Bell Canada faces $750M lawsuit over allegedly selling customer data

A lawsuit seeks $750 million in damages for breach of privacy, breach of contract and breach of the Telecommunications Act. (CBC File Photo)

The Canadian Press
A $750-million national class-action lawsuit has been filed against Bell Canada over alleged breaches of privacy arising from its recently discontinued target ads program.

The suit against subsidiaries of Bell  alleges that the defendants used the program to track, collect and sell the sensitive account and internet browsing information of their customers to advertisers.

It seeks $750 million in damages for breach of privacy, breach of contract and breach of the Telecommunications Act.

Civil groups sue federal government over solitary confinement

Josh Paterson of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association addresses a news conference in Vancouver, Monday, Jan. 19, 2015. Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press

Geordon Omand The Canadian Press
There were times when Lee Chapelle considered running headfirst into his cell wall to knock himself unconscious, just to escape his own thoughts.

The former inmate spoke solemnly about the two years he spent on and off in solitary confinement over the course of his 20-year aggregate sentence, beginning in 1986.

“It’s hard to comprehend,” said the 47-year-old Ottawa-area man, who faced more than 100 mostly theft and break-and-enter convictions, about his time in segregation.

On Monday, the B.C. Civil Liberties Association and the John Howard Society of Canada launched a lawsuit against the federal government for the use of administrative segregation in Canadian prisons, saying the practice violates prisoners’ charter rights to life, liberty and security of the person.

Quebec Shooting: Richard Henry Bain given last chance to find lawyer

Police and fireman work at the rear of an auditorium where a gunman shot and killed at least one person during the PQ victory rally on September 5, 2012, in Montreal. Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press

Sidhartha Banerjee The Canadian Press
The man charged with first-degree murder in Quebec’s 2012 election shooting has been given one last chance to find himself a lawyer ahead of his trial.

Quebec Superior Court Justice Guy Cournoyer authorized a 30-day delay in the case Monday to allow Richard Henry Bain to undergo a court-ordered evaluation that should take place next week.

The judge ordered Bain, 64, to find an attorney before the case resumes Feb. 20.

Bain is also charged with two counts of attempted murder stemming from an attack outside a downtown Montreal club where then-PQ leader Pauline Marois was toasting her party’s election victory on Sept. 4, 2012.

Two BC Terror Suspects Plead Not Guilty

Two people accused in what the RCMP described as a plot to blow up the British Columbia legislature have both pleaded not guilty in a Vancouver court.

The Canadian Press
Two people accused in what the RCMP described as a plot to blow up the British Columbia legislature have both pleaded not guilty in a Vancouver court.

Jury selection began today for John Nuttall and Amanda Korody who are charged with knowingly facilitating a terrorist activity, conspiracy and making or possessing an explosive device.

Former Montreal Canadiens star Guy Lafleur suing Quebec Crown, police for $2M

Montreal Canadiens hockey legend Guy Lafleur leaves the courtroom for the lunch break in his lawsuit against the Montreal police and Quebec's attorney-general in Montreal, Monday, Jan. 12, 2015. (Ryan Remiorz / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Canadian Press
Former Canadiens superstar Guy Lafleur is seeking more than $2 million from the Crown and Montreal police in legal proceedings that began Monday.

Lafleur testified in 2007 at his son Mark's criminal case and was the subject of an arrest warrant in 2008 when the Crown deemed he had given contradictory testimony.

He was found guilty in 2009 before the conviction was overturned on appeal a year later.

Lafleur, 63, is arguing the arrest warrant was exaggerated and unjustified and that his life has been adversely affected by the criminal case against him.

Toronto woman pleads guilty in butt enhancement case

The Canadian Press
Toronto-area woman who injected silicone into the buttocks of nine women — in some cases using syringes attached to a caulking gun — has pleaded guilty to aggravated assault.

Marilyn Ely Reid, 48, was arrested in November 2012 after a 28-year-old woman fell ill after receiving alleged Botox injections. Police said the woman underwent surgery to have the substance removed.

