Tag: lawsuits

Mayor Johnson takes campaign cash from lawyer whose firm has pending lawsuits against City Hall

Chicago lawyer Antonio Romanucci has become one of the better-known civil rights and personal injury attorneys, known for handling high-profile lawsuits, including one that led to a $27 million settlement for the family of George Floyd after his 2020 murder by a Minneapolis cop.

Locally, his Loop law firm Romanucci & Blandin, LLC, represents clients in nine pending lawsuits against City Hall, with one of those cases involving allegations that Chicago cops framed a South Side man for the 1988 murder of a little boy. Two other lawsuits involving the firm have been settled by City Hall since Mayor Brandon Johnson took office in May 2023.

Even though Johnson’s Law Department holds huge sway over such legal cases — often helping decide if and how to settle them, affecting bottom lines for clients and Chicago taxpayers — the mayor continues to accept campaign contributions from Romanucci and other employees of his law firm, records show.

While Johnson is not supposed to accept campaign donations from city contractors under municipal ethics rules, there’s no prohibition on taking campaign cash from lawyers doing battle with City Hall.

A founding partner of his firm, Romanucci gave $5,000 to Friends of Brandon Johnson in a contribution dated Feb. 18, according to Illinois State Board of Elections records.

Elizabeth Romanucci, who handles event planning for the firm, gave $1,000 in a contribution dated Feb. 24, records show.

Stefanie Stein, director of marketing for the firm, gave another $1,000 on the same date.

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Elon Musk threatens to sue after Democrat Jamaal Bowman calls him a ‘Nazi’ and ‘thief’ during TV appearance

Elon Musk said he intends to file a lawsuit against former “Squad” Rep. Jamaal Bowman for calling him a “Nazi” and a “thief”  this week on CNN. 

“I’ve had enough. Lawsuit inbound,” Musk, 53, wrote on X late Friday next to a clip of Bowman’s caustic remarks.

In his Thursday rant Bowman, 48 — who was ousted in a primary last summer by a pro-Israel Democrat — said the  Department of Government Efficiency boss  “doesn’t have” the necessary skills to spearhead the Trump administration’s cost-cutting crusade.

“How do we know? Because they fired tens of thousands of people, was challenged in court. The court said the people have to go back, and now the people are coming back,” Bowman contended during a Thursday night segment on CNN.

“He’s incompetent. He’s a thief. He’s a Nazi. And people don’t trust him.”

Leftists accused the billionaire of making a “Nazi salute” while he addressed a crowd on Trump’s Inauguration Day in January. Groups such as the Anti-Defamation League have determined it was simply an “awkward gesture,” and Musk denied intentionally making a Nazi salute.

Musk didn’t elaborate on any details of the planned lawsuit. However, he appears to be trying to pursue a defamation case against Bowman. Defamation cases have a legal high bar for public figures, because they are required to prove “actual malice” motivated a false statement against them.

An outcry of conservatives had urged Musk to file a lawsuit against Bowman, such as Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).

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Is Greenpeace Finished? Jury Orders Far Left Group to Pay $660 Million in Damages for Protest Against Dakota Access Pipeline

A few years ago, Greenpeace and other far left activists protested the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, causing all kinds of damage to construction equipment in the process.

Now a jury in North Dakota has ordered them to pay more than $600 million in damages over the protests.

Some people are suggesting the court’s decision could bankrupt the group.

CBS News reports:

Greenpeace ordered to pay more than $660 million to fossil fuel company over pipeline protests

In a win for the oil and gas pipeline company Energy Transfer, a nine-person North Dakota jury found the environmental group Greenpeace liable for more than $660 million in damages and defamation for the 2016 to 2017 Standing Rock protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline.

In their lawsuit, Dallas-based Energy Transfer claimed Greenpeace was responsible for defamation, disruption and property damage for the protests that captured national attention in 2016. Greenpeace claimed the lawsuit threatened its freedom of speech.

In a statement, Energy Transfer said, “This win is really for the people of Mandan and throughout North Dakota who had to live through the daily harassment and disruptions caused by the protesters who were funded and trained by Greenpeace. It is also a win for all law-abiding Americans who understand the difference between the right to free speech and breaking the law.”

Greenpeace plans to appeal the verdict. “This is the end of a chapter, but not the end of our fight. Energy Transfer knows we don’t have $660 million. They want our silence, not our money.” Sushma Raman, interim executive director of Greenpeace Inc., told CBS News.

So they’re planning to appeal? What if the appeal fails?

