Page 5 - Lawsuits

Witness who angered judge in Trump's hush money trial will return to stand

A defence witness in Donald Trump's hush money case whom the judge threatened to remove from the trial over his behaviour will return to the stand on Tuesday as the trial nears its end. Trump's lawyers are hoping Robert Costello's testimony will help undermine the credibility of a key prosecution witness, Trump fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen. But Costello angered Judge Juan Merchan on Monday by making comments under his breath, rolling his eyes and calling the whole exercise ridiculous", prompting the judge to briefly kick reporters out of the courtroom to admonish him. The judge told Costello, a former federal prosecutor, he was being contemptuous", adding, If you try to stare me down one more time, I will remove you from the stand", according to a court transcript. Costello didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday from The Associated Press. The chaotic scene unfolded after prosecutors rested their case accusing Trump of falsifying business records as part of

GSK faces lawsuit from lab that found probable carcinogen in Zantac

Big drugmakers already face some 80,000 state suits from users of the drug who say their cancers were caused by Zantac contaminated with NDMA, the dangerous chemical Valisure discovered

Cohen gives insider details at trial as Trump's attorney accuses him

It wasn't until after a decade in the fold, after his family pleaded with him, after the FBI raided his office, apartment and hotel room, Michael Cohen testified Tuesday, that he finally decided to turn on Donald Trump. The complicated break led to a 2018 guilty plea to federal charges involving a payment to the porn actor Stormy Daniels to bury her story of an alleged sexual encounter with Trump and to other, unrelated crimes. And it's that insider knowledge of shady deals that pushed Manhattan prosecutors to make Cohen the star witness in their case against Trump about that same payment, which they say was an illegal effort to influence the 2016 presidential election. To keep the loyalty and to do the things that he had asked me to do, I violated my moral compass, and I suffered the penalty, as has my family, Cohen testified Tuesday. But defence attorneys sought to portray Cohen as motivated by vengeance on his former boss, confronting him on the witness stand with his own profan

Rumble sues Google for $1 billion over its digital advertising practices

This is the second time Rumble has filed a lawsuit against Google. The earlier suit filed in 2021 accused the company of favoring itself and its video sharing platform, YouTube, in its search results

Pfizer reaches settlement in over 10,000 cancer lawsuits related to Zantac

Financial terms of the settlements were not immediately disclosed for the discontinued over-the-counter drug that was used to treat heartburn

J&J subsidiary proposes paying $6.48 bn over 25 yrs to settle talc lawsuits

A subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson is now proposing paying approximately USD 6.48 billion over 25 years as part of a settlement to cover allegations that its baby powder containing talc caused ovarian cancer. The lawsuits filed against JandJ had alleged its talcum powder caused users to develop ovarian cancer, through use for feminine hygiene, or mesothelioma, a cancer that strikes the lungs and other organs. JandJ said that the reorganization plan for the subsidiary that was being announced on Wednesday was significantly different from the previous reorganization that was announced. Those differences include a three-month solicitation period during which ovarian claimants can vote for or against the plan. This is something that was denied in prior bankruptcy cases, the company said. And if 75 per cent of claimants vote in favor of the plan, a subsidiary may file a prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy to secure its confirmation. The remaining pending personal injury lawsuits that rel

As Trump faces charges over 2 cases, is the hush money case a worthy proxy?

Former President Donald Trump faces serious charges in two separate cases over whether he attempted to subvert the Constitution by overturning the results of a fair election and illegally remain in power. Yet it's a New York case centred on payments to silence an adult film actress that might provide the only legal reckoning this year on whether he tried to undermine a pillar of American democracy. Trump is charged in the so-called hush money case with trying to falsify business records, but it was hard to tell that as the trial opened Monday. Lead prosecutor Matthew Colangelo wasted little time during opening statements tying the case to Trump's campaigning during his first run for the presidency. He said the payments made to Stormy Daniels amounted to "a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election." Whether the jury accepts that connection will be pivotal for Trump's fate. The presumptive nominee faces charges related to falsifying business records that would typica

Catch-and-kill strategy to be described as Trump's hush money trial resumes

A longtime tabloid publisher was expected Tuesday to tell jurors about his efforts to help Donald Trump stifle unflattering stories during the 2016 campaign as testimony resumes in the historic hush money trial of the former president. David Pecker, the former National Enquirer publisher who prosecutors say worked with Trump and Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, on a so-called catch-and-kill strategy to buy up and then spike negative stories during the campaign, testified briefly Monday and will be back on the stand Tuesday in the Manhattan trial. Also Tuesday, prosecutors are expected to tell a judge that Trump should be held in contempt over a series of posts on his Truth Social platform that they say violated an earlier gag order barring him from attacking witnesses in the case. Trump's lawyers deny that he broke the order. Pecker's testimony followed opening statements in which prosecutors alleged that Trump had sought to illegally influence the 2016 race by preventing damaging ...