Investigators at the time alleged Reid advertised buttock, lip and muscle augmentations and Botox injections on a website called pmmainjection.com.

Canadian government freeze bank accounts in Arthur Porter fraud case

The headquarters of engineering giant SNC-Lavalin are seen in Montreal on March 26, 2012. Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press

Torstar News Service
The ongoing fraud and money laundering case against Dr. Arthur Porter and former executives with engineering giant SNC-Lavalin has prompted Canadian authorities to freeze bank accounts around the world and attempt to seize a half-dozen luxury properties, new court documents reveal.

The documents in support of the various forfeiture orders sought by Crown prosecutors include bank accounts in the name of Porter — who was head of the Montreal’s McGill University Health Centre — in the Bahamas, Sierra Leone, Canada and the United States, as well as others in Israel, Cyprus, Hong Kong in the name of an alleged co-conspirator, Yanai Elbaz.

Rapper Snoop Dogg About To Be Sued For Calling Look-Alike GAY

Snoop Dog could get into a legal trouble after calling his look-alike Gay on Instagram. Snoop posted the photograph on his instagram page with the caption ‘Whose auntcle is this?’ His fans swooped on the poor man calling him, She Male, Female, Punk, Ugly and other unprintable names.

The man, Cortez Booz, asked instagram to put the photo down because the comments he received from his fans were derogatory and hurtful to him. The picture has been pulled down, but then Cortez might just be suing!

Christian university sues Law Society of BC over decision to not accredit law grads

Trinity Western University in Langley, B.C

Keven Drews The Canadian PressA Christian university embroiled in a debate about religious freedoms and same-sex equality rights will challenge in court a Law Society of British Columbia decision not to accredit graduates from its proposed law school.

In contention is a community covenant at Trinity Western University in Langley, B.C., that prohibits sex outside of marriage between a man and a woman.

The society accredited the proposed law school last April but reversed that decision in October.

Earlier this month, the government announced that it was also revoking its support.

University spokesman Guy Saffold said the judicial review will ask the B.C. Supreme Court to overturn the society’s decision because it acted improperly under its own procedural guidelines and Canadian law.

“The Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the freedom of religion, the freedom of religious communities to express their identity and we feel that the decision the law society has made violates those very important freedoms of our Canadian society,” said Saffold.

A similar judicial review is already underway in Nova Scotia. There, the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society has decided not to allow graduates of the proposed law school to enrol in the bar admission program unless the university dropped a requirement that students sign a pledge to abstain from sex outside heterosexual marriage.

The Law Society of B.C. said in an email that it will defend its decision and respond to the university’s petition within the time provided under the court’s rules.

Bar business owner launches class-action lawsuit against Beer Store and LCBO

The Beer Store is one target of a new class-action lawsuit launched by a Burlington pub owner

Torstar News Service
A Burlington bar owner has launched a proposed $1.4-billion class-action lawsuit against the LCBO and Beer Store over a secret “conspiracy” to limit competition.

David Hughes, owner of The Poacher, is taking the legal action on behalf of beer-drinking Canadians, according to his notice of action, filed in the Ontario Superior Court on Friday.

“The action arises from a conspiracy to fix, raise, maintain or stabilize prices of beer in Ontario,” the notice reads.

“During the conspiracy period, the defendants participated in illegal and secretive discussions and made agreement relating to prices and distribution areas of beer in Ontario,” it continues.

The allegations have not been proved in court.

Government pays some sick moms but not others in multimillion-dollar lawsuit

Calgary mother Carissa Kasbohm and her 4-year-old son Castiel. Kasbohm was denied EI sickness benefits when she was on maternity leave in 2012 despite 2002 legislation that was supposed to extend to women in her situation and a 2010 ruling confirming that fact. Torstar News Service 

Torstar News Service
Ottawa has quietly paid EI sickness benefits to some women who fell ill during maternity leave while continuing to fight a multi-million-dollar class action lawsuit against others, Torstar News Service has learned.

Roughly 350 women who launched appeals in 2012 and 2013 have been paid, according to government documents filed in the class action certification to be heard in federal court beginning Dec. 16.