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Purdue Pharma Files New Bankruptcy Plan For $7.4 Billion Opioid Settlement

Drugmaker Purdue Pharma filed a new bankruptcy plan on Tuesday, marking a major step towards finalizing a proposed opioid settlement of $7.4 billion.

The maker of the powerful semi-synthetic opioid oxycodone—also marketed as OxyContin and by other names—filed a Chapter 11 reorganization plan and related disclosure statement with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

According to a statement announcing the proposal, a new public benefit company “100 percent devoted to improving the lives of Americans,” would be created after Purdue is dissolved, and its assets transferred to the new company.

The Sackler family, which previously owned Purdue Pharma, would “have no ownership interest or role with the new company,” according to the statement, which noted family members have had no involvement in Purdue since the end of 2018.

The new company would have a core mission to abate the opioid crisis and improve public health, including by developing and distributing lifesaving opioid use disorder and overdose rescue medicines for no profit, the statement said.

It would also be run by a board appointed by state governments, the statement added.

Assuming full creditor participation, the plan would see the Sacklers pay out approximately $6.5 billion in installments over the next 15 years—subject to certain reserves—to states, local governments, and individuals harmed by the crisis.

They would pay $1.5 billion on the day the reorganization plan becomes effective and Purdue would contribute 100 percent of its assets, “with an expected $900 million in cash available for distribution on the day of emergence,” according to the statement.

Purdue said it expects widespread creditor support for the deal.

According to the statement, the latest plan “is the only opioid settlement to date that meaningfully compensates individual victims” and, assuming full participation, “individual victims will receive more than $850 million, subject to certain reserves.”

A court hearing to approve the disclosure statement is currently expected to take place in May, according to the statement.

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Former Connecticut high school student sues teachers for letting her graduate while unable to read or write

A former Connecticut high school student is suing her teachers for letting her graduate while she was unable to read or write due to her learning disability. 

Aleysha Ortiz, 19, is seeking $3 million in damages from staff at Hartford Public Schools district for alleged bullying, harassment and/or negligence. 

Ortiz claims she requested educational resources and support for years – but her special education teacher instead chose to yell at and humiliate her in front of other students, often bringing her to tears. 

The teenager graduated unable to read or write. She struggled to even spell her own name during an emotional interview about her education with ABC affiliate WTNH.

‘My time in Hartford Public Schools was a time that I don’t wish upon anyone,’ Ortiz told the outlet. 

When Ortiz moved from Puerto Rico to Connecticut in first grade, she struggled with a language barrier compounded by a speech impediment, dyslexia, and ADHD. 

‘Every first day of school, I would tell the teacher I cannot read and write so please be patient for me, so everyone knew,’ she told WTNH. 

‘I would cry knowing the people who had big titles knew this was happening, and no one stepped up to do something about it.’ 

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NBC News Settles $30M ‘Mass Hysterectomy’ Defamation Suit Against MSNBC Stars

Far-left NBC News has settled a $30 million defamation case filed after its MSNBC all-star team falsely accused a doctor of performing “mass hysterectomies” at a Georgia immigration detention center.

Back in June, Judge Lisa Godbey Wood ruled that Dr. Mahendra Amin’s defamation suit against NBCUniversal could proceed to trial. Judge Wood wrote that:

Multiple statements are verifiably false. The undisputed evidence has established that: (1) there were no mass hysterectomies or high numbers of hysterectomies at the facility; (2) Dr. Amin performed only two hysterectomies on female detainees from the ICDC; and (3) Dr. Amin is not a “uterus collector.” The Court must look to each of the statements in the context of the entire broadcast or social media post to assess the construction placed upon it by the average viewer. Doing so, the undisputed evidence establishes that multiple NBC statements are false.

Viewed in their entirety, the September 15, 2020 episodes of Deadline: White House, All In With Chris Hayes, and The Rachel Maddow Show accuse Plaintiff of performing mass hysterectomies on detainee women. It does not matter that NBC did not make these accusations directly, but only republished the whistleblower letter’s allegations. If accusations against a plaintiff are “based entirely on hearsay,” “[t]he fact that the charges made were based upon hearsay in no manner relieves the defendant of liability.

So, we are talking about Chris Hayes, Rachel Maddow, Nicolle Wallace; not to mention the layers and layers of legendary fact-checkers that the capital “J” journalists at NBC News employ.

