Lawsuit

In July 2010, Adarien Jackson's 6-year-old son, Kaden, began complaining of itchy bumps on his ankles. They soon turned into a rash and spread to his back, behind his ear, and on his eyelid. The child's pediatrician and dermatologists tried allergy drugs, diet changes, oils and oatmeal baths. But it wasn't until months later that Jackson discovered the cause of the problem. Kaden's twin brother, Kyler, began waking in the middle of the night, crying out, "Bugs are crawling on me!"

A pair of Baltimore residents filed suit Monday accusing the city of breaking the law by allowing toxic chemicals to leach into the Patapsco River from the South Baltimore site where a casino is now under construction. The lawsuit is the second to raise environmental concerns about development of the Horseshoe casino on Russell Street. It contends that the city's deal with CBAC Gaming, a coalition led by Caeser's Entertainment, exposes city taxpayers to having to pay for cleaning up contamination from the site.

Administrative law judges who evaluate disability claims for the Social Security Administration want a federal court to ease a workload that they say makes errors more likely - the latest in a series of challenges confronting the Woodlawn-based agency. In a federal lawsuit filed this month, 1,400 judges said the agency's expectation that they decide as many as 700 claims per year is causing them to rush evaluations and possibly approve claims that should be denied, at a potential cost of millions of taxpayer dollars.

Four former and current African-American Annapolis police officers have filed a federal racial-discrimination lawsuit against the city, claiming that they were unfairly treated, subjected to harassment, wrongly turned down for promotions and, for two of them, given walking papers. "African-American officers in the Annapolis police department are subjected to unequal treatment," claims the lawsuit, which was filed this month in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. It also claims that the black officers were singled out for harsher discipline than white colleagues.

Four former and current African-American Annapolis police officers have filed a federal racial-discrimination lawsuit against the city, claiming that they were unfairly treated, subjected to harassment, wrongly turned down for promotions and, for two of them, given walking papers. "African-American officers in the Annapolis police department are subjected to unequal treatment," claims the lawsuit, which was filed this month in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. It also claims that the black officers were singled out for harsher discipline than white colleagues.

Several Baltimore-area homeowners are suing the largest residential real estate team in the state, alleging a "scheme of fraud and misrepresentations" involving home purchases, sales and financing. The suit, a proposed class action, names the Creig Northrop Team, Long & Foster and several mortgage firms — including Long & Foster's Prosperity Mortgage Co. — as defendants. A similar lawsuit brought against the Northrop team by a Howard County couple was settled in March.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Toys "R" Us, alleging the company broke the law when staff at its Columbia store refused to provide a sign-language interpreter for a job applicant who is deaf. The lawsuit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, says the retailer discriminated against the woman, Shakirra Thomas, after she applied for a position at the store in 2011. It alleges the company violated the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires employers to provide "reasonable accommodations" for job applicants and workers with disabilities.

An Annapolis investment company headed by Joshua Fry, host of a Washington-area radio program that provides financial advice, was accused in a civil lawsuit yesterday of misappropriating a "substantial" amount of its clients' money.Stock and Options Services Inc., which has about 170 clients and manages about $6 million, has misused the funds since November 1991, according to the lawsuit, filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.Substantial amounts intended for the purchase of securities were instead diverted to Mr. Fry; his wife, Nancy Booth; and his son, Joshua Fry Jr., the lawsuit said.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore is right to file this lawsuit against the ordinance regulating pregnancy counseling centers ("Church: Clinic signs are unlawful," March 30). I understand Planned Parenthood, which is one of the largest abortion mills in the country, requested then-City Council President Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake to sponsor this bill. Why should Planned Parenthood set the standards of what a pregnancy counseling center is? Planned Parenthood was against any provisions in this law that would regulate them.

Never mix friendship and money. Stanford Rothschild did, in large quantities. He ended up losing both, according to a lawsuit filed last week that virtually wails betrayal. The longtime Baltimore money manager became estranged from one of his best friends and his biggest customer — a tie torn apart by friction over Rothschild's wife and the defection by his own employees and accountant, alleges a civil complaint filed in Baltimore City Circuit Court. Bosom pal Manuel Dupkin worked behind the scenes to withdraw his fortune from Rothschild's firm and set up Rothschild employees in a new company that would manage the money, the complaint said.

