Mecklenburg County

“White lesbian mother” sues sperm bank for sending her African-American man’s sperm

October 2, 2014 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What exactly is a wrongful death claim?”

A Uniontown, Ohio mother claims she and her partner must move out of their “all-white hometown” so that their mixed-race daughter will be accepted.

Jennifer Cramblett, described by the Daily Mail as a “white lesbian mother,” is suing the Chicago-based Midwest Sperm Bank because, she says, it sent her the wrong sperm samples. She said that she and her partner, Amanda Zinkon, picked a blonde-haired, blue-eyed sperm donor so that their baby would look like Ms. Zinkon.

However, when Cramblett’s order was processed, a clerk accidentally transposed the numbers on her order and sent her vials of sperm donated by an African-American man.

Cramblett said she and Zinkon love their daughter, but they are considering moving to a more diverse community. In her lawsuit, she complained that Payton—the daughter—“has hair typical of an African-American girl.” Cramblett said she must travel to “a black neighborhood” to get the girl a proper cut, “where she is obviously different in appearance, and not overtly welcome.”

Cramblett said many members of her family are openly racist. She said she did not meet a black person until she went to college and worries she is not up to the task of raising a mixed-race child, since she “has limited cultural competency relative to African-Americans.” Cramblett fears when Payton reaches school age, she will be the only non-white child in her class.

Marijuana now legal, so failed drug test not grounds for termination, employee argues

September 30, 2014 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Customer whose leg was broken by martial-arts-style kick from Costco worker sues

September 25, 2014 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question ” I have been injured on another person’s property. What should I do now?”

Maybe I am an oddball, but I feel a little insulted when I am asked to present a receipt when exiting a store. The store invited me in. It is equipped with cameras to detect thieves. It employs guards—some or all of them armed—to detect and apprehend thieves. Someone is, or can be, watching literally every move I make in the store. That means someone watches me pay the cashier. In spite of all that, the man or woman guarding the door still wants proof that I bought what I am carrying. I am presumed guilty. I must prove my innocence.

I try not to make a habit of making mountains out of mole hills, so I go with the flow. I present the receipt. I move along through life. It is not the guard’s fault, after all. It is the store’s policy. If I do not like it, I do not have to shop at the store.

But I’ve always wondered what would happen if I refused to show my receipt. Would I be detained? Interrogated? Tortured?

I am kidding, of course, but a Portland, Oregon Costco customer’s refusal to show his receipt to two store employees who asked to see it was no laughing matter. Timothy Walls said he spent $103 on goods at the Costco—enough to need to transport the items to his car in a shopping buggy. When he refused to show his receipt at the exit, one employee yanked the buggy away from him. The worker then grabbed Walls by the collar of his shirt while a second worker administered “a martial arts type” kick to Walls’ leg. Walls said the kick broke his leg.

Check out our quarterly Legal Matters newsletter for all the latest in personal injury news

September 23, 2014 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What can you sue for in a personal injury case?”

Legal Matters is Arnold & Smith, PLLC’s quarterly personal injury newsletter. If you haven’t signed up to receive this free source of legal news and information, please take a moment and do so here now. You might learn something that makes all the difference in your case.

In the latest issue of Legal Matters, we discuss how many court cases come down to battles between witnesses and testimony. One witness says one thing happened; another witness’s account directly contradicts the first witness. Both sides try to show their witnesses are telling the truth, while the other side’s witnesses are either wrong, confused or flat-out lying.

These he-said, she-said battles might not be completely avoidable, but stronger cases are made in court when one side can produce photographs, video, audio or other documentary evidence that cannot, by its nature, lie. We live in an age of constant connectivity. Nearly everyone has a phone with a built-in camera, video recorder or both.

When we encounter misfortune, we can use the tools we have at our disposal to document the misfortune and to hold the people responsible for our injuries accountable. That said, if you are injured in an accident, the key to winning your case might be in your back pocket.

Tough road for sex-through-fraud plaintiffs absent demonstrable physical injury

September 18, 2014 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What can you sue for in a personal injury case?”

Chen, a woman from Shanghai, first met Li online five years ago. About a year ago, their relationship got serious. Near the end of 2013, the couple visited Singapore, where they had sex for the first time. When they returned to China, Li refused to respond to Chen’s repeated attempts to get in touch with him.

So in February, Chen travelled to Li’s Shanghai apartment and broke in, only to find Li living there with his wife of several years. In March, Chen filed suit against Li, alleging that he had “violated her virginity by deception.” She demanded over $75,000 in damages and a letter of apology.

The Pudong New Area People’s Court considered Chen’s suit and agreed with her “that virginity was a civil right that must be protected.” Chen’s sexual encounter with Li, the court found, negatively impacted her health and reputation. It ordered Li to pay Chen about $5,000 and to write her a letter of apology.

How would Chen’s case fare in North Carolina?

Women harassed by deputy settle claims for $475,000; Deputy dismissed from force

September 16, 2014 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “Can I wait a few months to pursue a personal injury claim?”

Suzanne Wick and Lisa Mangiardi survived years of horrific physical and psychological abuse at the hands of their husbands. Finally, when both of their husbands threatened to kill them and their children, they turned to the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office for assistance and support. While they obtained the relief they sought against their husbands, through various legal processes, they also gained an unwanted stalker-friend named Detective Ben Jenkins.

Both women sued Jenkins in 2012, alleging that he used his position as lead detective in the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Unit to attempt to seduce them. When they rebuffed his solicitations, the women alleged, Jenkins became angry and began stalking and threatening them.