Australian prosecutors drop billionaire Andrew Forrest's case against Meta

He had pursued the lawsuit under Australian laws that allow an individual to criminally prosecute a foreign corporation with the consent of the attorney general

Impulse to speak out leads to 'self-inflicted wounds', says Elon Musk

Musk was sued in Texas state court in October by Ben Brody after endorsing a social media post that compared an Instagram profile of Brody to a photo of a White supremacist

Tesla settles lawsuit over man's death in crash involving its Autopilot

Tesla has settled lawsuit brought by the family of a Silicon Valley engineer who died in a crash while relying on the company's semi-autonomous driving software. The size of the settlement was not disclosed in court documents filed Monday, just a day before the trial stemming from the 2018 crash on a San Francisco Bay Area highway was scheduled to begin. The family of Walter Huang filed a negligence and wrongful death lawsuit in 2019 seeking to hold Tesla and, by extension, its CEO Elon Musk liable for repeatedly exaggerating the capabilities of Tesla's self-driving car technology. They claimed the technology, dubbed Autopilot, was promoted in egregious ways that caused vehicle owners to believe they didn't have to remain vigilant while they were behind the wheel. Evidence indicated that Huang was playing a video game on his iPhone when he crashed into a concrete highway barrier on March 23, 2018. After dropping his son off at preschool, Huang activated the Autopilot feature on h

US firm helping immigrants in detention to pay over $811 mn in lawsuit

A company that provides services for immigrants in federal detention was ordered Tuesday to pay more than $811 million in restitution and penalties in a lawsuit alleging it used deceptive and abusive tactics. Nexus Services must pay roughly $231 million in restitution as well as penalties of $13.8 million to New York, $7.1 million to Virginia and $3.4 million to Massachusetts, according to a judgement filed in federal court for the Western District of Virginia in Harrisonburg. The Virginia-based company, its subsidiary Libre by Nexus and its three executives must also each pay more than $111 million in civil penalties. This judgment is a victory for thousands of immigrant families who lost their life savings and were targeted and preyed on by Libre, New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. Libre exploited vulnerable immigrants and their families to pad its pockets, and that is illegal and unconscionable. James joined state attorneys general in Virginia and ...

Minority shareholders file suit against promoters of Jindal Poly Films

Minority shareholders of Jindal Poly Films have initiated a class action suit against the management and promoters of the company before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) alleging loss due to their actions. The petitioners, which collectively hold a 4.99 per cent shareholding in Jindal Poly Films, a manufacturer of speciality films, have alleged "oppression and mismanagement" against them and have sought damages from the company. The petition filed under section 245 of the Companies Act, alleged that the sale of optionally-convertible preference (OCPS) shares and redeemable preferences shares (RPS) held by the company in a subsidiary to its promoter entity SSJ Trust and other firms at depressed valuations had caused a loss to the company and should be declared null and void. They have requested NCLT to declare the sale of OCPS and RPS to SSJ Trust (through its trustees Shyam Sunder Jindal and Subhadra Jindal) and Jindal Poly Investment as being null and void, and reverse the

AI firms face growing list of lawsuits as new tools spark fresh questions

The lawsuit filed Thursday adds to a growing list of legal complaints against the ChatGPT maker in recent months

'Categorically disagree' with Elon Musk's lawsuit, says AI startup OpenAI

In a separate memo, also seen by Bloomberg, Altman called Musk a hero of his and said he misses the person he knew who competed with others by building better technology

Elon Musk sues OpenAI, chief executive Sam Altman for abandoning mission

Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015, but stepped down from its board in 2018. He also runs electric vehicle maker Tesla and rocket maker SpaceX and bought Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022

Pfizer agrees to pay $93 million to settle Lipitor antitrust lawsuit

Attorneys for Lipitor purchasers including Rochester Drug Co-Operative Inc and Puerto Rico's Drogueria Betances LLC disclosed the agreement in a filing on Wednesday in US court in Trenton, New Jersey

Apple is settling 2022 chip secrets theft case against startup Rivos

In a joint court filing Friday, the companies told a judge they're aiming to finalize an accord that resolves their claims against each other by March 15

Elon Musk backs lawsuit against Walt Disney over 'Mandalorian' firing

Carano's lawsuit filed in federal court in Los Angeles claims Disney and Lucasfilm Ltd. violated California law in terminating her from the Star Wars spinoff in Feb 2021 due to her political views

Disney wants secrets kept confidential in lawsuit with DeSantis appointees

Disney wants to keep confidential any proprietary information or trade secrets that comes out of its state court fight with Gov. Ron DeSantis' appointees over who controls the governing district at Walt Disney World. The entertainment giant asked a state court judge on Friday for a protective order allowing it to designate documents and depositions as confidential and requiring parties handling them to sign a nondisclosure agreement. The litigation is likely going to involve the disclosure of trade secrets, as well as technical, financial and personal information, which could result in significant harm if they are made public, Disney said in its request. The request was unopposed by the DeSantis appointees. Disney supporters had run the district, which provides municipal services such as firefighting, planning and mosquito control, for more than five decades after the Legislature created it in 1967. But legislation passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by DeSant