After nearly two years of legal wrangling, former NBA player Roy Tarpley (44) settled a federal lawsuit against the NBA and the Dallas Mavericks in which he claimed the league and the team violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by refusing to reinstate him after a ban for drug use.  Tarpley said the lawsuit was not about trying to play again but about clearing his name. 

After failing drug test after drug test, being banned from the NBA and then returning, and failing another mandatory drug test which resulted in a permanent ban from the NBA, Tarpley filed a lawsuit in September 2007 arguing that the league and team discriminated against him on the basis of his disability as a recovering drug and alcohol abuser.

According to the lawsuit, "Tarpley is a qualified individual with a disability within the meaning of the ADA, in that he has a disability in the form of past drug and alcohol abuse, which substantially limits at least one of his major life activities.”

The lawsuit was settled by the league as a “nuisance” suit, with Tarpley collecting roughly $50,000 of the sought-after $6.5 million.

—Source:  Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Texas)

A Michigan woman who sued a police dog over an alleged bite has been fined for filing a frivolous lawsuit. 

Inez Starks (55) sued the city of Warren, several police officers and a police dog named Liberty, claiming she suffered nerve damage after the German Shepherd bit her on the buttocks during a truancy complaint confrontation.  “The K9 went out of control and viciously and brutally bit Inez Stark's [sic] right buttocks cheek, as well as biting Warren Police Officer [Scott] Taylor's leg,” the complaint said. 

After evidence failed to reveal that Starks was bitten, Warren District Judge David Viviano fined Starks $500 for frivolously naming the dog in the lawsuit.

—Source:  Onpointnews.com

A California restaurant has been sued because one of its bathroom mirrors was two inches too high. 

After the original mirror was vandalized, restaurant owner Ron Piazza replaced it with a new mirror that was set two inches higher than the old one, allegedly in non-compliance with California's disabilities laws.  Before Piazza became aware of and corrected the mistake, three plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit claim to have visited the restaurant a total of 27 times over a three-month period and allege that they suffered damages on each visit.

“It would have been very easy for them to let us know that the mirror was a couple of inches too high, and we could have taken care of that right away,” Piazza said.  “Had I not lowered the mirror, they probably would have continued to come and log more visits … It's very clear to me that they were instructed by someone who really knew the law on how many times to visit, what to look for.”

Thanks to a new national campaign sponsored by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform called “Faces of Lawsuit Abuse,” Piazza's story is being told to highlight abusive lawsuits and the impact on small businesses, many of which are family -- or locally --owned.

“Abuse lawsuits are not victimless,” said ILR President Lisa Rickard.  “Many people think big-dollar lawsuits are only filed against 'deep pocket' corporations.  Yet, in this current economic climate, many locally-owned businesses like Ron Piazza's are just one lawsuit away from closing their doors.”

To learn more about Faces of Lawsuit Abuse and to view a short video of Piazza's story, visit http://www.facesoflawsuitabuse.org.

—Source:  www.facesoflawsuitabuse.org

A purse thief is suing his victim.  New York City resident Margaret Johnson, 59, was sitting in her motorized wheelchair outside her Lenox Terrace apartment when Deron Johnson, 48, allegedly tried to snatch her purse and gold chain.  Margaret Johnson pulled out her licensed .357 Magnum and fired a shot at Mr. Johnson, hitting him in the elbow.  Police arrived shortly thereafter and arrested him.

Mr. Johnson, who has nine previous arrests, claimed that Margaret Johnson shot him after he kicked her dog that tried to bite him.  He denied being a mugger and was acquitted on the charges.

Now Deron Johnson is suing Margaret Johnson and her landlord for $5 million.  “What's grandma doing walking the streets with a loaded gun?” Craig Davidowitz, Deron Johnson's attorney said, claiming that Lenox Terrace failed to protect his client.  “They should have known they had a tenant walking around with a loaded weapon.”

Margaret Johnson, whose grandfather Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson once ruled Harlem's underworld and was a famous inmate at Alcatraz, was shocked by the lawsuit.  “I didn't think you had to pay to get mugged in New York City,” she said.

—Source:  New York Post