Calgary mother Carissa Kasbohm, 30, who developed a serious blood illness while on maternity leave in 2010, wonders why the government has paid some women and not her.

Attorney Advised Bill Cosby to Pay $100 Million Compensation or go to Court over Rape Allegations

A famous womans’ attorney, Gloria Allred, is reportedly asking Bill Cosby to pay a settlement fee of $100 million or go to court over rape allegations made by several women in the past few weeks.

Gloria Allred, who has been very vocal about the allegations, proposed two solutions for the comedian and American dad figure – he should either give up the statute of limitations which will allow his accusers to file a lawsuit or he should put $100 million into a fund where judges can decide the way in which each victim can be compensated.

According to Gloria Allred, this scandal has lasted too long and it is a huge cloud on his reputation and legacy.

Sun's News Host Ezra Levant ordered to pay $80,000 in libel lawsuit

Ezra Levant is shown at the University of Ottawa in Ottawa on Tuesday, March 23, 2010. Torstar News Service

 Phillip Lucas And Tom Foreman Jr.
The Associated Press
An Ontario judge who heard a defamation lawsuit against Sun News Network host Ezra Levant ruled Thursday that the controversial media personality libelled a Saskatchewan lawyer in a series of blog posts the judge said were “motivated by malice.”

Justice Wendy Matheson ordered Levant to pay $80,000 in damages to Khurrum Awan and remove “defamatory words” about the man from his website within 15 days.

“I find that the defendant’s dominant motive in these blog posts was ill-will, and that his repeated failure to take even basic steps to check his facts showed a reckless disregard for the truth,” Matheson wrote in her decision.

Awan was completing his articling and looking for work as a lawyer when the statements were posted online by Levant. Awan was seeking $100,000 in damages.

Levant’s posts centred on Awan’s testimony at a British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal case about a complaint regarding an article in Maclean’s magazine from 2006, titled “The future belongs to Islam.”

Awan was a law student when the article was published and was among a group of students who alleged the article was Islamophobic.

The human rights tribunal hearing took place in 2008, before the inception of Sun News Network, so the posts were on Levant’s personal blog.

Egypt Court Dismisses Charges Against Former President Mubarak Accused of Corruption & Killing Hundreds

An Egyptian court on Saturday in Cairo dismissed charges against former President Hosni Mubarak for his involvement in the deaths of protesters during a 2011 uprising that ended his rule.

The Cairo Criminal Court also acquitted Mubarak’s Interior Minister, Habib al-Adly, and ex-security chiefs of the same charges.

The court cleared Mubarak, his sons, Alaa and Gamal, and a fugitive business tycoon of charges in a separate corruption case.

Presiding judge, Mahmoud al-Rasheedi, referring to Mubarak, said that “only history and God should be called on to issue judgment on someone who served as vice president and then president of Egypt for over 30 years.’’

Mubarak was already serving three years in prison in a separate corruption case.

The 86-year old is staying in an army hospital in southern Cairo due to frail health.

Prior to delivering the verdict, al-Rasheedi warned the audience in the courtroom that any reaction to the rulings would be considered an act of contempt for the court.

In 2011, Mubarak was jailed for life for failing to prevent the protester killings, becoming the first-ever Egyptian ruler to be tried and sent to prison.

In early 2013, the ruling was overturned and a retrial was ordered.

Photo Credit: Getty Images/Sean Gallup

Mother Files Lawsuit Against Her 9yr old Daughter For Attacking Younger Sister

A woman in Indianapolis is being highly criticized by other parents after she called the police on her 9 year old daughter for punching her 6 year old younger sister in the head. She didn't just call the police, she filed charges against her own child. (the home where it happened)

The mother, Andrea Stumpf, who filmed the attack and showed it to the police as evidence when they came to her home said she filed charges to teach the little girl a lesson that violence is not the answer.

According to Fox 59, the 9 year old was arrested and charged with battery last weekend. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department spokesman later said the police officer made the decision to arrest the girl and book her because the mother insisted but talked about the significance of keeping children out of the criminal justice system if possible.

