Court Orders Raffaello Follieri to Pay Publicists for Breach of ContractAnne Hathaway’s boyfriend is in a pickle again, after a D.C. court has ordered him to pay $250,000 to the Carmen Group, the public-relations group that sued him after, ironically, he hired them to help him get over the last lawsuit.
Charlize Theron, Double-Dipping Monster?Charlize Theron has been wearing the wrong accessories lately, and yesterday she was sued for it. The Oscar-winning actress swung a deal with Swiss watch designer Raymond Weil, promising only to wear Weil’s watches at public events from October 2005 to December 31, 2006, according to a complaint filed in New York County Court today. In exchange, it says, Theron was to receive a “very substantial sum.” But then she appeared in an online ad for Dior, pimping perfume and wearing, the suit alleges, “faux canary diamond jewelry.” And wearing Montblanc jewelery on a billboard at a luxury-watch trade show in Geneva. And wearing a Christian Dior watch at a film festival in Austin. And — perhaps worst — in a “The watches your favorite celebrities are wearing” feature in an issue of the Tourneau Times, with the caption “Charlize Theron wears Dior.” Weil’s complaint doesn’t quite call Theron a monster, but it does charge she committed fraud. They want their money back. —Nick Divito
Read the complaint.
Hasidic Jews Reject Evil Text Messaging, Sprint Service
Plaintiff: Yeshiva Yagdil Torah, a New York Corp. doing business as Vaad Harabbonim Letikshoreth
Defendants: Sprint Solutions Inc.; Sprint P.C.S.; Sprint Nextel Corp.; Sprint Communications Co.
Accusation: In 2005, a group of rabbis formed a council to find a way Hasidic Jews could use cell phones without getting exposed to soul-corrupting text messages and spam. They enlisted the help of Sprint Nextel in developing something called a Kosher Phone: a so-called “plain vanilla” voice phone that would preclude the very possibility of going online, and the attendant temptations. Of course, it didn’t work.
How Many Lawyers Does It Take to Make You Sick?Plaintiff: Amy Seiler
Defendants: Harry J. Mulry Jr.; Gregory G. Shaub, doing business under the firm name Mulry & Shaub L.L.P.
Accusation: A paralegal toils for a small law firm and gets bouts of “stomach distress, headaches and disagreeable fits of temper.” Oh, and don’t forget those “digestive upsets.”
In a lawsuit filed last week in Brooklyn Federal Court, Amy Seiler says her bosses at Mulry & Shaub in Port Washington negligently dragged their feet in hiring a replacement for an outgoing receptionist. And so for the next two months, Seiler was forced to work two jobs for the price of one.
But instead of quitting, Seiler stuck around for a “nightmare” at work that boiled over into “heated exchanges and accusations concerning baseless allegations of errors.” The bosses, Seiler claims, wanted to force her out instead of hiring more staff.
Oy! Did You Hear the One About the Overzealous Mohel?
Plaintiffs: L.G., a minor, by and through his parents and next friends, Dror Gerges and Sivan Gerges
Defendants: Daniel J. Krimsky; Mogen Circumcision Instruments Ltd.
Accusation: An Oceanside, Long Island, rabbi is accused of lopping off the head of an 8-day-old’s penis during a Bris on December 16, 2004.
According to the federal complaint filed last week in Central Islip, New York, not only was Daniel Krimsky unqualified to perform a Bris, but the circumcision tool he used called a “Mogen clamp” for the overly curious was faulty, and instructions failed to warn against the (seemingly obvious) risk of severing. What’s worse, the rabbi then tried to hide his error, and the boy’s injuries only came to light when a physician attending the Bris noticed something was wrong and spoke up.
Even With Big Circ, ‘Post’ Gets SuedPlaintiff: Christopher Capanelli
Defendants: NYP Holdings, doing business as New York Post; K. Rupert Murdoch; Joseph Vincent; Lloyd Vasquez
Accusation: It’s a lovefest at the New York Post this week, but, as always happens, someone is trying to ruin the party. In a lawsuit filed October 25 in Bronx Supreme Court, Rupert Murdoch and his Posties are accused of launching an aggressive campaign of intimidation to squeeze out the Pressman’s Union.
What a Drag It Is Getting Old: Mick Jagger Sued Over Alleged Sore ThroatPlaintiffs:Rosalee Margolis Druyan, individually and as a class representative of ticket purchasers
Defendants: Mick Jagger; the Rolling Stones; Ticketmaster; Live Nation; “John Doe” Promoter
Accusation: Pissed off Rolling Stones fans are fighting mad and fighting back against Mick Jagger, the Stones, and Ticketmaster after a much-ballyhooed October 27 concert in Atlantic City was canceled. They don’t buy Mick’s sore-throat-and-doc-won’t-let-me-perform excuse — and they want more than $50 million for their troubles.
Lawyer’s Delight
Plaintiffs: Michael Wright, professionally known as Wonder Mike; Guy O’Brien, p/k/a Master G; collectively p/k/a The Sugarhill Gang
Defendants: Rhino Entertainment Co.; The Sanctuary Group; Sugar Hill Music Publishing Ltd.; Joseph Robinson Jr.
Accusation: Wonder Mike and Master G, two of three original members of Sugarhill Gang, say the son of the couple who signed them back in 1979 stole their names through fraudulent trademark applications and has put together a replacement band that performs — well, lip-syncs — Sugarhill’s songs. In a lawsuit filed Oct. 20 in a Manhattan federal court, Wright and O’Brien also say the poseur is laying claim to their royalties, and that they haven’t been paid for at least fifteen years on any of their recordings.
