A Roswell, Georgia, teenager and her family have filed a lawsuit against the City of Alpharetta, parade organizers and the maker of a cannon claiming that the cannon blast at an American Legion parade dramatically impaired the girl's hearing.
 
Brittany Giles claims the incident happened at a Veteran's Day parade in 2007 when then 14-year-old Giles was preparing to walk the parade route as a member of her high school's marching band.  In a Fulton County courtroom, Giles testified that she was near a cannon when it was fired and the cannon blast felt like a 50-pound weight on her eardrum and that she felt pain.  She also told jurors her doctor said acoustic trauma was to blame and the cannon likely caused the hearing loss.
 
Giles, who now wears hearing aids, claims she has been ridiculed by her classmates and even had to quit the band.
 
Alpharetta City Administrator Robert Regus testified no other complaints were received from other parade-goers.  Event planner Kim Dodson also testified no complaints were received from spectators.
 
—Source:  wsbradio.com (Atlanta)

A Dickinson, Texas woman is being sued by her son after allegedly charging up his credit cards and refusing to pay back the debt.
 
Matthew G. McMahon is suing his mother, Darlene L. Marzouk and her ex-husband (his father) for more than $26,000.  According to the complaint, McMahon claims that his parents racked up numerous charges on his credit cards which they are now refusing to pay.  He claims his parents approached him about using his low-interest credit cards and he agreed only after his parents promised to pay all charges and indemnify him.
 
Marzouk contends she did not make any such representations and accuses her son and ex-husband of attempting to re-litigate matters that were or should have been litigated in their divorce proceedings last year.  
 
—Source:  The Southeast Texas Record

Correction (February 9, 2012):   As reported in the Sourtheast Texas Record on February 8, 2012, Darlene Marzouk is Matthew McMahon's former step-mother, not his mother.

A state appeals court in New York has ruled that no evidence exists that a woman or her baby were harmed by a hospital mix-up in which the infant was briefly given to the wrong mother.
 
Lynda Williams gave birth to her daughter at the Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn, New York.  She claims the hospital staff handed the newborn to her one morning, then a few minutes later a group of nurses rushed in and took her away.  Apparently a hospital worker realized that two babies were placed in the wrong bassinets.  The employee was later dismissed.
 
Williams claimed the incident, though brief, caused her months of anxiety, particularly whether the other mother, who may have briefly nursed Williams' daughter, might have been drinking alcohol or using drugs.  Moreover, she also wondered if the baby she had taken home was the one she had delivered.
 
The court found no grounds for a lawsuit against the hospital.  Williams' lawyer, Lisa Pashkoff, said she plans to appeal the ruling. "It's bizarre," she said. "How can you find there's no duty to the parents is just beyond me. The whole thing was really a harrowing experience for them."

—Source:  UPI.com

Two brothers are suing the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) alleging that toll collectors "unlawfully detained motorists and passengers" when they paid with big bills.
 
According to news reports, Lakeland (FL) resident Joel Chandler started noticing that toll collectors made him wait as they filled out a form with the make, model and tag number of his car when he paid with larger bills.  The lawsuit states toll booth operators throughout Florida over the past four years collected personal information about motorists paying with $20, $50 and $100 bills before they could leave.  In some cases, the procedure was done for bills as low as $5, according to the lawsuit.
 
After months of requesting public records and asking questions, Chandler and his brother, Robert, claim they've uncovered a policy that ostensibly was in place to help investigate instances of counterfeit currency but violated constitutional rights.  The Chandler brothers claim their goal in filing the lawsuit is to have a federal judge declare the policy unconstitutional so it can never be reinstated.
 
"It is unconstitutional, and it is illegal to detain somebody against their will without lawful authority," said Joel Chandler. "What they are doing is something that even police officers don't have the authority to do."
 
The Chandlers say they weren't eager to file the lawsuit, but FDOT officials were evasive and uncooperative for months. Joel Chandler, however, is no stranger to lawsuits, having previously sued the Polk County School District and Lakeland Police Department in unrelated cases.  He said he has also pursued lawsuits against other public agencies throughout the state.
 
"I genuinely believe that government works best when it is transparent," said Chandler, who works as a consultant for office equipment dealers.
 
The Florida Attorney General's Office is representing the FDOT officials named in the lawsuit. Jennifer Krell, an agency spokeswoman, wouldn't comment on the pending litigation.  The motions state the practice was suspended on July 22, 2010, and there is no indication that it will be reinstated.
 
—Source:  NewsChief.com (Winter Haven, FL)