California
Former baseball volunteer coaches in line to receive $32K each in settlement offer
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — About 1,000 Division I baseball volunteer coaches from 2018-23 could receive an average of more than $32,000 apiece as part of a class action lawsuit settlement given preliminary approval last week.
Former volunteer assistants Taylor Smart of Arkansas and Michael Hacker California-Davis in 2022 filed a lawsuit in the Eastern District of California, Sacramento Division, alleging the NCAA and its member schools unlawfully restricted competition in the college baseball labor market by limiting the number of paid coaches on Division I staffs. Each team could have four coaches, but only three could be paid.
The NCAA began allowing all four coaches to be paid beginning July 1, 2023.
The $49.25 million settlement with the NCAA would provide an average payment of $32,794.85 to each volunteer assistant who was on a staff from Nov. 29, 2018, to July 1, 2023.
U.S. District Judge William Shubb wrote that the payment “represents a strong result for the class” and that each member’s share will be based on factors including where the volunteer worked and for how long.
Shubb set a final fairness hearing for Sept. 15. Front Office Sports first reported the preliminary approval.
California
Ex-highway patrol officer accused of slapping flight attendant’s buttocks in flight
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A former California Highway Patrol captain has been indicted by a federal grand jury after he was accused of slapping a male flight attendant’s buttocks during a cross-country flight to Los Angeles, federal prosecutors said.
It was the second time in recent weeks that allegations of sexual abuse during flights surfaced. The FBI warns the problem is growing, especially on long, overnight trips.
Dennis Wally Woodbury, 49, of Azusa, California, was indicted last week on one count of abusive sexual contact. Woodbury had been drinking heavily and slapped the flight attendant as he walked passed him while collecting meal trays during an April 13 flight on JetBlue Airways from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Los Angeles International Airport, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Prosecutors said Woodbury began acting inappropriately soon after boarding the plane and that before the plane left the gate, he showed another male flight attendant a photo of a dog that had pornographic images in the background and told him he should join him on a cruise. Later on the flight, Woodbury went to the plane’s front galley and pulled down his pants, exposing his genitals to the flight attendant, according to court documents.
Soon afterward, Woodbury asked the same flight attendant for wine and after the crew member told him he could only have a nonalcoholic drink, Woodbury again pulled down his pants and exposed himself, prosecutors said.
Woodbury, who was arrested after the plane landed in Los Angeles, made his initial federal court appearance last month and is free on $50,000 bond. He is scheduled to be arraigned on May 12.
A phone listed for Woodbury was disconnected. His attorney didn’t immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment.
Earlier this week, lawyers for a Northern California woman announced a lawsuit against American Airlines after she said she was sexually assaulted in 2024 on an overnight flight from San Francisco to Dallas. The man was charged in March by federal officials for the sexual assault of another female passenger on a flight in 2023, and the airline was aware of that case, according to the lawsuit by the Northern California woman. He also had several other similar complaints against him, according to the lawsuit.
In 2023, the FBI investigated 96 cases of alleged sexual assaults aboard U.S. flights, including unwanted touching, the agency said. The attacks generally occur on long-haul flights when the cabin is dark, and often those they prey on are in middle or window seats, sleeping, and covered with a blanket or jacket, the FBI said. Passengers who have reported such crimes often say they woke up to find their seatmate’s hands inside their clothing.
It is particularly important that the crime be reported immediately because crime aboard an aircraft is more difficult to investigate once days, or even hours, have passed, the agency said.
Florida
Jury awards man $3M for defective airbag that caused injury during crash
MIAMI (AP) — A South Florida jury has awarded $3 million to a man who was severely injured by a defective airbag in a 2020 crash.
Miami-Dade jurors reached a verdict for Jose Hernandez on Thursday, according to court records. He had filed a lawsuit in 2022 against Takata Airbag Tort Compensation Trust Fund, which was formed during Takata’s bankruptcy
Hernandez was driving his 2005 Honda Civic in Miami in December 2020 when another vehicle hit him as he tried to make a left turn, his attorneys said. The collision should have caused only minor injuries, but the car’s Takata airbag inflator improperly exploded, shooting a piece of metal shrapnel several inches long into Hernandez’s right arm, the lawsuit said.
Attorneys for the Takata trust didn’t immediately respond to an email Monday seeking comment.
At least 28 deaths have been linked to Takata air bag inflators in the U.S. and at least 36 worldwide, according to regulators. More than 400 people in the U.S. have been hurt. Large-scale recalls began in 2013.
