journalist, Claims Her Firing Was Gender Discrimination

Categories: Lawsuits

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Sarah!
Maybe Sarah Tressler was listening when we told her to come back to L.A. -- a stripping journalist would fit right in at the alt-lifestyle rag called LA Weekly.

The former LA CityBeat intern was back in town today to stand with her attorney, Gloria Allred, and announce a federal discrimination claim against the Houston Chronicle for firing her after they found out about her racy moonlighting gig.

Here are the deets:

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Darts Update: Dino M. Zaffina Back on the Attack

Categories: Lawsuits

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courtesy of Milan Sabata
Dino M. Zaffina: He's filed a motion for reconsideration in federal court.

There are two things that any first-year law student could tell you are essential for courtroom success: don't make stuff up, and don't insult the judge.

Perhaps Dino M. Zaffina didn't get the memo.

As the Weekly's Chris Vogel first reported in February, Zaffina had become angry that the Southern California Darts Association failed to include his middle initial in their online listings. Realizing the group had allowed its incorporation to lapse, Zaffina incorporated under it -- and promptly sued the darts lovers for using a name he now controlled. The darts lovers then sued Zaffina in federal court for trademark violations.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Gary Klausner ruled against Zaffina, barring him from using the Southern California Darts Association name while the court battle continues.

Now Zaffina is fighting back.

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Pinkberry Co-Founder Young Lee Sued by Homeless Man, Donald Bolding, Who Says He Beat Him Over Sexy Tattoo

Categories: Lawsuits

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Pinkberry
Lee with Pinkberry co-founder Shelly Hwang.
The homeless man allegedly beaten by Pinkberry co-founder Young Lee over a scintillating tattoo is suing the businessman.

Prosecutors allege the 47-year-old froyo entrepreneur beat Donald Bolding with a tire iron on June 15 near the Vermont Avenue offramp of the 101 freeway in southeast Hollywood.

Here's what happened, according to the suit, filed yesterday, and according to what what plaintiff's attorney Gary Casselman told the Weekly:

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Federal Judge Slaps Back Dino M. Zaffina in Darts Trademark Battle

Categories: Justice, Lawsuits

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courtesy of Milan Sabata
Dino M. Zaffina: A U.S. District Judge has barred him from using trademarks or a website for the Southern California Darts Association.

Remember Dino M. Zaffina? The studio sound man was a new(ish) member of the Southern California Darts Association in 2010 when he became angry that his middle initial was not included when players' scores were listed on the association's web site.

As L.A. Weekly Staff Writer Chris Vogel detailed in a Feb. 2 cover story, Zaffina subsequently learned that the 33-year-old association had allowed its incorporation to lapse. Zaffina promptly incorporated under the name and sued "60 darts players and eight stunned Los Angeles-area bars where darts are played regularly," as Vogel reported, for "using the historic name 'Southern California Darts Association,' which Zaffina now legally controlled." He also put up a website under the name and began issuing press releases touting his ownership.

When last we checked in, things weren't going well for the band of darts players formerly known as the Southern California Darts Association. They'd filed a cross complaint in an effort to stop Zaffina, but the judge struck it down. Zaffina had also snapped up rights to the new name that they'd contemplating incorporating under.

That was then. But on Monday, U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner issued an injunction that changes the game significantly.

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Teflon Sheriff Lee Baca Sued For Blocking Records of Slain Journalist Ruben Salazar

Categories: Lawsuits

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Ruben Salazar.
The death of journalist Ruben Salazar at the hands of an L.A. County Sheriff's deputy in 1970 became a rallying point for the Chicano movement and inspired the first organization for Hispanic journalists in the United States -- CCNMA: Latino Journalists of California, where this reporter serves as a board member.

What, exactly, happened at East L.A.'s Silver Dollar Bar and Cafe on Aug. 29, 1970 following Salazar's coverage of a Chicano Moratorium march remains a mystery. We know he was shot in the head with a tear-gas projectile. But why?

