Latest News
Federal Court
Rosenstengel partially denies summary judgment in Chester Mental Health employee's suit alleging failure to accommodate disabilities
EAST ST. LOUIS - Chester Mental Health Center admissions and discharge coordinator Angela Kongeal deserves trial on claims that her employers didn’t accommodate her disabilities, Chief U.S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel ruled on Feb. 12.
Federal Court
More than one third of plaintiffs selected for depositions on paraquat claims have dismissed their cases
EAST ST. LOUIS - Nine of 25 plaintiffs that Chief U.S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel selected to test the substance of claims that weed killer paraquat caused Parkinson’s disease dismissed their claims in two weeks.
Federal Court
EPA report: No risk of Parkinson's disease from weed killer paraquat
WASHINGTON - Benefits of weed killer paraquat easily outweigh risks, according to regulators at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. A report they issued on Jan. 30 assigned no weight at all to a risk of Parkinson’s disease.
Federal Court
Anderson Hospital seeks Madison County jurisdiction in class action alleging medical information shared with Facebook
EAST ST. LOUIS - Chief U.S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel must decide whether a class action claim that Anderson Hospital shared private information with Facebook belongs in her court or Madison County.
Federal Court
Graphic Packaging requests approval of nearly $1 million BIPA settlement
EAST ST. LOUIS - Graphic Packaging of Atlanta will pay about $1,000 each to 600 persons who worked at its Centralia plant from 2016 to 2021 to settle a biometric privacy invasion claim, if U.S. District Judge David Dugan approves.
Federal Court
Rosenstengel orders depositions of plaintiffs in paraquat MDL over concerns some cases 'do not plausibly allege exposure to paraquat'
EAST ST. LOUIS - Chief U.S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel, who waited eight months for paraquat lawyers to sweep empty claims from her court, grabbed a judicial broom on Jan. 22 and started the job herself.
Federal Court
Circle K alleges improper service in discrimination suit
EAST ST. LOUIS - Serving a lawsuit on an assistant manager at Circle K on North Belt West shouldn’t count as proper process, Circle K argued at U.S. district court on Jan. 22.
Federal Court
Jurors in federal court award forklift operator $13 million in re-trial over amputated leg
EAST ST. LOUIS - On Jan. 18, jurors in U.S. district court awarded $13,045,776 to former forklift operator Adelaida Anderson of Effingham, who lost a leg after her forklift crushed it.
Federal Court
Emergency management workers supplement wage dispute complaint in response to motion to dismiss
BENTON - Senior U.S. District Judge Phil Gilbert found a wage complaint of St. Clair County employees one detail short of sufficient and their lawyer delivered the detail regarding overtime pay before sunset.
Federal Court
Dugan rejects immunity claims, grants trial request in Cahokia Heights sewer dispute
EAST ST. LOUIS - U.S. District Judge David Dugan ruled on Jan. 5 that 33 Cahokia Heights residents have a right to trial on claims that floods of rain and sewage damage their properties.
Federal Court
East St. Louis seeks $3 billion in fines, plus additional damages in Monsanto litigation
EAST ST. LOUIS - The City of East St. Louis, seeking more than $3 billion in fines from Monsanto for contamination from its operation in Sauget, plans to seek damages, too.
Federal Court
Tillery files class action alleging Apple conspired with Visa, Mastercard to illegally inflate fees
BENTON - Apple, Mastercard and Visa illegally inflate fees for merchants using point of sale payment networks, according to a complaint at U. S. district court.
Federal Court
Plaintiffs in Paraquat litigation blame research shortage on Syngenta, EPA; Rosenstengel hears arguments on excluding experts
EAST ST. LOUIS - After an expert witness for plaintiffs claiming weed killer paraquat caused Parkinson's disease testified to attributing 74% of the weight of his causation opinion on one study, the plaintiffs explain a shortage of research by accusing manufacturer Syngenta of corrupting science in general and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in particular.
Federal Court
Rosenstengel presides over four-day hearing on Paraquat experts; Nearly 75% of causation depends on study from 1997
EAST ST. LOUIS - Thousands of plaintiffs who claim weed killer paraquat caused Parkinson’s disease depend mostly on a study from 1997 that didn’t establish causation, according to the transcript from a four-day hearing in Chief U.S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel's court.
Federal Court
Mandatory mediation sees 57% success rate in the Southern District of Illinois, saving court resources
EAST ST. LOUIS - Mediators have achieved 111 settlements of civil suits in U. S. District Court since Chief Judge Nancy Rosenstengel introduced mandatory mediation.
Federal Court
Former Mormon claims $1.4 billion in tithes were misused for Utah shopping center
EAST ST. LOUIS - Former Mormon Joel Long of St. Louis County filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of Illinois, claiming church leaders took at least $1.4 billion in tithes and invested it for commercial profit.
Federal Court
Jury returns verdict in favor of Madison County deputies in suicidal man's federal suit alleging excessive force
EAST ST. LOUIS - After a previous jury concluded that Brian Schell did not resist arrest during a criminal trial in 2019, jurors at his civil trial against Madison County deputies heard the full story and decided that he did.
Federal Court
Dugan hears arguments on default judgment against Chinese supplier in electric sock wrongful death suit
EAST ST. LOUIS - Sandra Scott of Washington County testified at a default judgment hearing about the death of husband Toby Scott; but if U.S. District Judge David Dugan grants her request for $10 million, she’ll have to collect from a Chinese company that fired its lawyers and never returned.
Federal Court
Oldcastle settles BIPA suit under new counsel
BENTON - Owners of Oldcastle Lawn and Garden settled a potential class action over biometric privacy 11 days after the Littler Mendelson firm of San Francisco withdrew and Jackson Lewis of New York City took its place.
Federal Court
McGlynn presides over new trial in suit involving excessive force claims against Madison County officers
EAST ST. LOUIS - Trial begins today on a claim that Madison County deputies Eric Schellhardt and Marc Asbury applied excessive taser force to county resident Brian Schell.