A Texas woman is suing her city after allegedly tripping over a loose board on a suspension bridge in the local park.

Port Arthur (TX) resident Pati Paulino was walking her dog across a suspended bridge when a floor board came loose and caused her to fall. Two years after the alleged accident, Paulino is suing the city for failing to inspect and maintain Herman Park and warn visitors of the hazard.

Paulino's lawsuit fails to identify the nature or extent of her injuries, but does state that she seeks exemplary damages on the grounds that the city acted in malice. Paulino seeks an unspecified amount of damages for her alleged past and future medical expenses, mental anguish, pain, impairment, disfigurement and lost wages.

"She proceed (sic) to walk across a suspended bridge when one of the floor boards came lose (sic), causing her to fall," the suit states. "Due to defendant's negligence serious injury resulted."

—Source:  Southeast Texas Record

A former Ohio schoolteacher is suing her former employer, Mariemont School District in the Cincinnati area, because she says it discriminated against her by making her teach kids.  Maria Waltherr-Willard, 61, claims she suffers from Pedophobia, a fear of children.

According to news sources, Waltherr-Willard, who had been teaching high school since 1976, said that after the district transferred her to a middle school in 2009, the younger student body set off her phobia, causing her to suffer chest pains, vomiting, high blood pressure and ultimately forcing her into retirement. Waltherr-Willard said the phobia is covered under the American with Disabilities Act and the transfer violated the law.  

—Source: thestir.cafemom.com

Five Idaho inmates are suing some of the nation's top liquor and wine companies for $1 billion, claiming alcohol led them to commit the crimes for which they are doing time.
 
Keith Allen Brown, Steven Thompson, Woodrow Grant, Cory Baugh and Jeremy Brown filed a lawsuit in Boise's U.S. District Court last month naming eight defendants, including Anheuser-Busch, Coors, Miller Brewing and American Brands, the owner of Jim Beam whiskey. All of the prisoners claim that alcohol led them to their crimes, which range from manslaughter to grand theft.  They further claim that they should have been warned of the beverages' addictive nature
.
"If I was not an alcoholic, the shooting would never have happened," Jeremy Brown said in his affidavit. Brown, 34, is serving a 20- to 30-year sentence for a 2001 shooting that seriously injured a man. "I have spent a great deal of that time in prison because of situations that have arose because of people being drunk, or because of situations in which alcohol played a major role.  At no time in my life, prior to me becoming an alcoholic, was I ever informed that alcohol was habit forming and addictive."
 
The inmates do not have an attorney.
 
—Source: news.yahoo.com

A Texas company is being sued by a Louisiana man who claims the company's employee caused an accident when she checked her cell phone while driving.

James Reynolds, Jr. is suing Specialized Maintenance Services and its employee, Robyn Gilchriest, on grounds that Gilchriest negligently failed to keep a proper lookout.  According to the lawsuit, Reynolds was stopped at a red light and was rear-ended when Gilchriest took her eyes off the road to check her ringing cell phone.  Reynolds is suing for his alleged past and future medical expenses, mental anguish, pain, loss of household services and lost wages.

Gilchriest was in the course and scope of her employment when she was driving the car, but there is no indication that the disruptive phone call related to her employment or work.

—Source: setexasrecord.com