Takata used ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion to inflate air bags in a crash. But the chemical can deteriorate over time due to high heat and humidity and explode with too much force. That can blow apart a metal canister and send shrapnel into the passenger compartment.
California
$50M lawsuit accuses Smokey Robinson of sexually assaulting and raping former housekeepers
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Four former housekeepers of Smokey Robinson allege in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that the Motown music luminary repeatedly sexually assaulted and raped them while they worked for him.
The suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court seeks at least $50 million in damages over the alleged assaults, which the women say took place between 2007 and 2024, and labor violations including a hostile work environment, illegally long hours and lack of pay.
A message seeking comment from a representative for the 85-year-old Robinson was not immediately answered.
The four women each say that Robinson would wait until he was alone with them in his Los Angeles house then sexually assault and rape them over their objections.
“We believe that Mr. Robinson is a serial and sick rapist, and must be stopped,” the women’s attorney John Harris said at a news conference.
All said they eventually quit over the assaults, though in some cases it took several years. And all said they feared coming forward over fears of retaliation, public shame and possible effects on their immigration status.
“Having to tell their husband and children of these despicable actions left them filled with shame and embarrassment,” Harris said. “So throughout their dreadful experiences with Mr. Robinson, all four women remained silent.”
He said as low-wage earners, they also all feared “missing a payday, and not being able to afford rent or buy food for their families.”
All four women withheld their legal names citing privacy concerns and are identified as Jane Does in court documents. They appeared at the news conference with their attorneys, but did not speak, and covered their faces with masks.
The lawsuit also names Robinson’s wife Frances Robinson as a defendant, alleging that she enabled his behavior despite knowing about past sexual misconduct. It also blames her for the hostile work environment, saying she berated them with language that included ethnic slurs.
One woman said she worked for the Robinsons from 2012 until 2024, and was assaulted at least 20 times in that span. Another said she worked for them from 2014 until 2020, and was assaulted at least 23 times. Another said she worked for them for a year before quitting in 2024 and was assaulted at least seven times. The fourth woman, who said she also acted as Frances Robinson’s personal assistant, hairdresser and cook, worked for them for 18 years before resigning in 2024. She cited similar experiences to the other women, but did not say how often she was assaulted.
The women, some of whom worked for the Robinsons at the same time as each other, also kept stories of the assaults from one another, but are now bonding over their experience, the attorneys said. They declined to give details at the news conference about how they came forward and learned there were others.
The suit seeks damages based on sexual battery, assault, false imprisonment, gender violence and other allegations.
“Obviously, no amount of money can compensate these women for what Mr. Robinson put them through,” Harris said. But he said the $50 million was warranted “based on the gravity of Mr. Robinson’s despicable and reprehensible misconduct.”
Plaintiffs’ attorney Herbert Hayden said that while they felt the assaults are worthy of criminal investigation, the women have not filed police reports, based on the same fears that kept them from coming forward.
Robinson, a member of both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, was among the biggest hitmakers of the 1960s — both with his group the Miracles and as a solo artist, with songs including “Tears of a Clown” and “The Tracks of My Tears.”
He was a central part of the Motown Records music machine in his hometown of Detroit as an artist, producer and songwriter for other artists.
Mississippi
Fishermen sue state over plan to lease oyster reefs
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A group of more than 20 fishermen, led by Mississippi Commercial Fisheries United Inc., a nonprofit trade organization, are suing the state over its attempts to lease historically public oyster reefs in the Mississippi Sound.
In a statement, MSCFU cited a 2024 bill that allows private individuals and companies to lease up to 80% of Mississippi’s natural oyster reefs.
“Over the past several years, the Mississippi State Legislature has attempted to implement an unconstitutional private leasing regime,” the statement read. “These vague and discriminatory acts, if implemented, would unjustly exclude our current oyster fishing families from their direct access to harvest from reefs that they rely upon for their livelihoods.”
The lawsuit, filed in Harrison County on Thursday, also names the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources and its Executive Director Joe Spraggins as defendants.
When reached for comment, MDMR referred The Associated Press to the Mississippi Attorney General’s office, which said it could not comment on active litigation.
MDMR frames the leasing plan as a way to increase oyster production “while ensuring compliance and environmental and conservation requirements.”
The lawsuit comes as the state’s oyster industry is recovering after massive freshwater flooding, released through Louisiana’s Bonnet Carré Spillway, killed almost all the oysters on Mississippi’s most productive reefs in 2019.
