These cases of interest do not include the professional licensing cases that I have handled. Those client matters are generally of a sensitive nature and have never been made public by the clients, therefore I do not include them here. The cases listed here are a few of the civil rights cases that I have litigated. These have already received substantial media attention.
TRUNG VAN TRAN owned a video rental and repair store in the Little Saigon area of Westminster. He decided that economic and social relations between the current communist government of Viet Nam and the refugees who fled that regime would be mended by opening dialogue on their differences. He thought he could accomplish this by displaying a portrait of Ho Chi Minh and the current flag of Viet Nam at his store. What he accomplished was about 1,000 protestors a day (sometimes as high as 15,000) and a lawsuit by his landlord to force him to take down his in-store display. A judge issued a temporary restraining order against the display. I was offended that a judge that I respected would issue such a callous, illegal order. I stepped in to represent him pro bono and the judge reversed her order.
WILLIAM BOLTE attended Pat Boone Fourth of July celebration at Anaheim Stadium but couldn’t see the fireworks from the location assigned to those in wheelchairs. So he moved to another location and was arrested by the Anaheim police for trespassing because he was not in his assigned “seating”. The case was eventually dismissed.
GEORGE BECK took the Amtrak train from San Clemente to Fullerton on Mother’s Day and was told by the conductor that if he were going to return by train that evening he would be denied boarding if he didn’t have a male companion to assist him onto and off of the train because his female companion was too slow in assisting him with his wheelchair. That evening he was in fact denied boarding when the conductor himself blocked John’s path. Amtrak eventually paid and changed their policy.
ANDREW EXLER went to Disneyland with his male companion on “Date Night” and was escorted off the Tomorrowland dance floor and out of the park when they refused to stop dancing with each other. A jury found that Disneyland’s gender based dance policy violated the state Civil Rights Act. This reportedly was the first jury verdict ever against Disneyland.
DENNIS KOIRE had his car washed at several Orange County locations but asked to pay the “Ladies Day” price instead of the price charged to men. These car washes and several nightclubs which had the same gender based promotions were sued for violating the state Civil Rights Act. We lost at trial and the Court of Appeal but won a unanimous victory in the California Supreme Court.
FAMILY PLANNINMG ASSOCIATES MEDICAL GROUP is the largest abortion provider in California. Protestors opposed to abortion forcefully entered the parking lots to leaflet and “counsel” the clinic’s patients. The clinic sued asserting a private property right to exclude those whose goal it is to harm the business. The clinic’s rights were upheld at trial and on the appeals.
THE LOS ANGELES POLICE PROTECTIVE LEAGUE is the police union for the City of Los Angeles representing about 7,400 officers. The Chief of Police issued an order requiring certain of these officers in community relations positions to post their pictures on the City’s website so that citizens would be able to match a face with the person with whom they are communicating. This requirement was not covered by the union contract. LAPPL obtained an injunction against enforcement of the order based on the due process safety concerns of the officers. In my legal career I have sued many police officers and departments, but this was the first time I had represented any.
THE PROFESSIONAL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ORGANIZATION (PATCO) went on strike in August, 1981 for better pay and working conditions. President Reagan gave them 48 hours to return to work or they would be fired. Approximately 10,400 were then fired for striking against the United States, which is a felony. After individualized hearings, about 400 were re-hired. Four of the seven controllers that I represented were able to keep their jobs.
PADDY MURPHY’S is a “strip club” in Santa Ana. The dancers were being arrested for violating the City’s ordinance which allowed topless entertainment in theaters only. The owner sued the city and obtained a permanent injunction against the enforcement of the ordinance on First Amendment grounds.
JANE DOE was sued by her boyfriend who obtained a temporary restraining order against her from getting an abortion. The judge who issued the order required the boyfriend’s attorney to notify the American Civil Liberties Union of the order. The judge stated that if the order is not legal the ACLU would tell him immediately. We did and he vacated the order the next day.
EPHRAIM ZEHAVI is an Israeli scientist and was the thirteenth employee hired by the Qualcomm Corporation. Upon retiring, he signed a consulting contract with the company that allowed him to maintain his benefits. When he attempted to exercise 87,000 stock options, he was informed by the company that those options had expired because his consulting contract was no longer in effect. He sued for fraud alleging that personnel in the patent department and their lawyers intentionally mislead him into believing that his contract had been renewed for an additional term. A San Diego jury agreed.
K. J. was a senior in his last semester at California State University at Fullerton where he had enrolled in more courses than he needed to graduate. Near the end of the semester he asked one of the course professors to sign a “drop” form to cancel the extra class which he had never attended. This professor agreed to sign the form but only on condition that this student accept three swats from the professor with a wooden paddle. After the first swat, the student told the professor he was not going to be hit again and left the professor’s office without the drop form. The case settled.