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A woman looking for a husband on eHarmony instead got genital herpes from her date, who must now pay $900,000 for the woman’s pain and suffering. It’s the first case of herpes transmission to go to trial in Oregon, the woman’s attorneys told The Oregonian. The woman’s identity was not disclosed. While some states have laws against intentionally spreading HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases, Oregon does not. But that didn’t stop the woman from winning her case....

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), neck sprains and strains, also known as whiplash, are the most frequently reported injuries in U.S. insurance claims. Whiplash is most often associated with high speed rear end collisions. However, whiplash can occur during low speed car accidents or even from a hard smack on the back. Whiplash occurs when the head is whipped forward and back causing damage to the muscles, tendons, and ligaments in the neck....

Most workplace injuries truly are accidents. You smashed your hand in the heavy machinery. Your chair collapsed under you. You slipped on water in the kitchen. However, a less recognized source of injury could be your fellow coworkers or even customers. According to the Occupational Safety & Health Administration, “nearly 2 million employees are victims of workplace violence each year.” If you were hurt by another person in an attack or assault at work, can you get workers’ compensation?...

Patient profiling is a term used to describe a kind of discrimination by doctors. When a healthcare provider treats a patient based on their “type” rather than assessing them individually, that is profiling, and it can lead to problems in treatment. Doctors should assess each patient individually, but profiling alone is not likely going to be a basis for a lawsuit against a doctor or hospital, unless that profiling manifested in medical malpractice....

When someone is injured or in need of medical assistance, calling 911 is typically the best response. But can a person who decides not to call 911 face any legal consequences? In a lawsuit recent recently filed against Hollywood director Brett Ratner, a woman who was allegedly injured at a party at Ratner’s house claims that the director and other party-goers refused to call 911, fearing bad publicity. The woman eventually made it to a hospital, where she received more than 80 stitches; she claims she can no longer work because of her injuries....

Two bills which aim to end the disparity between sentencing for crack cocaine and powdered cocaine convictions are up for consideration. Currently, Congress is considering changing the sentencing guidelines for crack and powder cocaine offenses. According to a New York Times editorial, bills are pending in both the House (Fairness in Cocaine Sentencing Act of 2009) and Senate (Fair Sentencing Act of 2009). Pushing through new legislation to end racial disparity would not only put punishment for possession of crack and powder on the same level but help create sound public policy....

Time has run out on Ohio death row inmate Darryl Durr, as the court has rejected his last minute legal challenge claiming the state’s single shot injection chemicals violate federal prescription drug laws. The court also rejected Darry Durr’s claim that he could have a violent allergic reaction to the anesthetic Ohio uses to put inmates to death, the Associated Press reports. The courts have denied more DNA testing from a necklace worn by the victim....

Following up on prior posts about teens sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole (for short, “lifers”), a California appeals court yesterday voided Antonio de Jesus Nunez’s life sentence, which was imposed for a kidnapping for ransom offense committed when he was 14 years old. Noteably, the court stated that considering Nunez “is the only known offender under age 15 across the country and around the world subjected to” such a sentence for a crime that did not involve an injury, much less a homicide, the sentence was “so freakishly rare as to constitute arbitrary and capricious punishment violating the Eighth Amendment....

You may not know this, but today is a holiday. That’s right: Happy Flag Day! June 14th commemorates the adoption of our national flag. On this day back in 1777, a resolution of the Second Continental Congress selected an early version of Old Glory as our official U.S. flag. Since then, lawmakers have added more stars – and unfurled dozens of federal flag laws. Flag laws? That’s right, this country does not take those lovely stars and stripes lightly....

Divorce happens to a lot of people, some of whom have no idea where to go for help. Actually, there are many resources available, and some of them are free. No matter how “mutual” the divorce decision is, ending a marriage is always difficult, both legally and emotionally. There are many questions to ask such as, “How should we divide our property?,” “Which friends will stick with me?” and everything in between....

Though it’s not all that uncommon for rescuers to sue the people they save, a lawsuit filed by David Kelley and Mark Kinkaid against Theresa Tanner, the woman they pulled from a burning car outside Marion, Ohio, has some people up in arms. The pair, badly and permanently injured by the 2009 rescue, is seeking compensation to help with medical bills, arguing that, because Tanner’s crash was actually a suicide attempt, she should be responsible for their injuries....

