JD Journal » lawsuit

Mel Gibson to be Witness in Officer Discrimination Trial

chelsei — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:51:31 +0000

During the arrest of Mel Gibson on suspicion on drunk driving, the arresting officer now claims that he was discriminated against. Attorneys for the officer desire for Gibson to serves as a witness in the upcoming trial. Deputy James Mae claims that he was discriminated against after the arrest of the Oscar-winner because he is Jewish. The trial will focus its attention on things happening after the arrest of Gibson in 2006, and hope to use Gibson as a prime witness to determine if the officer did, indeed, suffer discrimination because of the arrest.

Mee’s attorneys want to prove to the court that due to a close relationship with Gibson, the Los Angeles County’s Sheriff’s Department acted to protect the star instead of put him to justice.

The county refuses to submit to the accusation that Mee faced retaliation or discrimination from the department.

During the arrest, Gibson made several anti-Semantic comments. This is where most of the trail will focus. Mee claims that department superiors forced Mee to remove the comments from the report. He also claims that he did not receive a promotion because of this incident, and he was ostracized from the rest of the department.

In 2009, the conviction of Gibson was expunged because he had complied all of the terms laid out in his sentence. However, the expungement did not do anything to repair his damaged reputation. Shortly after his arrest, details of his sexist rant and anti-Semitic remarks were shared with TMZ, a celebrity gossip website. Because of this leak, Gibson’s reputation was destroyed for years. The actor apologized for his behavior and worked hard to completed the terms of his sentence to begin rebuilding his reputation.

Prior to the arrest, Gibson worked as a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Mee’s attorneys are seeking the opportunity to show a public service of Gibson in a Deputy’s uniform he filmed before the arrest. The attorneys feel it will give a good context to the jurors regarding the actor’s relationship with the department.

In a court filing, his attorneys wrote that “the circumstances that serve as a backdrop to the harassment and hostile work environment that Deputy Mee suffered. Gibson wasn’t just another arrestee. He was the ‘public face’ of the department.”

Sheriff Lee Baca has also been requested to testify, according to a filed witness list for the case. Steve Whitmore, Baca’s spokesman, said, “He’ll do whatever is legally appropriate. We look forward to telling the whole story.”

The trial is scheduled to begin on February 14.

David Tutera Sued for Failing to Plan a Fair Wedding

chelsei — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:12:23 +0000

David Tutera, the star of WE’s wedding Reality show My Fair Wedding, is being sued by disgruntled former clients. The former clients are coming forward and saying that he failed to deliver the desired services to the wedded couples.

Aside from his fame from the reality show, Tutera claims a long list of celebrity clientele. According to the New York Daily News, that list includes very big names like Jennifer Lopez and Elton John. You’d think with such a high rise list of clientele, he would work hard to deliver the greatest amount of quality possible to his clients. However, that’s not the story provided by a few of his clients. It seems that if you are not a big name, your wedding is not at the top of his list of priorities.

However, that doesn’t change the price tag for his services. Hector Santana and Wendylee Perez hired Tutera to plan their wedding. His expertise and planning abilities came at a price of $15,000. This couple was not featured on the television series, nor an A-list couple.

According to the couple, Tutera explained that the hefty fee was supposed to cover “anything and everything that is needed to make the wedding happen.”

Well, the wedding happened, but it was nothing like they wanted. The dream of a perfect wedding quickly turned into a horrific nightmare. What was supposed to be a quaint, $10,000 wedding in the beautiful Dominican Republic quickly went out of control under the direct of Tutera.

The final tally for the wedding was $30,000. On top of those expenses, Tutera failed to provide the flowers, wedding cake, DJ, and even the invitations! As if that wasn’t bad enough, Tutera did not even come to the big day. They say that he claimed he had to go visit a sick relative in the hospital and could not attend their November 2010 wedding. Come to find out, Tutera had a taping for the reality show scheduled that day and he chose to attend that instead.

How detailed the contract is will determine the success or failure of the lawsuit for the disgruntled couple. If the contract does not explicitly state that Tutera would attend the event, provide the invitations, flowers, wedding cake and DJ, then Tutera may get off the hook with this lawsuit. However, if it does say those things, it may lead to a quiet settlement outside the courts.

That’s what happened in the previous lawsuit that My Fair Wedding faced. A bride claimed a lawsuit against the reality show for over $300,000. That was resolved outside of the courts. Will this end in a settlement as well? The answer lies in the details.

Kim Kardashian’s Reputation Questioned By Old Navy

chelsei — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:26:59 +0000

Kim Kardashian is suing Old Navy for airing a commercial with her lookalike, Melissa Molinaro. However, the fashion company does not plan to take the lawsuit sitting down. The Gap has a specific plan of action to win this case against Kardashian. Her reputation leaves little to be impressed about, and the Gap wants to make sure that juries understand that. With such a poor reputation throughout the nation, how could advertising her be a good thing for the company? At least, that’s the mindset that The Gap plans to present to the court. The Hollywood Reporter explains The Gap’s plan of action, as it continues to delve deeper into its investigation of Kim’s reputation:

Lawyer Louis Petrich has put together a plan that seeks to ferret out Kardashian’s true worth as the two sides engage in a discovery process that’s expected to take up much of this year. Among the documents sought by Petrich are financial records that show how much Bebe and Sears earned by making deals with Kardashian and why Bebe dropped Kardashian. The clothing retailer ditched the reality star about the same time that The New York Times published a particularly scathing review that described Kardashian’s Manhattan pop-up store as a “fashion desert”.

The moves could be in anticipation of making an argument similar to those in defamation cases where a defendant asserts the plaintiff is “libel-proof,” with a reputation so stained that no injury could cause true damage. Or maybe The Gap aims to show that Kardashian is no Molinaro, best known up until now for her appearance on MTV’s Making the Band 3, and that Kardashian could never sing and dance like her doppelgänger.

Among the most noteworthy possible witnesses in this case is Miami Dolphins running back Reggie Busy, one of Kardashian’s ex-boyfriends. The Gap wants Bush’s testimony. Bush reportedly began dating Molinaro after the Old Navy commercial came out and the defendants are going to make Bush’s relationships with both Kardashian and Molinaro an issue.

It is uncertain whether Reggie Bush will add value to The Gap’s stance in the lawsuit. At best, he may offer low blows regarding Kim. This will definitely add fuel to the fire as The Gap does its best to bring to light Kim’s horrid reputation. However, since the Kardashian clan thrives and gains more power from comments about Kim’s sex, The Gap’s strategy can either exalt her more or take her under.