Daughter’s Celebratory Facebook Post Really “Sucked”–Gulliver Schools v. Snay
Patrick Snay was headmaster at Gulliver Preparatory School, a private school in the Miami area. The school didn’t renew his contract, so he sued for age discrimination and retaliation. The parties settled confidentially for $150k, broken down as $10k of…
In Its “Innocence of Muslims” Ruling, the Ninth Circuit is Guilty of Judicial Activism–Garcia v. Google
In a ruling that sent shockwaves through the internet community, the Ninth Circuit, with one judge dissenting, found that an injunction should have been granted against YouTube, requiring removal of the “Innocence of Muslims” film. Does Garcia have a copyright…
Revenge Porn Prosecution Stumbles In New York
The defendant: Posted naked pictures of [Jane Doe]*, who was then his girlfriend, on his Twitter account, and also sent those pictures to [Doe’s] employer and sister. Defendant was charged with (1) aggravated harassment; (2) dissemination of “unlawful surveillance images”;…
Revenge Porn Threat Justified Injunction
Clark and McLane engaged in a several month-long relationship, which ended when Clark notified McLane’s wife of the affair. McLane threatened Clark: He informed her that he had created a website in her name on which he planned to post…
TCPA Claim Over Yahoo!’s IM to SMS Messaging Survives Summary Judgment
Yahoo! offers instant message users the ability to receive a text message notification of an instant message. A customer received two messages, and sued for violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The court denies Yahoo!’s motion for summary judgment….
Law Student Can’t Enforce Defense Lawyer’s “Prove-Me-Wrong” Promise in TV Interview
This is a fun case! Serrano was accused of murdering (in 1997) four people in central Florida. The trial attracted publicity, and his defense lawyer Mason fought the case in the court of public opinion as well as in court….
Demoting Police Officer for Posting Confederate Flag to Facebook Isn’t First Amendment Violation
Duke was a police officer who was Deputy Chief of the Clayton State University Police Department. He had received uniformly positive job reviews. In the wake of the 2012 presidential election, he posted a confederate flag image along with the…
9th Circuit Says Plaintiff Had Standing to Sue Spokeo for Fair Credit Reporting Violations
Robins sued Spokeo alleging that Spokeo reported incorrect information about him—that he held a graduate degree and was wealthy—and this caused him difficulty in his job search and other harm. He alleged claims under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and…
Teacher’s Semi-Racy Facebook Photo Doesn’t Justify Firing – In re Laraine Cook
At what point does a teacher’s Facebook photo cross the line from humorous to inappropriate? Last December, an Idaho panel considered whether a teacher’s semi-racy photo justified the school district terminating her employment. See the photo in controversy at New…
H2 2013 Quick Links, Part 5 (Miscellaneous)
* Ars Technica: How the feds took down the Dread Pirate Roberts. A great story on how hard it is to remain anonymous online against determined federal agents. * Nice Reuters retrospective on Judge Rader. * DailyDot: The battle to destroy Wikipedia’s biggest sockpuppet army. Related: Is Wikipedia…