A New York personal injury lawyer recently filed a lawsuit against his upscale NYC gym because it stopped serving breakfast. 

Richard Katz is suing New York City's Setai Club & Spa Wall Street, claiming their misleading actions were illegal, despicable, reckless, malicious, deliberate and immoral.  Katz, who pays a $5,000 annual membership fee, states in his complaint that the gym promised “full complimentary breakfast” knowing that they would not be able to make good on the offer and that Katz relied on that promise to his detriment.

"It was a full-blown hotel breakfast," said Katz, 53, who lives in the West Village with his wife.  "I'd go to the gym in the morning, have a spa and a nice quiet breakfast and do some work -- they mucked it all up."

Katz is seeking $750,000 in damages.

—Source:  abovethelaw.com

From his cell at a detention center in Brighton, Colorado, convicted felon Jesse Dimmick has filed a counter suit in Shawnee County District Court alleging that the couple he held hostage breached an oral contract to hide him for money.

Dimmick, on the run from police officers for his purported connection with a Colorado slaying in 2009, abandoned his disabled vehicle and fled to a nearby home where he confronted the residents with a knife.  Over the c ourse of the encounter, the couple gained Dimmick's trust by eating and watching a movie with him.  Eventually, Dimmick fell asleep and the couple left the house and authorities moved in and took Dimmick into custody.

The couple sued Dimmick for damages in excess of $75,000, contending he was guilty of trespass, intrusion and negligent infliction of emotional distress.  Now, Dimmick is counter suing the couple for $235,000, contending they breached an oral contract to hide him in exchange for money.

In his lawsuit, Dimmick says he informed the couple he was being pursued by law enforcement officers and asked them to hide him in exchange for money. The couple agreed, he says, and thus formed a “legally binding oral contract.”

The couple's attorney, Robert E. Keeshan, has filed a motion for dismissal, stating that there was no binding contract because: no specific dollar amount was agreed upon; hiding a fugitive is illegal and can't be the basis for a legal contract, and if the couple did consent it was clearly under duress.

Dimmick is representing himself in the matter.

—Source: The Topeka Capital Journal (Kansas)

Two warring factions of the Occupy Boston movement are headed to court.

Self-proclaimed original Boston occupier Paul Carnes is suing four other tent city residents alleging breach of contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress and violation of the state's consumer protection laws. According to news reports, Carnes filed the three-count complaint to protect the business entity known as Occupy Boston and to stop the other faction from getting too much power.

“We want to take Occupy Boston back,” said Carnes, who officially registered Occupy Boston as a "doing business entity" with the city of Boston on October 18th.  "I formed the financial accountability group because the donations were coming in, and the money was getting taken, so we started putting this together."

A week later, another occupier registered another "doing business as" entity in the name of Occupy Boston-Financial Accountability Working Group.  Carnes accuses this group of using funds to purchase tents and clothes without the permission of other members.

Defendant David Kelston calls the lawsuit groundless. "There was a mediated agreement that was reached and FAWG (Occupy's Financial Accountability Working Group) has upheld that agreement," said Kelston.

—Source:  BostonHerald.com

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is suing Sea World on behalf of five orca whales, alleging that Sea World's treatment of the whales violates the 13th Amendment's prohibition against slavery and involuntary servitude.

“Slavery is slavery, and it does not depend on the species of the slave any more than it depends on gender, race, or religion,” PETA claims in defense of its position that the 13th Amendment, while prohibiting slavery and involuntary servitude, does not specify that only humans can be victims.  The lawsuit seeks to have the orcas released to the custody of a legal guardian who would find a "suitable habitat" for them.

"By any definition, these orcas are slaves -- kidnapped from their homes, kept confined, denied everything that's natural to them and forced to perform tricks for SeaWorld's profit," said Jeff Kerr, PETA's General Counsel. "The males have their sperm collected, the females are artificially inseminated and forced to bear young which are sometimes shipped away."

SeaWorld said any effort to extend the 13th Amendment's protections beyond humans "is baseless and in many ways offensive."

—Sources: Heritage.org and Foxnews.com