Former baseball volunteer coaches in line to receive $32K each in settlement offer
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — About 1,000 Division I baseball volunteer coaches from 2018-23 could receive an average of more than $32,000 apiece as part of a class action lawsuit settlement given preliminary approval last week.
Former volunteer assistants Taylor Smart of Arkansas and Michael Hacker California-Davis in 2022 filed a lawsuit in the Eastern District of California, Sacramento Division, alleging the NCAA and its member schools unlawfully restricted competition in the college baseball labor market by limiting the number of paid coaches on Division I staffs. Each team could have four coaches, but only three could be paid.
The NCAA began allowing all four coaches to be paid beginning July 1, 2023.
The $49.25 million settlement with the NCAA would provide an average payment of $32,794.85 to each volunteer assistant who was on a staff from Nov. 29, 2018, to July 1, 2023.
U.S. District Judge William Shubb wrote that the payment “represents a strong result for the class” and that each member’s share will be based on factors including where the volunteer worked and for how long.
Shubb set a final fairness hearing for Sept. 15. Front Office Sports first reported the preliminary approval.
California
Ex-highway patrol officer accused of slapping flight attendant’s buttocks in flight
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A former California Highway Patrol captain has been indicted by a federal grand jury after he was accused of slapping a male flight attendant’s buttocks during a cross-country flight to Los Angeles, federal prosecutors said.
It was the second time in recent weeks that allegations of sexual abuse during flights surfaced. The FBI warns the problem is growing, especially on long, overnight trips.
Dennis Wally Woodbury, 49, of Azusa, California, was indicted last week on one count of abusive sexual contact. Woodbury had been drinking heavily and slapped the flight attendant as he walked passed him while collecting meal trays during an April 13 flight on JetBlue Airways from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Los Angeles International Airport, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Prosecutors said Woodbury began acting inappropriately soon after boarding the plane and that before the plane left the gate, he showed another male flight attendant a photo of a dog that had pornographic images in the background and told him he should join him on a cruise. Later on the flight, Woodbury went to the plane’s front galley and pulled down his pants, exposing his genitals to the flight attendant, according to court documents.
Soon afterward, Woodbury asked the same flight attendant for wine and after the crew member told him he could only have a nonalcoholic drink, Woodbury again pulled down his pants and exposed himself, prosecutors said.
Woodbury, who was arrested after the plane landed in Los Angeles, made his initial federal court appearance last month and is free on $50,000 bond. He is scheduled to be arraigned on May 12.
A phone listed for Woodbury was disconnected. His attorney didn’t immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment.
Earlier this week, lawyers for a Northern California woman announced a lawsuit against American Airlines after she said she was sexually assaulted in 2024 on an overnight flight from San Francisco to Dallas. The man was charged in March by federal officials for the sexual assault of another female passenger on a flight in 2023, and the airline was aware of that case, according to the lawsuit by the Northern California woman. He also had several other similar complaints against him, according to the lawsuit.
In 2023, the FBI investigated 96 cases of alleged sexual assaults aboard U.S. flights, including unwanted touching, the agency said. The attacks generally occur on long-haul flights when the cabin is dark, and often those they prey on are in middle or window seats, sleeping, and covered with a blanket or jacket, the FBI said. Passengers who have reported such crimes often say they woke up to find their seatmate’s hands inside their clothing.
It is particularly important that the crime be reported immediately because crime aboard an aircraft is more difficult to investigate once days, or even hours, have passed, the agency said.
Florida
Jury awards man $3M for defective airbag that caused injury during crash
MIAMI (AP) — A South Florida jury has awarded $3 million to a man who was severely injured by a defective airbag in a 2020 crash.
Miami-Dade jurors reached a verdict for Jose Hernandez on Thursday, according to court records. He had filed a lawsuit in 2022 against Takata Airbag Tort Compensation Trust Fund, which was formed during Takata’s bankruptcy
Hernandez was driving his 2005 Honda Civic in Miami in December 2020 when another vehicle hit him as he tried to make a left turn, his attorneys said. The collision should have caused only minor injuries, but the car’s Takata airbag inflator improperly exploded, shooting a piece of metal shrapnel several inches long into Hernandez’s right arm, the lawsuit said.
Attorneys for the Takata trust didn’t immediately respond to an email Monday seeking comment.
At least 28 deaths have been linked to Takata air bag inflators in the U.S. and at least 36 worldwide, according to regulators. More than 400 people in the U.S. have been hurt. Large-scale recalls began in 2013.