The O'Malley administration has notified state employees in same-sex relationships that they won't be able to include domestic partners in their health insurance anymore. If they want coverage, they'll have to get married. The policy change is the result of the new Maryland law allowing same-sex marriage, which took effect Jan. 1. The thinking is that offering health coverage to an unmarried same-sex partner doesn't make sense anymore, officials said, particularly since an unmarried heterosexual partner doesn't have the same right.

Harper Lee's leap into the headlines with a lawsuit against a New York literary agent is a remarkable change for the reclusive author, who wrote a great American novel a half-century ago and has hardly been heard from since. Another famous author/recluse, J.D. Salinger, popped up in a legal challenge in a few years ago, when he tried to halt publication of "60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye," an unauthorized sequel to his classic coming of age novel. A settlement of that lawsuit -- coming after Salinger died -- limited the sale of the book in the U.S. and Canada.  Now Lee, author of "To Kill a Mockingbird, " has accused her former agent, Samuel Pinkus, and others of trying to deprive her of royalties from the novel.

"In the name of my savior, I pray," is how one Carroll County commissioner concluded his prayer to open a recent meeting of the county's governing board. Now two county residents are asking a federal judge to end what they say is the board's regular practice of opening meetings with prayers that are "frequently Christian in nature. " In a lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, Neil Ridgely of Finksburg and Bruce Hake of Union Bridge say invocations of "Jesus" and "the savior" by county commissioners during public meetings violate the constitutional separation of church and state.

A Howard County couple is suing one of the largest residential real estate brokerages in the state and a Columbia title company for more than $11 million, alleging that the firms had financial ties that violated federal law. The case is a proposed class action that could involve thousands of plaintiffs, all home buyers who bought a home with the Creig Northrop Team of Long & Foster Real Estate since 2000 and used a settlement firm called Lakeview Title...

Nearly 250 of the patients who accused cardiologist Dr. Mark Midei of performing unnecessary stent procedures at St. Joseph Medical Center settled their lawsuits against him Thursday, a major step forward in one of the largest medical malpractice cases in state history. The agreement was announced in Baltimore County Circuit Court, where lawyers for Midei, the Towson hospital, its former owner and 21 of the patients have been making arguments for several weeks in the cardiologist's first civil trial.

While former Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold works in a food bank to satisfy the community service requirement of his sentence for misconduct in office, accusations stemming from his legal troubles are reaching another former county official. The ACLU of Maryland said Tuesday that it would seek to add former county Police Chief James Teare Sr. to its civil lawsuit against Leopold and the county. The rights group said a recorded interview between a police officer and a supervisor suggests Teare was involved in Leopold's use of his security detail to create dossiers on political enemies.

Harper Lee's leap into the headlines with a lawsuit against a New York literary agent is a remarkable change for the reclusive author, who wrote a great American novel a half-century ago and has hardly been heard from since. Another famous author/recluse, J.D. Salinger, popped up in a legal challenge in a few years ago, when he tried to halt publication of "60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye," an unauthorized sequel to his classic coming of age novel. A settlement of that lawsuit -- coming after Salinger died -- limited the sale of the book in the U.S. and Canada.  Now Lee, author of "To Kill a Mockingbird, " has accused her former agent, Samuel Pinkus, and others of trying to deprive her of royalties from the novel.

Now that Comptroller Joan M. Pratt's lawsuit has been officially deemed frivolous and dismissed by Judge Pamela White "with prejudice" ("Pratt's suit over phone system is dismissed," Feb. 7), one major question remains. How much taxpayer money and city employee time and energy has been wasted with months and months of this shameless politicking? Comptroller Pratt alone brought the lawsuit alleging misuse of city funds, and Comptroller Pratt alone should be held accountable for any and all legal costs (her own misuse of funds)