“We know that the younger kids get involved in the juvenile justice system, the more likely they are to keep getting involved with the system."

Copycat! Chinese car company unveils $22,000 copy of $70,000 Range Rover

UK giant car company Jaguar Land Rover is furious after a relatively unknown Chinese car company called LandWind unveiled a car that looked almost exactly like the Range Rover E-vogue which at $22,000 cost $48,000 less than the Evogue which is about $70,000. Above is the Evogue and below is the Chinese car. It was launched at a motor show in China last week. 

Jaguar Land Rover say they may take legal action against the company. Jaguar Land Rover chief executive Dr Ralf Speth told Autocar magazine: 

‘The fact that this kind of copying is ongoing in China is very disappointing. The intellectual property (IP) is owned by Jaguar Land Rover and if you break that IP then you are in breach of international regulations.’

Mitsubishi Fined $315m For Improper Transactions

A pedestrian walks past signboards of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (R) and Mizuho Bank in Tokyo May 14, 2014. CREDIT: REUTERS/YUYA SHINO

KAREN FREIFELD | Reuters
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ has agreed to pay $315 million to New York's banking regulator for submitting a whitewashed report about its improper handling of transactions involving countries subject to U.S. sanctions, the regulator said on Tuesday.

The report formed the basis for a $250 million settlement the bank reached last year with New York's Department of Financial Services (DFS) for stripping information from wires that would have helped authorities police transactions involving Iran, Burma and Myanmar from 2002 to 2007.

The bank "misled" the department in reaching the 2013 settlement, with key information deleted from a supposedly objective report, according to a consent order signed Tuesday by DFS superintendent Benjamin Lawsky and bank president Nobuyuki Hirano.

Tyler Perry Sues Ex-employee For Stalking

 

Tyler Perry is suing an ex-employee named Joshua Sole, 27, (pictured right) for trespassing and stalking him but some people are twisting the story and saying the guy is Tyler's ex, not true. Joshua, who is also a model, went to Tyler's studio and refused to leave until he spoke with the director.

 From Atlanta Journal Constitution

A reputed stalker seems to have put a fright into movie mogul Tyler Perry right before Halloween. Perry filed for a protective order Monday in Fulton County Superior Court against Joshua Sole, 27, of Dunwoody, who was booked into the county jail Friday for criminal trespass at Tyler Perry Studios.

Ebola News: Family sues Connecticut school after daughter banned

In Geneva on Wednesday health workers trained for deployment to Ebola-hit areas; Nigeria has had no new confirmed cases since August

A man in the US state of Connecticut has sued after his daughter's school barred her from attending amid fears she may have been exposed to Ebola.

Ikeoluwa Opayemi, seven, who visited Nigeria with her father this month, was told to stay home until November.

Nigeria has had no new cases of Ebola since late August, and the family says the ban was a response to panic.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon has ordered US troops deployed to Ebola-hit countries in Africa quarantined for 21 days.

Ebola has killed roughly 5,000 people out of about 13,700 cases, with all but 27 cases occurring in the West African countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

The virus is only spread through close contact with the bodily fluids of an ill Ebola patient.

Glee Cast Jane Lynch Divorce Settlement

Jane Lynch is now officially free ... but her divorce sure wasn't ... she's paying her former wife millions.

Jane's divorce from Dr. Lara Embry became final Monday. In the property settlement -- obtained by TMZ -- it's apparent gay divorces are just like all the others ... the breadwinner has to give up half.

Lara -- a psychologist -- gets a lump sum of $1.2 million, spaced over over a 2-year period.

But Lara gets a lot more, including:

-- half of several bank and trust accounts, totaling $847,485

-- half of a 401K, totaling $315,079

-- half of the proceeds from their Mulholland Tennis Club membership

-- half of all royalties from Jane's TV appearances, including "Glee"

-- half of their $56,810 tax refund

Lara also gets their L.A. Yacht club membership.

But wait, there's more. Lara gets Francis the dog.

Marriage, worth fighting for ... sometimes.