The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld the dismissal of a class action lawsuit which sought, among other things, to require sellers of milk to put labels on their containers warning consumers that some may experience adverse symptoms if they drink milk and are lactose intolerant.

According to court documents, the class of plaintiffs, defined as consisting of individuals who consumed milk before becoming aware that they were lactose intolerant, suggested two specific warnings. The first stated, "Warning - If you experience diarrhea or stomach cramps after consuming milk, you may be lactose intolerant. Check with your physician." The second proposed, "Warning - Lactose intolerant individuals may experience bloating, diarrhea, or other gastrointestinal discomfort from consuming milk. Check with your physician."

In affirming the lower court's dismissal, the appellate court concurred that the manufacturers had no duty to warn because the health consequences of being lactose intolerant are well known. "We hold as a matter of law that a reasonable consumer today would be well aware that milk may adversely affect some people," the court concluded, adding that "the risk that milk will cause temporary gas and stomach discomfort to lactose-intolerant individuals who do not yet know of their condition cannot support a failure-to-warn tort claim under D.C. tort law."

Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, author of the court's opinion, cautioned that "a bout of gas or indigestion does not justify a race to the courthouse. Indeed, were the rule otherwise, a variety of food manufacturers as well as stadiums, bars, restaurants, convenience stores, and hot dog stands throughout the country would be liable to millions of would-be plaintiffs every day. Plaintiffs' novel claim falls short of what D.C. law requires."

—Source: Law.com

We knew it wouldn't be long before the highly sought-after, incredibly popular and hard-to-come-by gift of the year, the Nintendo Wii game system, along with its games, ended up being the targets of lawsuits.

San Diego resident Samuel Livingston is suing Activision, Inc., the maker of the popular Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock game, advertised and sold as fully supported on the Nintendo Wii video game console. According to court documents, the Guitar Hero III game does not meet its claim to support Dolby Pro Logic II surround sound for the Wii. Rather, Livingston claims that gamers are only provided with mono sound for nearly all aspects of game play.

Livingston's lawsuit charges that Activision engaged in deceptive and unlawful conduct in designing, manufacturing, distributing, and selling a defectively designed music video game for the Nintendo Wii game console. In addition to seeking class action status, damages are sought in the amount of monies paid for Guitar Hero III games for Wii, and unspecified actual damages, statutory damages, punitive or treble damages, and such other relief as provided by statutes, equitable relief in the form of restitution and/or disgorgement of all unlawful or illegal profits received by defendant, and the costs of bringing the suit, including reasonable attorneys' fees.

In reporting about the lawsuit, TMZ.com, a joint venture between Telepictures Productions and AOL, noted, "The true miracle - that this player could rip himself away from the game long enough to actually file a lawsuit."

—Source: TMZ.com and court documents

A state judge in Louisiana agreed to postpone the start of trial because lawyers for both parties had tickets to the BCS national championship game, which was played between Louisiana State University and Ohio State University on January 7th, the same day the trial was supposed to begin.

West Baton Rouge Parish District Judge Alvin Batiste granted defense attorney Stephen Babcock’s request. “All counsel to this matter unequivocally agree that the presence of LSU in the aforementioned contest of pigskin skill unquestionably constitutes good grounds therefore,” Babcock wrote in his written request. “In fact we have been unable through much imagination and hypothetical scenarios to think of a better reason.”

According to news reports, in addition to having tickets to the game, Babcock and other LSU fans had rented out the second floor of a Bourbon Street bar for a pre-game tailgate party. In noting that the lawyers for the plaintiff also had tickets and didn’t oppose the motion, Babcock stated “we might disagree on the merits of the case, but everyone was in agreement on this, for sure.”

—Source: Pensacola News Journal