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Coachella Promoters Headed to Court to Stop Counterfeit Concert Goods Sold Around Indio

Categories: Lawsuits

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Lina Lecaro
Coachella 2012.
Update at 4:42 p.m: The federal judge indeed granted the order to stop sales of fake Coachella goods, reports City News Service.

Goldenvoice, the promoter behind Coachella, wants to put a stop to counterfeit t-shirts, hats and other merchandise being sold today around the event at Empire Polo Club in Indio.

It's expected to file a federal lawsuit today that would empower local cops to "seize and impound" the gear, according to papers filed today.

The move would allow Goldenvoice to crackdown on the second weekend of this year's big concert, which features ...

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Abdul Arian, Teen Shot on Live TV by LAPD, Inspires $120 Million Legal Claim Against City

Categories: Lawsuits

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Abdul Arian / Facebook
The family of Abdul Arian, the 19-year-old shot by L.A. cops last week live on television, say they're filing a $120 million claim against the city and the LAPD for his alleged wrongful death.

News of the probable lawsuit came as relatives staged a protest yesterday against the department outside of its Devonshire Division station in Northridge.

Family members have contended that ...

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Chan Dara, Known For its Hot Thai Girl Waitresses, Violated Labor Law, Feds Say

Categories: Lawsuits

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ppumpuang via Flickriver.com
The ladies of Chan Dara.
Chan Dara, perhaps the first Asian restaurant in L.A. to capitalize on the hot-chicks-and-chopsticks marketing milieu, is being sued by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Yep.

The feds say that the Thai-fusion eatery, known for its "half-dressed waitresses" and pervy old white-guy customers, was stiffing the beautiful hands that feed it by failing to pay overtime even when its employees worked double shifts.

Bummer:

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Belvedere Vodka 'Rape Ad' Draws Lawsuit by L.A. Actress Alicyn Packard: VIDEO

Categories: Lawsuits

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Free ad.
The controversy over a Belvedere Vodka print ad that critics say depicts and glorifies a near-rape has come to Los Angeles this week.

That's because an actress in a video on which the ad is based is pissed off: Alicyn Packard is suing Belvedere's parent company for allegedly using her image without her permission.

The advertisement depicts a distressed woman appearing to leap from the lap of a man. The slogan:

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The Ivy Restaurant Sued by HIV-Positive Worker Reymundo Martinez

Categories: Lawsuits

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The Ivy.
Updated at the bottom with a response from owner Richard Irving. First posted at 12:21 p.m.

Celebrity restaurant The Ivy was sued today for allegedly firing a busboy because he's HIV positive.

The Mexican American Legal Defense Fund announced the suit today, saying that the worker was terminated in violation of the state Fair Employment and Housing Act, which prohibits letting someone go because of a medical condition.

According to the suit:

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Map of $175 Stop-Sign Cameras to Avoid in Los Angeles and Santa Monica Mountains Parks

Categories: Lawsuits, Traffic

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Hidden camera: 40 feet behind you in Franklin Canyon, a camera snaps your rear plate and sends you a $175 ticket.
As Michael Goldstein reports in "Parks Agency Money Grab" in the print L.A. Weekly, the Santa Monica Mountains, a free Los Angeles treasure beloved by hikers and dog-walkers, are not as free as they seem.

Seven "stop sign cameras" have been placed by the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority on rustic scenic drives and out-of-the-way parking lots, creating a cash cow for the agency. 70,000 visitors have been ticketed at $175 a pop. Parks officials insist they are reducing danger. But no reportable accidents have occurred at any camera location since 2005, either before or after cameras were installed.

If you want to avoid the seven ticket traps in the local parks, see the map:

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Dino M. Zaffina's Southern California Darts Association Battle Turns On Plumber Milan Sabata

Categories: Lawsuits
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​
Ever since LA Weekly reported on how darts enthusiast Dino M. Zaffina took control of the Southern California Darts Association following a feud with the its members over whether to include his middle initial "M" on the association's website, Zaffina - the current SCDA president and CEO - has issued numerous press releases.