A heavy metal band’s lead singer says he was rocked by food poisoning while on tour. Now he’s suing a California company over a recalled sushi product that allegedly made him sick. “Everything tasted great,” Chris Fronzak, 22, of the band Attila told UPI about his meal at a Louisiana sushi restaurant last month. “The amount of sushi I got was insane. Little did I know, it gave me Salmonella.”...

What’s the difference between a patent, a trademark and a copyright? If you’re new to the concepts and ideas in intellectual property law, they all may seem like the same thing to you. But there are some differences to each one. And knowing which one you need can make all the difference. Let’s focus on the person who holds the patent, copyright, or trademark. An inventor or a scientist may apply for a patent....

With hackers, malware, and identity theft (not to mention all the hot political takes on social media) the internet can be a scary place. And it can be scarier for some than for others. WIRED released its Guide to Digital Security last week, a list of ways to improve your online security depending on your levels of risk. Using your smartphone to shop? You’ll need good password protection and be careful about giving too much information to too many retailers....

When an employee does not have an employment contract, you can generally terminate them for any legal reason. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t a lot of legal land mines in the way. If you trip up in the process of terminating an employee, you could be looking at a major lawsuit. Understandably employers have a lot of questions about termination. We recently looked at the case of an employee at the University of Alabama that played the songs “Take the Money and Run” and “Son of a Preacher Man” as a dig at Auburn quarterback Cam Newton....

Your monitor is too low. Your seat is too tall. The keyboard isn’t in front of you. These are all signs of bad ergonomics. Ergonomics is the study of people’s efficiency in their working environment. Bad ergonomics such as bad posture, sitting too long, or not enough breaks, can lead to job related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and repetitive stress injuries (RSIs) such as carpal tunnel, tendonitis, and shoulder and back pain....

Love comes and goes, and it’s easy to think that relationships end when the people in them decide to go their separate ways. But researchers seem to have stumbled upon a seasonal schedule to breakups. A new report based on 15 years of divorce data noted two seasonal spikes in divorce rates and found “they consistently peaked in March and August, the periods following winter and summer holidays.” Are people escaping their marriages along with the winter doldrums every spring?...

How much would you pay for the following songs? Guns N Roses “Welcome to the Jungle”; “November Rain” Vanessa Williams “Save the Best for Last” Janet Jackson “Let’s Wait Awhile” Gloria Estefan “Here We Are”; “Coming Out of the Heart”; “Rhythm is Gonna Get You” Goo Goo Dolls “Iris” Journey “Faithfully”; “Don’t Stop Believing” Sara McLachlan “Possession”; “Building a Mystery” Aerosmith “Cryin'” Linkin Park “One Step Closer” Def Leppard “Pour Some Sugar on Me” Reba McEntire “One Honest Heart” Bryan Adams “Somebody” No Doubt “Bathwater”; “Hella Good”; “Different People” Sheryl Crow “Run Baby Run” Richard Marx “Now and Forever” Destiny’s Child “Bills, Bills, Bills” Green Day “Basket Case” Jammie Thomas-Rasset was ordered to pay $62,500 each for a total of $1....

Though settlement negotiations are still ongoing, model Lauren Scruggs has sued the owner and insurance carrier of the small plane that left her without a hand and blind in one eye. The 23-year-old was injured in December after she exited the plane and accidentally walked into the front propeller. Legal liability is actually not at issue in the suit. Instead, Scruggs is asking a Texas court to interpret the Aggressive Insurance Services policy that covers Shell Aviation’s plane and pilot....

Bullying, whether perpetrated in the real or cyber world, has received a tremendous amount of publicity of late. Now, a new study has found that lesbian, gay, and bisexual teens are becoming the target of another type of bullying: school and criminal punishment. In a study conducted by Yale University, researchers found that gay youth are more likely to be singled out for punishment by school officials and police. Specifically, gay, lesbian and bisexual students are 40% more likely to get expelled from school and arrested by the police than their heterosexual counterparts, the Hartford Courant reports....