Takata used ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion to inflate air bags in a crash. But the chemical can deteriorate over time due to high heat and humidity and explode with too much force. That can blow apart a metal canister and send shrapnel into the passenger compartment.
California
$50M lawsuit accuses Smokey Robinson of sexually assaulting and raping former housekeepers
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Four former housekeepers of Smokey Robinson allege in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that the Motown music luminary repeatedly sexually assaulted and raped them while they worked for him.
The suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court seeks at least $50 million in damages over the alleged assaults, which the women say took place between 2007 and 2024, and labor violations including a hostile work environment, illegally long hours and lack of pay.
A message seeking comment from a representative for the 85-year-old Robinson was not immediately answered.
The four women each say that Robinson would wait until he was alone with them in his Los Angeles house then sexually assault and rape them over their objections.
“We believe that Mr. Robinson is a serial and sick rapist, and must be stopped,” the women’s attorney John Harris said at a news conference.
All said they eventually quit over the assaults, though in some cases it took several years. And all said they feared coming forward over fears of retaliation, public shame and possible effects on their immigration status.
“Having to tell their husband and children of these despicable actions left them filled with shame and embarrassment,” Harris said. “So throughout their dreadful experiences with Mr. Robinson, all four women remained silent.”
He said as low-wage earners, they also all feared “missing a payday, and not being able to afford rent or buy food for their families.”
All four women withheld their legal names citing privacy concerns and are identified as Jane Does in court documents. They appeared at the news conference with their attorneys, but did not speak, and covered their faces with masks.
The lawsuit also names Robinson’s wife Frances Robinson as a defendant, alleging that she enabled his behavior despite knowing about past sexual misconduct. It also blames her for the hostile work environment, saying she berated them with language that included ethnic slurs.
One woman said she worked for the Robinsons from 2012 until 2024, and was assaulted at least 20 times in that span. Another said she worked for them from 2014 until 2020, and was assaulted at least 23 times. Another said she worked for them for a year before quitting in 2024 and was assaulted at least seven times. The fourth woman, who said she also acted as Frances Robinson’s personal assistant, hairdresser and cook, worked for them for 18 years before resigning in 2024. She cited similar experiences to the other women, but did not say how often she was assaulted.
The women, some of whom worked for the Robinsons at the same time as each other, also kept stories of the assaults from one another, but are now bonding over their experience, the attorneys said. They declined to give details at the news conference about how they came forward and learned there were others.
The suit seeks damages based on sexual battery, assault, false imprisonment, gender violence and other allegations.
“Obviously, no amount of money can compensate these women for what Mr. Robinson put them through,” Harris said. But he said the $50 million was warranted “based on the gravity of Mr. Robinson’s despicable and reprehensible misconduct.”
Plaintiffs’ attorney Herbert Hayden said that while they felt the assaults are worthy of criminal investigation, the women have not filed police reports, based on the same fears that kept them from coming forward.
Robinson, a member of both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, was among the biggest hitmakers of the 1960s — both with his group the Miracles and as a solo artist, with songs including “Tears of a Clown” and “The Tracks of My Tears.”
He was a central part of the Motown Records music machine in his hometown of Detroit as an artist, producer and songwriter for other artists.
Mississippi
Fishermen sue state over plan to lease oyster reefs
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A group of more than 20 fishermen, led by Mississippi Commercial Fisheries United Inc., a nonprofit trade organization, are suing the state over its attempts to lease historically public oyster reefs in the Mississippi Sound.
In a statement, MSCFU cited a 2024 bill that allows private individuals and companies to lease up to 80% of Mississippi’s natural oyster reefs.
“Over the past several years, the Mississippi State Legislature has attempted to implement an unconstitutional private leasing regime,” the statement read. “These vague and discriminatory acts, if implemented, would unjustly exclude our current oyster fishing families from their direct access to harvest from reefs that they rely upon for their livelihoods.”
The lawsuit, filed in Harrison County on Thursday, also names the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources and its Executive Director Joe Spraggins as defendants.
When reached for comment, MDMR referred The Associated Press to the Mississippi Attorney General’s office, which said it could not comment on active litigation.
MDMR frames the leasing plan as a way to increase oyster production “while ensuring compliance and environmental and conservation requirements.”
The lawsuit comes as the state’s oyster industry is recovering after massive freshwater flooding, released through Louisiana’s Bonnet Carré Spillway, killed almost all the oysters on Mississippi’s most productive reefs in 2019.
