Lawsuits

Court: Fidelity investment advisers not covered by federal whistleblower law

adamg — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:56:32 +0000

A federal appeals court today tossed a lawsuit by two people working for a Fidelity subscontractor who alleged they were fired for bringing up possible accounting irregularities, because a federal law intended to protect the public from securities fraud is limited to employees of companies that are publicly traded.

Them's fightin' words, and them's not protected under the First Amendment, court rules

adamg — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:22:21 +0000

The Supreme Judicial Court today upheld a state law that lets somebody take out a "harassment order" against a person who utters "fighting words" or "true threats."

A law passed in 2010 extended some of the protections accorded victims of domestic abuse to people feeling abused by people not in their immediate family, if they could show three examples of harassment.

One of its first applications came not long after in Northampton, where a police officer got one of the new orders against a long-standing acquaintance who seemed to have a grudge against him; the man appealed, saying he had a First Amendment right to flip the officer off and to blare his horn outside the cop's house.

Court says it's past time for government to pay up for letting Whitey Bulger get away with murder

adamg — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 03:27:41 +0000

A federal appeals court today ordered the government to pay nearly $3 million to the families of three people murdered by Whitey Bulger when he was under FBI protection.

In two rulings issued today, the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston said enough was enough, Bulger and pal Stephen Flemmi were able to kill people because they knew the government wouldn't touch him and that the government should pay for its role in the murders of Louis Litif, Debra Davis and Deborah Hussey.

Court: If you steal somebody's gun, then accidentally shoot yourself and die, your survivors aren't entitled to a cent

adamg — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:47:18 +0000

The Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled today a gun owner was not liable for the death of a man who stole one of his guns then died when the gun went off as he was putting it back at his sister's insistence.

End of lawsuits means construction can begin on luxury housing on Lovejoy Wharf

adamg — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 16:37:54 +0000

The Boston Business Journal reports on the end of litigation by residents of one luxury building against a proposed luxury building on the water by North Station.

Boston firm says Quincy man's company name not such a capital idea

adamg — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:50:02 +0000

Boston Capital, which has been providing financial services since the 1970s, is suing a Quincy resident who's set up a company to provide financial services called Boston Capital Partners.

In a lawsuit filed yesterday in US District Court in Boston, Boston Capital accuses Ravi Chaudhary of glomming onto its name in a deliberate attempt to confuse people, and that he failed to change his ways after it asked him to back in March. The suit asks a judge to order him to stop using the name, destroy any promotional material emblazoned with the name, hand his Web site over to the Boston firm and, of course, pay lots of money.

In latest sequel, Wimpy Kid battles zombies

adamg — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 13:16:42 +0000

The author of the popular "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series is trying to kill a series called Diary of a Zombie Kid.

In a lawsuit filed yesterday in US District Court in Boston, Wimpy author Jeff Kinney's Wimpy Kid, Inc., accused Antarctic Press, Inc. of improperly trying to horn in on the Wimpy Kid's success and of confusing Wimpy Kid readers into thinking Greg Heffley is now out for brains, through similar titles, illustrations and book design.

Wimpy Kid filed suit here because it's based in Plainville; Antarctic is located in Texas.

Wimpy Kid wants the Texans to cut it out right now, hand over all unsold copies of its books and, naturally, be forced to pay lots of money as recompense.

Wimpy complaint

Software company demands $30 million from former worker it claims stole its software, customer records

adamg — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 17:33:09 +0000

Envisn, a company that makes software for managing Cognos "business intelligence" systems, yesterday sued its former support manager, charging she spent a couple of hours downloading all of the company's software and customer records and then quit.

In its suit, filed in US District Court in Boston, the Harvard-based company seeks an injunction against Kathleen Davis doing anything with the data she has and $30 million in damages. Envisn charges that with her knowledge of the software, she could easily decompile the code, help a competitor come out with a cheaper version and destroy the company.

The suit alleges that on Nov. 28, starting around 6:04 a.m., Davis downloaded copies of Envisn's products - including a beta that had been given to just two customers - as well as customer records from salesforce.com. At 8:15 a.m., the suit alleges, she e-mailed company President Charles Ryan that she was resigning, effective immediately.

Android users sue over software they say spies on them

adamg — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 12:31:01 +0000

Two users of Android mobile phones yesterday filed class-action lawsuits against the manufacturer of their phones and a software company that boasts it can track what Android users are doing even when their phones are in airplane mode.

State charges foreclosure, lending fraud by giant lenders

adamg — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 04:19:55 +0000

Attorney General Martha Coakley today announced a lawsuit against five large banks and mortgage companies, alleging they falsified documents, seized property they had not right to, lied to borrowers about refinancing programs and attempted to circumvent state property registration laws by using a private clearinghouse - which is also named in the complaint.

The suit, filed in Suffolk Superior Court, names Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, Citi, GMAC and the Mortgage Electronic Registration System.

Court: Cronyism in Boston Fire Department not a First Amendment issue

adamg — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 23:14:23 +0000

A federal appeals court today tossed the First Amendment claims of a group of Boston Fire Department clerical workers passed over for promotions, saying that while it's unfortunate they may have lost out because they weren't friends with the mayor's cronies in management, that doesn't rise to the level of a violation of their First Amendment rights.

The workers alleged they were passed over repeatedly for promotions in favor of friends or members of "the Hyde Park Group" affiliated with pals of the mayor and a similar "South Boston Group."

Court: Real-estate brokers can be held legally responsible for what they tell buyers

adamg — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:56:47 +0000

A divided Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled today a man who bought a Norwell house in part because the broker told him it was zoned for use as the hair salon he wanted to open should get a trial to try to persuade a jury he deserves damages because it turns out the house wasn't zoned for that use.

Daniel DeWolfe bought a two-family house on Washington Street in Norwell that had been advertised by its listing brokerage, Hingham Centre, Ltd., as zoned "Business B," which a broker told him meant it was suitable for a salon. The property's MLS listing also said it was zoned that way, and the broker gave him a copy of part of the town zoning code allowing salons with "Business B" handwritten at the top.

In fact, the property was zoned "Residential B," which does not allow salons, and something DeWolfe did not learn until after he had gotten both a permit for a new septic system and a building permit to install his salon on the first floor.

Trouble brewing: Keurig lawsuit says single-serve coffee makers are not open source

adamg — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 14:26:53 +0000

Keurig, the Reading-based maker of single-serving coffee machines, is suing a California company that makes knock-off K-cups.

In a lawsuit filed this week in US District Court in Boston, Keurig says the Rogers Family Co.'s OneCups violate two Keurig patents (here and here) for a "brew chamber for a single serve beverage brewer."

Court to former state rep: Nice try, but no, you're not going to get a pension increase because you had a state parking space

adamg — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:01:46 +0000

The Massachusetts Court of Appeals today rejected former state Rep. Marie Parente's bid to have her pension increased based on the estimated value of her state-provided parking space on Beacon Hill and her per-diem payments for traveling to and from her home in Milford.

Mall life not all it's cracked up to be, some owners say in suit against Natick Mall condo developers

adamg — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 23:44:10 +0000

Some of the first people to buy pricey condos at the Natick Mall are suing to get their money back.