In one, Zaffina stresses that his move to incorporate as the SCDA was a professional decision and not a personal one. In another, he provides photographs of two checks totaling nearly $5,000 in attorney's fees that one of the darts players owed Zaffina after unsuccessfully filing a counter-lawsuit against him.

In a third press release ...

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Tags:

SCDA

Lady Victoria Hervey Stole Our Jewels, Says Beverly Hills Store: Interestingly, She's a Friend of Lindsay Lohan

Categories: Lawsuits

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Twitter
Lady V.
She calls herself Lady Victoria Hervey. And she's a model with high-end English heritage to back up her blonde, tanned self.

In 2010 she admitted to a British newspaper that she had come to L.A. to "make it" but that success has been elusive.

Another sign that the lady has a way to go in Tinseltown:

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Gary Busey Fake DWI: Picture-Taking Couple Claim They're the Real Victims

Categories: Lawsuits
Busey photo.jpeg
​
A year ago, news outlets and gossip rags were all abuzz over reports that a middle-aged couple flagged down the cops along the P.C.H. -- claiming that Gary Busey was drunk-driving -- in a paparazzi-style effort to set Busey up and take his picture surrounded by the boys in blue.

Turned out that Busey was sober and the couple, Mark Abel and his wife, children's author Patrice Karst, were arrested and charged with obstructing a police officer.

Now, in the most recent development, the couple claim that they're the real victims in the whole affair and that the actual perpetrators are ...

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Lawsuit: Elderly Man With Dementia Joins Growing Number Who Claim Abuse by Sheriff Lee Baca's Deputies

Categories: Lawsuits
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​
Qiao Ruirong, a 64-year-old Chinese American who doesn't speak English and suffers from dementia, says he mistakenly tried to get into the wrong car in a supermarket parking lot one night last August when he was arrested for trying to break into the vehicle.

Three days later, while in custody of the LA Sheriff's Department, Qiao claims that as many as five different deputies almost literally beat his brains in, requiring doctors to put a metal plate in his head.

Qiao now joins a long line of inmates who are suing the sheriff's department over excessive force and and an even longer line of inmates who claim they've been trounced and abused by deputies.

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Lawsuit: If You Bought Grammy Tickets from Western States Ticket Service, You're Screwed

Categories: Lawsuits
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The folks who run the Grammy Awards want to remind you, dear readers, that you are not important or glamorous enough to score a ticket to the big show that airs every February.

So don't even try.

For if you do, you will be treated like a common intruder and tossed out on your ass.

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ACLU Sues Sheriff Lee Baca & Undersheriff Paul Tanaka Over Long-Standing Deputy Violence Against Inmates

Categories: Lawsuits
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Gabriel Carrillo after deputies beat him at jail
On July 22, LA County jail inmate Jonathan Goodwin says he witnessed several deputies beat and kick a fellow inmate whose hands were bound in shackles.

Nearly three long weeks later, says Goodwin, one of the deputies involved in the beating walked into Goodwin's cell to show him who was boss -- telling him, without explanation, to "cuff up." As Goodwin tells it, the next thing he knew, he was up against the wall in the hallway while two deputies punched him in the head.

Just as one of the deputies cracked his fist across Goodwin's jaw, says Goodwin, other deputies nearby joined in on what would turn out to be a tooth-rattling gang-beating. Goodwin says he did not receive any medical treatment but was criminally charged by the deputies with causing a disturbance.

Today, 29-year-old Goodwin, alongside inmate Alex Rosas, 24, who also claims he was beaten by deputies, took the first step down the long and hopeful road toward justice.

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Honda Civic Hybrid Only Gets 30 Miles Per Gallon? L.A.'s Heather Peters Sues ... The Right Way

Categories: Lawsuits

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The Civic Hybrid: A profile only a mother could love.
So you bought an ugly, slab-sided Honda Civic hybrid thinking it would, despite its Danny DeVito looks, become the next "it" car for the eco hipsters.

Wrong again, ethanol breath.

Turns out earlier models of the Civic hybrid came with way less gas mileage than advertised -- 30 versus 50 -- as a result of technical difficulties. Early Priuses gave you 40. And so ...

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