A Las Vegas high-stakes gambler has filed a civil suit against Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. alleging that staff at two of the parent company’s casinos plied him with liquor and pain medication as part of a plan to keep him gambling, a habit that ended up costing him nearly $127 million.

Former trinket importer and Oriental Trading Company owner Terrence Watanabe, a native of Omaha, Nebraska, claims that Harrah’s casinos offered him lucrative terms, including tickets to concerts, monthly airfare, credit at stores, and cash back on table losses, to gamble at its casinos.  In 2007, Watanabe fell in his luxury suite at one of the casino hotels and claims his casino-employed handlers supplied him doses of prescription pain medication.  Watanabe further claims that casino employees violated state gambling regulations by encouraging him to continue gambling while he was visibly intoxicated and under the influence of drugs, sometimes losing as much as $5 million in a single binge.

Based on Watanabe’s allegations, Nevada’s Gaming Control Board is investigating whether Harrah’s violated gambling regulations.

Harrah’s senior vice president for communications and government relations responds that, “We’re in the gambling business.  We had no reason to believe Terry Watanabe was anything other than a big player with huge resources who made an adult decision to bet the money he did.”  Harrah’s further contends that the civil suit filed by Watanabe is an attempt to get out of paying a debt and to avoid accepting responsibility for his own actions.

In a separate criminal matter, the Clark County District Attorney’s office has charged Watanabe with four felony counts for intent to defraud and steal from Harrah’s, stemming from a $14.7 million debt owed to the casinos.  If convicted, Watanabe faces up to 28 years in prison.

According to his lawyer, Pierce O’Donnell, Watanabe admits to drinking in excess and “takes full responsibility for his condition at the time … He’s not saying the devil made him do it.”  But he says Harrah’s “preyed” on Watanabe’s condition.

—Source:  The Wall Street Journal

Following a four-year legal battle, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit recently ruled that plaintiffs did not have standing to sue the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) over the slaughter practices for poultry.

The lawsuit, which was filed in San Francisco just days before Thanksgiving in 2005 by the Humane Society of the United States, contended that the USDA’s position that the Humane Method of Slaughter Act of 1958 did not apply to poultry leads to shoddy slaughter practices and jeopardizes food safety.  In the lawsuit, the Humane Society alleged that without legal protection, poultry is subject to “extreme and unnecessary pain and suffering.”

Calling the lawsuit “unnecessarily distracting,” Joel Brandenberger, president of the National Turkey Federation, added, “They’re trying to create an issue where there is none. They’re out trying to create a false impression of what’s going on in the industry.”

Following oral arguments, U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ruled in favor of the USDA, saying it was not Congress’ intent to include poultry in the phrase “other livestock” contained in a half-century old congressional act on humane slaughter.  On appeal, a three-judge panel decided that the plaintiffs did not have standing to sue, vacated the lower court’s ruling and sent it back to be dismissed.

Jonathan Lovvorn, an attorney for the Humane Society said a decision whether to appeal has not been made.

—Source:  The Los Angeles Times

A Houston lawyer filed a lawsuit last week seeking a permanent injunction to shut down the operation of The Beacon, a day center for homeless people.  Citing it as a "private nuisance," lawyer Harry C. Arthur claims the shelter's increased popularity is negatively impacting his nearby office.

“What started as a good and noble idea has instead grown and turned into a danger to the health and safety of others in the adjacent areas,” the lawsuit states. “The individuals sing, play music, dance, fight and (do) other undesirable activities. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, when The Beacon's operation is closed, things are once again quiet and pleasant.”

Arthur also seeks a minimum of $250,000 in damages from defendants Christ Church Cathedral and The Beacon to compensate him for loss of rentals and loss of market value on the property.
 
“This is nothing new,” Reverend Joe Reynolds said of the church's commitment to helping the homeless. “We don't want to go about it in a cavalier way, but the Christian community has been in the business of feeding the hungry for 2,000 years. We're not going to stop.”
 
—Source:  Houston Chronicle

Talk about throwing in the kitchen sink, which may be the only thing missing from the lawsuit filed by a Bay area man against the San Francisco International Airport, the airline carriers that service it, the couple who sold the plaintiff his $1.4 million home, the realtor and her company, and hundreds of other defendants, some unknown.

Former civil litigation attorney Stanley Hilton filed the $15 million lawsuit alleging that jet noise and air pollution ruined his marriage, and caused a nosedive in his health and professional career.  Hilton claims the reverse propulsion of jets bounces off the hilly surroundings and creates a reverberating, intolerable boom that he likened to bombs dropping in a war zone.

"The marriage went downhill almost immediately upon moving to this location," Hilton said.  "The house became extremely uncomfortable with the smog and the noise, and it caused enormous problems that led to the divorce."

Hilton, who in August was deemed ineligible to practice law, is no stranger to lawsuits.  In August, he sued a San Mateo building owner for $20 million after he got stuck in the building's elevator and allegedly developed a phobia to riding in elevators.  In 2002, Hilton filed a $7 billion federal class action lawsuit against the Bush Administration alleging its complicity in allowing the attacks on 9/11.

—Source:  nbcbayarea.com