In their complaint against Jenkins and Iredell County Sheriff Phillip H. Redmond, the women asked for damages for violations of their Constitutional rights and for Jenkins to be fired from his position. On Tuesday, they received both. According to Charlotte’s WBTV, the women settled their claims for $475,000. Their lawsuit was dismissed, and Ben Jenkins was dismissed from the sheriff’s office.

The trouble began for Wick when she moved with her husband and four children from Michigan to Mooresville in 2006. Wick alleged that she and her children endured horrific physical and psychological abuse committed by her now ex-husband.

Outgoing DA seeks dismissal of harassment, defamation lawsuit

September 11, 2014 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What can you sue for in a personal injury case?”

A North Carolina District Attorney has moved to dismiss claims of sexual harassment and defamation brought by a former employee. The employee, Whitney Nicole Shaffer, worked for District Attorney James C. Gaither for a four-month period in 2013.

Gaither is the outgoing district attorney for North Carolina’s 25^th judicial district, which encompasses all of Burke, Caldwell and Catawba counties. He lost a July runoff election to challenger David Learner, who will take over Gaither’s office next year.

Shaffer sued Gaither in June in federal court alleging that the district attorney used his position to intimidate and make unwanted sexual advances toward her. Shaffer resigned her position, but she said Gaither told other attorneys and at least one judge that he fired her. This, Shaffer said, damaged her reputation in the legal community.

In August, the North Carolina Attorney General—which represents Gaither—filed a motion to dismiss Shaffer’s lawsuit. The Attorney General represents Gaither in his capacity as district attorney. Since Shaffer also sued Gaither personally, Gaither hired his own attorney. That attorney—Renee Hughes—filed a motion Tuesday to dismiss Shaffer’s claims brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. That Act, Hughes argued, does not impose liability upon individuals.

Catholic teacher who says she was fired for in-vitro treatments may have her day in court

September 9, 2014 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “Can my employer fire me because I filed a workers’ compensation claim?”

A sex-discrimination lawsuit brought by a schoolteacher at an elementary school associated with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana will proceed to trial after United States District Court Judge Robert L. Miller, Jr. denied the diocese’s motion for summary judgment.

The teacher, Emily Herx, sued the diocese in 2012 after she was terminated from her teaching position at St. Vincent de Paul School. Herx’s firing came after diocese officials discovered Herx underwent a procedure for in vitro fertilization. In-vitro fertilization is a process in which a man’s sperm and a woman’s egg are joined outside the womb, normally in a petri dish. After the egg and sperm are successfully joined, the resulting embryo is placed into the woman’s womb.

Herx underwent in-vitro fertilization because she suffers from infertility. She argued in her lawsuit that infertility is a protected disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and that her termination violated both the ADA and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The Roman Catholic Church disapproves of in-vitro fertilization because additional embryos are created to increase the odds of a successful pregnancy. When an embryo is successfully placed in a mother’s womb, the additional embryos are destroyed. The Church believes that human life begins at the moment of conception, or when the sperm and egg join, so the destruction of embryos constitutes the willful destruction of human life.

Road rage incidents mean legal trouble for aggressive drivers

September 4, 2014 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What if the accident was my fault?”

Few working Americans can escape the drudgery of commuting to and from work. Fewer still avoid driving altogether, which means that when it comes to American roads, we’re stuck with each other—that means all 200-million licensed American drivers, give or take.

The roads aren’t always wide enough to fit us all in, and as any American driver knows, sometimes things happen on the roadways that slow us down. Sometimes other drivers do things that frustrate or enrage us. And sometimes rage and frustration lead to action.

Our brethren across the pond are not immune to this kind of action, as an incident yesterday in Scotland shows. A 20-year-old man sustained serious facial injuries after he stopped his car in front of a man in a larger car. The man in the larger car got out of his vehicle and assaulted the driver, leaving the young man “badly shaken,” according to the local detective constable.

Closer to home, a Rock Hill, South Carolina man was arrested for leaving the scene of an accident after striking a vehicle and then fleeing onto Interstate 77. The man, Nathan Pait, said the incident started when he honked at the vehicle. Pait said the man in the vehicle “acted like he had a gun,” so Pait got out of his truck and threatened the man with a machete.

Enterprising burglar seeks compensation from pizza joint he robbed

September 2, 2014 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question ” I have been injured on another person’s property. What should I do now?”

Police responding to a burglary at the Radio Shack across from Concord Mills Mall in Concord, North Carolina found smashed-out windows and one suspect, who they removed from the scene in handcuffs. Police tracked down a second suspect a short time later, injured from a possible fall in a wooded area. Rescue crews used a stretcher to extricate the man.

If the injured alleged burglar is as enterprising as Nigel Sykes, he may end up suing Radio Shack and the police for his injuries.

Sykes forced his way through the back door of the Newport, Delaware restaurant Seasons Pizza on November 30, 2010. Sykes held up employees using a handgun; they gave him $140. As Sykes made his way to the front of the store, however, employees wrestled him to the ground and grabbed his handgun.

After that, Sykes alleged, all of the Seasons Pizza employees began punching, kicking and pouring hot soup on his body. He alleged that he suffered “a brutal beating” that ended with him being knocked unconscious. Sykes brought suit in federal court seeking $260,000 in compensation from the restaurant. He also sued two Newport police officers who he said used stun guns on him improperly and denied him access to medical attention.