Look at the date, y’all: September 15, 2020… This lie was fabricated out of whole cloth by NBC News to interfere in a presidential election that was only weeks away. Early voting had already begun in a number of swing states. This shit network knew exactly what it was doing.

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Trump Scores Another Legal Win: Florida Appeals Court Unanimously Rejects Pulitzer Prize Motion to Dismiss Trump’s Lawsuit

President Donald Trump has secured another victory in his ongoing battle against “fake news” and “the Russia collusion hoax.”

On Tuesday, a Florida appeals court unanimously decided not to dismiss Trump’s defamation lawsuit against the Pulitzer Prize Board, signaling a major blow to the defenders of the now-debunked narrative that Trump colluded with Russia during the 2016 election.

The suit challenges the legitimacy of the 2018 Pulitzer Prizes awarded to fake news, The New York Times and The Washington Post, for their coverage of the debunked Trump-Russia collusion hoax.

The roots of this narrative trace back to July 2020, when the Senate Judiciary Committee released damning documents that debunked the New York Times’s story of the Trump team’s alleged “repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials.”

These declassified documents exposed the reporting as not only dishonest but also as an early attempt to fuel the baseless Russiagate narrative.

Further revelations in May 2022 confirmed that it was Hillary Clinton’s campaign that orchestrated the Trump-Russia collusion hoax, as admitted under oath by her former campaign manager Robbie Mook during the Sussman trial.

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Sen. Thom Tillis Files Bill to Allow Victims of Migrant Crime to Sue Sanctuary Cities

North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis has filed a bill that would allow the victims of migrant crime to sue the sanctuary cities that facilitated that crime.

On Thursday, Tillis and nine other Republicans filed S. 185, a bill titled the “Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act.”

“For far too long, we have watched local jurisdictions in North Carolina and across the country ignore the lawful notification and detainer requests made by ICE agents and instead release dangerous criminals back into their communities, putting innocent lives at risk,” Tillis said in a statement. “It is time for Congress to step in and hold sanctuary cities accountable.”

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California Democrat Proposes Legislation to Sue Oil Companies Over Wildfires That Had NOTHING to Do With Them

Scott Weiner, a Democratic State Senator in California, is introducing legislation that would allow people to sue oil companies over the wildfires that have ravaged the state in recent weeks.

This is typical Democrat political sleight of hand.

Oil companies had NOTHING to do with the destructive nature of these fires. If people want to sue someone, they should sue the Democrats who run the state and completely dropped the ball on being ready for these entirely predictable fires.

It’s amazing that this is even real.

From CBS News:

A newly proposed California state law would create a new pathway for victims of wildfires and insurance companies to sue oil companies over climate change.

Democratic State Senator Scott Weiner introduced the bill directly linking the wildfires to climate change caused by oil companies, as part of the statewide response to the Los Angeles-area wildfires.

“Absolutely catastrophic wildfires happening in the middle of winter,” Weiner said. “For insurance companies, they’re going to have to, if this bill passes, they’re going to have to take a very hard look at seeking compensation from the oil companies.”

Republican State Senator Roger Niello is opposed to the bill.

“It will be an invitation for lawsuits,” Niello said. “This furthers the narrative, the false narrative that this is all about climate change. It is of course much more complicated than that.”

This is Weiner. He is trying to place all of the blame for this on climate change and oil companies.

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Purdue Pharma and owners to pay $7.4 billion in settlement of lawsuits over the toll of OxyContin

Members of the family who own OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, and the company itself, agreed to pay up to $7.4 billion in a new settlement to lawsuits over the toll of the powerful prescription painkiller, the attorneys general from several states announced Thursday.

The deal, agreed to by Purdue Pharma, the Sackler family members who own the company and lawyers representing state and local governments and thousands of victims of the opioid crisis, replaces a previous settlement deal that was rejected last year by the U.S. Supreme Court.

In the new one, the Sacklers agreed to pay up to $6.5 billion and give up ownership of the company, which would pay nearly $900 million. The maximum contribution from family members is $500 million more than the previous deal.

It’s among the largest settlements reached over the past several years in a series of lawsuits by local, state, Native American tribal governments and others seeking to hold companies responsible for a deadly epidemic. Aside from the Purdue deal, others worth around $50 billion have been announced — and most of the money is required to be used to stem the crisis.

The deal still needs court approval, and some of the details are yet to be ironed out. An arm of the federal Department of Justice opposed the previous settlement, even after every state agreed, and took the battle to the U.S. Supreme Court. But under President Donald Trump, the federal government is not expected to oppose the new deal.

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