Lawsuit

The planned $1.5 billion transformation of the aging Maryland government complex in midtown Baltimore is facing a delay on the first phase of construction because of a pending lawsuit against the developers. Work to overhaul the 28-acre State Center was to start this winter with construction of an underground garage, mostly financed by the state through a planned $33 million bond sale. The sale would cover the state's $28.2 million portion of construction as well as closing costs, interest and debt reserves, while the developer was to contribute at least $4 million toward construction.

A Baltimore County Circuit Court judge has dismissed a $5 million lawsuit filed against the former president of Baltimore International College by the board of the defunct culinary school. The suit, a counterclaim, alleged that Roger Chylinski, who founded the college and served as its president from 1980 to 2010, misused more than $200,000 for personal meals, antiques and unapproved salary. But Judge John Phillip Miller issued a dismissal May 7 without a hearing or written explanation.

A federal class action lawsuit accusing managers at Perdue Inc. of conspiring to depress wages by hiring hundreds of illegal immigrants will move forward in Maryland instead of in Alabama, where it was filed a year ago. The lawsuit against former and current human resource employees and supervisors of the Eastern Shore poultry processor was filed last March on behalf of hundreds or even thousands of hourly workers at 16 Perdue plants in Maryland...

Opponents of the $1.5 billion State Center project asked a Circuit Court judge Wednesday to dismiss the state's legal action against them, arguing that they have a First Amendment right to go to court to protest plans to redevelop the aging government office complex in midtown Baltimore. More than two hours of arguments by attorneys from both sides ended without a decision by Baltimore Circuit Judge Althea M. Handy. "We're allowed to object, and we're allowed to say we don't like your project," Alan M. Rifkin, an attorney for the redevelopment's opponents, said in his arguments.

A car accident that left a young woman dead at the All Good music festival in July was caused by the “wanton, reckless, grossly negligent" acts of the organizers, Maryland-based Walther Productions, the woman's father alleges in a recently filed wrongful-death lawsuit. The lawsuit, filed in West Virginia's Northern District Court, is one of two against the festival, which celebrated its 15 th year in July and is known for its jam band line-ups. Another woman injured as a result of the accident has also filed a separate lawsuit.

Charles Casey, a former pastor who used to live in Maryland, is suing Best Buy and its Geek Squad computer repair service for allegedly making negligent repairs on his computer, which caused it to shock him severely as soon as he plugged his printer into it, according to a federal lawsuit filed yesterday in Maryland. Casey, who lived in Cockeysville, Md., but now lives in Florida with his wife, said in the lawsuit that as soon as he plugged it in, he suffered "a severe electric shock that ran through his body, with tingling in his right hand up to his shoulder, across his tongue and down his left arm. " Casey had presented his computer for repair in early September 2007 to the Geek Squad at the Best Buy in the 1700 block of York Road in Timonium, the lawsuit states.

For years, the family business has been a source of respect and wealth for the Kanes. As a leader in the commercial moving industry, John M. Kane nurtured business and political connections in Montgomery County and Annapolis, and led the Maryland Republican Party during Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s tenure as governor. But as his wife, Mary D. Kane, runs for lieutenant governor with Ehrlich, John Kane is trying to keep himself and the Kane Co. out of the political crossfire. That's because while she seeks public office, John Kane is defending the business in a lawsuit that alleges federal contract fraud.

AT&T customers in Maryland who connect to the Internet with smart phones are being taxed illegally, a class action lawsuit filed Friday alleges. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court by a Baltimore law firm led by trial lawyer William H. Murphy Jr., says those Maryland customers have been improperly billed a 6 percent monthly state tax and a monthly local communications tax. The lawsuit is seeking refunds and contends that total damages could exceed tens of millions of dollars.

A third person involved in a car accident at this year's All Good Music Festival has sued the organizers, Maryland-based Walther Productions. The jam band festival, which takes place in July in West Virginia, was accused of negligence in a pair of lawsuits filed earlier this month by two other victims, a young woman who was injured and the father of a young woman who died as a result of the car accident. In an interview last week, an attorney for the organizers defended the festival's safety record.

NEW YORK -- Knicks guard Stephon Marbury testified yesterday in the case of a fired team executive who has accused coach Isiah Thomas of sexual harassment, calling the lawsuit absurd while downplaying an encounter with a drunken intern. After hearing about the lawsuit brought by Anucha Browne Sanders, "I laughed," Marbury said in U.S. District Court. "It was more of a joke than anything." Browne Sanders says she is owed her vice president position back and at least $10 million for enduring a sexually harassing workplace for five years.