Victims’ families in Massachusetts mob case tentatively awarded $2M in wrongful death lawsuits

September 30th, 2009 Judge urges new policy for terrorism victimsWASHINGTON — Victims of terrorism supported by Iran are not getting justice from U.S. courts, a frustrated federal judge said Wednesday as he proposed that the president and Congress come up with a new policy to hold Tehran accountable.

September 24th, 2009 Judge OKs $24M Chrysler wrongful death settlementNEW YORK — The bankruptcy court judge overseeing certain Chrysler assets has approved a $24 million settlement in the death of a California longshoreman run over by a Dodge pickup. The settlement comes more than two years after a Los Angeles Superior Court jury awarded damages of more than $55 million to the family of Richard Mraz.

August 13th, 2009 Disabled UK student wins case against AbercrombieLONDON — A disabled woman won her suit for wrongful dismissal Thursday against Abercrombie & Fitch after she was sent to work in the London store's stockroom. A British employment tribunal said the teen apparel merchant unlawfully harassed 22-year-old Riam Dean when it refused to allow her to wear a cardigan to cover her prosthetic arm, saying the sweater violated the store's "look policy." Dean said she was asked by an employee from the company head office whether it would be possible "to keep you in the stockroom until the winter uniform arrives." She said she later received an e-mail from management saying she had been "erroneously placed on the shop floor." The tribunal ruled that Abercrombie should have made an allowance for Dean's condition.

August 4th, 2009 Mass. court rules for American skycaps on tipsBOSTON — Massachusetts' highest court ruled in favor Tuesday of a group of American Airlines skycaps who won more than $325,000 in a lawsuit over tips they claimed they lost after the airline began charging passengers a $2 curbside baggage fee. The state Supreme Judicial Court found that instructions a federal judge gave to a jury that awarded the skycaps the money last year were correct.

July 29th, 2009 April date set for first of Sept. 11 trials in NYCNEW YORK — The first wrongful death lawsuit resulting from the Sept.

July 18th, 2009 Co-pilot's mom sues in LA over fatal SC jet crashLOS ANGELES — The mother of a co-pilot killed in a plane crash that seriously injured former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and DJ AM has sued the plane's manufacturer, operators and tiremaker. Suellen Lemmon of Washington state sued Bombardier Inc., Learjet Inc., Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.

July 16th, 2009 Judge: Airlines can't question FBI in 9/11 suitsATLANTA — A federal judge ruled Thursday that airlines and other companies in the industry that are being sued by families of terrorism victims can't question FBI agents about the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

July 14th, 2009 2nd Ky. widow settles suit over husband's VA deathEAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — The second of two Kentucky widows has settled her federal lawsuit over surgical care they say killed their husbands at an Illinois Veterans Affairs hospital where major surgeries have been halted for nearly two years after a spike in patient deaths.

July 10th, 2009 Boston mobster 'Rifleman' Flemmi describes killingBOSTON — New England mobster Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi on Friday described watching a cohort strangle his girlfriend as a "very traumatic moment" — but then admitted he pulled out her teeth afterward so her body would be difficult to identify. Flemmi, 75, showed no emotion as he described the 1981 killing of Debra Davis, 26, a woman he began dating when she was 17.

July 10th, 2009 Boston mobster says watched Bulger kill girlfriendBOSTON — New England mobster Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi says he watched his cohort James "Whitey" Bulger strangle Flemmi's 26-year-old-girlfriend. Flemmi says that in 1981, he lured Debra Davis to a vacant home where Bulger was waiting.

July 9th, 2009 Mobster 'Rifleman' Flemmi takes stand in BostonBOSTON — New England mobster Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi described his long relationship with the FBI as an informant during testimony Thursday in wrongful death lawsuits filed by three families who say the FBI failed to control Flemmi and fugitive gangster James "Whitey" Bulger. The families of Deborah Hussey, Debra Davis and Louis Litif say the FBI is responsible for their deaths because it protected Flemmi and Bulger and allowed them to avoid prosecution for their crimes.

June 29th, 2009 Court won't hear Sept. 11 claims vs.

June 19th, 2009 Dealer objects to auction of OJ Simpson itemsLOS ANGELES — A memorabilia dealer O.J. Simpson was convicted of robbing at a Las Vegas hotel is trying to stop a public auction of footballs, jerseys and other items seized by authorities after the stickup.

June 18th, 2009 Largest group of Minn. bridge victims sues 2 firmsST.

June 4th, 2009 Suits over deadly Rita bus fire settled for $80MHOUSTON — The families of 23 nursing home patients who died in a bus explosion as they fled Hurricane Rita have reached settlements totaling $80 million. The victims were residents of Brighton Gardens, a Houston-area assisted living community that bused residents north as Rita approached the Texas coast in 2005.