Plaintiffs

Darleene Barrientos In a tape played to the jury in the Glendale Police sexual-harassment trial, one of the plaintiffs in the case admitted lying about her whereabouts to dispatch and to socializing with fellow officers when she was supposed to be working. "Having this much time to look back, I think I was an idiot," said Renae Kerner, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, in the 2001 taped interview with Lt. Jonathon Perkins. The interview was part of the Police Department's investigation into reports of officers sleeping while on duty.

GLENDALE — Attorneys representing plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit against Grand View Memorial Park have announced a $3.8-million settlement agreement. A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge granted preliminary approval of the settlement until a fairness hearing is held and the plaintiffs have a chance to comment on the proposed agreement, according to court records. “The biggest goal of the class action is to normalize the cemetery,” said attorney Paul Ayers, who represents plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

Lawsuit filed against Nestle Three citizens of the West African nation of Mali are suing Nestle SA, Archer Daniels Midland Co. and Cargill Inc., alleging the firms and their subsidiaries benefited from child slave labor at cocoa bean plantations in Ivory Coast. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Thursday, was brought on behalf of three unnamed "John Doe" plaintiffs identified as former child slaves. The complaint, which alleged violations of U.S. federal laws against slavery, trafficking, forced labor and torture, among others, seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

LOS ANGELES — Most of the 150 civil lawsuits filed against Metrolink for the 2005 Glendale derailment that killed 11 passengers have been settled, attorneys said Thursday in Superior Court. Settlement amounts for the mediated cases were not available because most of the documents have been sealed. After the plaintiffs agreed to the dollar amounts, they dismissed their cases against Metrolink, court records show. Only 17 lawsuits remain active, attorneys said. Documents were sealed to protect the privacy and privileges of the plaintiffs, according to court records.

Amber Willard GLENDALE -- A lawsuit with the potential to award millions of dollars to heirs of Armenian life insurance policy holders is set to move forward. The suit, in which La Canada Flintridge resident Martin Marootian is the lead plaintiff, has filtered through the the U.S. District Court system since it was filed in 1999. Earlier this week, a judge ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, who are suing New York Life Insurance for payment of policies taken out by family members who died during the Armenian Genocide.

Darleene Barrientos It took more than a year to reach a verdict after a sexual-harassment lawsuit was filed against the Glendale Police Department. Getting a decision on an appeal of that verdict could take twice as long. Officers Katie Frieders, Renae Kerner, Jamie Franke and Carla Haupt, and Community Service Officer Linda Daidone, filed the original lawsuit in 2001. It alleged that they were subjected to sexual harassment by their supervisors, then punished and retaliated against when they rejected romantic advances.

GLENDALE — Metrolink has agreed to pay $30 million to settle 90% of the lawsuits filed against it in the aftermath of a January 2005 derailment that killed 11 passengers on the Glendale border, attorneys for the plaintiffs announced Wednesday. The plaintiffs will receive millions in compensation for their cases against Metrolink, their attorney, Jerome Ringler, said. After the crash, 150 complaints were filed. Of those, nine of the 11 wrongful death lawsuits have been settled, Ringler said.

Darleene Barrientos A judge rejected several motions Friday in a lawsuit filed by former Glendale Humane Society board members, but allowed them a little more time to amend their request to place a temporary restraining order on the board president. Burbank Superior Court Judge Michael S. Mink ordered the plaintiffs in the case to amend their challenge against Wilhelm Vargas, who is the Glendale Humane Society's board president, within 10 days, or the case will be thrown out. "The court, by its ruling, has given us a chance to file an amendment to our complaint.

GLENDALE — A Los Angeles Superior Court judge denied a Metrolink request on Thursday to throw out more than 100 cases against the agency in connection with a 2005 train wreck that killed 11 people and injured nearly 200 others, officials said. There are 113 active lawsuits against Metrolink in connection with the incident, and 29 plaintiffs have settled, said attorney Edward R. Pfiester, who represents the wife of the conductor killed in the Glendale crash, among others. Judge Emilie Elias denied two motions made by Metrolink on Thursday — one to essentially throw out the cases, and another motion to uphold federal regulations over state law on the use of the controversial "push-pull" method, in which a locomotive pushes the train from behind in one direction but pulls in the other direction, Pfiester said.

Darleene Barrientos Even when the jury's out of the room, the hits keep on coming in the Glendale Police Department's sexual harassment trial. Brad Gage, the lawyer for the plaintiffs in the case, said Thursday he believes the city is withholding evidence. Gage said his client, Officer Katie Frieders, filed two complaints of sexual-harassment against Sgt. Mark Hansen, in 1996 and 1999. Under questioning by Gage without the jury present, Lt. Rick Young testified the city has only one record of a complaint, made in 1999.

