Ex-Guess employees awarded $370M in civil defamation suit.

The AP (7/28) reported, "A jury returned a $370 million verdict against Guess Inc. co-founder Georges Marciano Friday in a civil defamation lawsuit that was filed by five former employees. Each ex-employee will get $69 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, according to the Los Angeles County Superior Court verdict."

Florida student awarded $1.6M in school bus crash case.

The Tampa Tribune (7/27, Leskanic) reported, "A jury deliberated for three hours Monday before finding the Pasco County school district negligent in a 2006 crash that severely injured a 16-year-old boy. The jury awarded Marcus Button, now 19, and his parents, Robin and Mark Button, $1.625 million in damages, which his mother has said she will use to pay for his continuing medical care." Marcus Button "was injured Sept. 22, 2006, when the car he was riding in collided with a Pasco County school bus."

Former umpire urges passage of Medical Device Safety Act.

The New Haven Register (7/21, Sullo) reported, "Mark Hirschbeck had his dream job as a Major League Baseball umpire and reached a career high with the 2001 World Series, but he says what started as routine hip replacement surgery cost him his career and has led to years of pain." Hirschbeck ultimately underwent three hip replacements with a ceramic hip supplied by Wright Medical technology, suffering problems with each one. He has a suit pending against his doctor and Wright, and he "is among those advocating for Congress to pass the Medical Device Safety Act."
The AP (7/21) reported, "The 48-year-old Shelton resident says the legislation is needed to undo a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year that shielded medical device manufacturers from lawsuits." He "says companies must be held responsible for faulty products."

Michigan settles prison abuse class-action for $100M.

The AP (7/15) reported, "Michigan has agreed to pay $100 million to settle a class-action lawsuit by more than 500 female inmates who claimed they were sexually assaulted, abused and harassed by male corrections staff. Gov. Jennifer Granholm authorized the settlement after juries in two trials returned with verdicts that, with interest, would have totaled nearly $60 million, Department of Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan said." A jury in 2008 "awarded 10 female inmates $15.5 million for abuse they suffered at the hands of male staff at Scott Correctional Facility in Plymouth. A second jury awarded more than $8 million to female inmates at another facility."
The Detroit Free Press (7/15, Seidel) reported, "'This is a good deal for the state,' said Deborah LaBelle, the lead lawyer for the women. 'The damage had gone on so long and the harm had occurred was so deep. If we tried all of these, the cost to the state would have been a billion dollars.'"

Houston man awarded $10M in malpractice case.

The Houston Chronicle (7/2, Ackerman) reports that a Harris County, Texas, judge "ruled in favor of a Houston man in a medical malpractice case" on Tuesday, "awarding him $10 million in damages stemming from a lawsuit against Methodist Hospital and the doctors who treated him there." John German's left leg required amputation above the knee and he lost "all the toes on his right foot and all of his fingers in the aftermath of heart surgery in 2002."

Ex-marine wins $16.25M in negligence settlement.

The Philadelphia Inquirer (7/1, Bender) reports that Scott Skirpan, "a softhearted ex-Marine from Easton, lost both his legs three years ago in a gruesome industrial accident at a Northampton County landfill. This week in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, the firm that owns the landfill, and Caterpillar Inc. - which made the bulldozer that crushed his legs like toothpicks - agreed to pay Skirpan a whopping $16.25 million to settle his negligence lawsuit in midtrial. It is one of the largest settlements in Pennsylvania history for a single-victim personal-injury case, lawyers said. But Skirpan, a cement-finisher, says he'd rather be a working stiff with four limbs than a millionaire who can't walk."
The AP (6/30) reported that Skirpan "says other workers stood by and watched and he had to call 911 on a cell phone." Skirpan "sought help from lawyers who got the settlement worked out. Paul Lauricella of The Beasley Firm in Philadelphia says he hoped things would work out the right way and in this case he thinks they di