The 28 Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientists suing the federal government over what they say are new invasive security screening procedures are calling for comments about space shuttle security by U.S. Solicitor Gen. Neal Katyal to be stricken from the Supreme Court record. In making his case that background checks involving medical records, personal finances and sexual preference are necessary to guarantee NASA security, Katyal told justices on Oct. 5 that holders of a JPL clearance enjoy extensive access privileges outside the La Cañada Flintridge facility.

CITY HALL — A Glendale police officer filed a lawsuit against the city this week, claiming he was unfairly demoted because of his friendship with another officer suing the Police Department for discrimination. In January, four Armenian officers and a former officer filed a federal lawsuit against the department, alleging repeated on-the-job racial discrimination and harassment. This week, police Officer Marc Mendoza filed a separate lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court alleging that he was recently demoted from detective to patrol officer because of his friendship with Sgt. Vahak Mardikian, one of the five plaintiffs in the other case.

GLENDALE — Metrolink has agreed to pay roughly $39 million to settle all but one of the lawsuits filed against the agency in the aftermath of a January 2005 derailment that killed 11 passengers on the Glendale border, an attorney for the plaintiffs said Wednesday. Of the 186 complaints filed against the agency in the wake of the accident, all but one of the suits have been resolved, said Jerome Ringler, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs. All 11 wrongful death lawsuits have been settled, and 15 of the 16 serious-injury lawsuits have been resolved.

GLENDALE — Attorneys representing plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit against Grand View Memorial Park have announced a $3.8-million settlement agreement. A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge granted preliminary approval of the settlement until a fairness hearing is held and the plaintiffs have a chance to comment on the proposed agreement, according to court records. “The biggest goal of the class action is to normalize the cemetery,” said attorney Paul Ayers, who represents plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

GLENDALE — Metrolink has agreed to pay $30 million to settle 90% of the lawsuits filed against it in the aftermath of a January 2005 derailment that killed 11 passengers on the Glendale border, attorneys for the plaintiffs announced Wednesday. The plaintiffs will receive millions in compensation for their cases against Metrolink, their attorney, Jerome Ringler, said. After the crash, 150 complaints were filed. Of those, nine of the 11 wrongful death lawsuits have been settled, Ringler said.

LOS ANGELES — Most of the 150 civil lawsuits filed against Metrolink for the 2005 Glendale derailment that killed 11 passengers have been settled, attorneys said Thursday in Superior Court. Settlement amounts for the mediated cases were not available because most of the documents have been sealed. After the plaintiffs agreed to the dollar amounts, they dismissed their cases against Metrolink, court records show. Only 17 lawsuits remain active, attorneys said. Documents were sealed to protect the privacy and privileges of the plaintiffs, according to court records.

BURBANK — As their attorneys shuffle between four similar lawsuits that allege the Walt Disney Co. has for decades contaminated groundwater with cancer-causing chromium 6 and other toxic chemicals, stories of ill health from the plaintiffs are beginning to emerge. In the latest lawsuit, filed last week in Los Angeles Superior Court by the Sacramento-based firm Kershaw Cutter & Ratinoff LLP on behalf of 16 people with strong ties to the Rancho District, the plaintiffs claim Disney dumped wastewater contaminated with hexavalent chromium from its on-site cooling systems down the centerline of Parkside Avenue, toward Parish Place and across Riverside Drive into the so-called Polliwog, an 11-acre parcel near the studio’s Imagineering facilities.

BURBANK — The Walt Disney Co. for decades has contaminated groundwater with toxic chemicals, including cancer-causing chromium 6, according to a lawsuit filed last week in Los Angeles Superior Court. The lawsuit, brought by the watchdog group Environmental World Watch Inc. and Burbank homeowner Dennis Jackson, alleges that Disney had been dumping wastewater contaminated with hexavalent chromium from its on-site cooling systems since 1988. On Tuesday, the same Sacramento-based law firm representing Jackson and Environmental World Watch, Kershaw Cutter & Ratinoff LLP, filed another lawsuit in Superior Court expanding the number of plaintiffs against Disney for similar allegations by 16 people.

GLENDALE — A Glendale Public Works employee was one of several plaintiffs Tuesday who joined in the growing front of legal action against Metrolink for the September commuter train crash in Chatsworth that killed 25 and injured 135 others. Public Works Administrator Mike Wiederkehr joined at least five other passengers injured in the Sept. 12 crash in filing a complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday against the Southern California Regional Rail Authority, which operates Metrolink, and two subcontractors, seeking punitive damages and compensation for medical expenses.