Illinois
Oreo maker sues Aldi, alleging grocery chain copies packaging
Snack food maker Mondelez International is suing the Aldi supermarket chain, alleging the packaging for Aldi’s store-brand cookies and crackers “blatantly copies” Mondelez products like Chips Ahoy, Wheat Thins and Oreos.
In a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday in Illinois, Chicago-based Mondelez said Aldi’s packaging was “likely to deceive and confuse customers” and threatened to irreparably harm Mondelez and its brands. The company is seeking monetary damages and a court order that would stop Aldi from selling products that infringe on its trademarks.
Aldi didn’t respond to messages seeking comment. The U.S. branch of Aldi, which is based in Batavia, Illinois, was named in the lawsuit.
In the lawsuit, Mondelez displayed side-by-side photos of multiple products. Aldi’s Thin Wheat crackers, for example, come in a gold box very similar to Mondelez’s Wheat Thins. Aldi’s chocolate sandwich cookies and Oreos both have blue packaging. The supermarket’s Golden Round crackers and Mondelez’s Ritz crackers are packaged in red boxes.
Aldi, which was founded in Germany, keeps prices low by primarily selling products under its own labels. It’s one of the fastest-growing grocery chains in the U.S., with more than 2,500 stores in 39 states. On Friday, the company announced that its current chief operating officer, Atty McGrath, would become Aldi’s U.S. CEO on Sept. 1.
The chain has faced lawsuits over its packaging before. Last year, an Australian court found that Aldi infringed on the copyright of Baby Bellies snack puffs for young children. In that case,
Aldi’s packaging featured a cartoon owl and similar colors to the name-brand packaging.
Earlier this year, a U.K. appeals court ruled in favor of Thatchers, a cider company, which sued Aldi over design similarities in the packaging of its lemon cider.
Mondelez said in its lawsuit that the company had contacted Aldi on numerous occasions about “confusingly similar packaging.” Mondelez said Aldi discontinued or changed the packaging on some items but continued to sell others.
The lawsuit also alleges that Aldi infringed on Mondalez’s trade dress rights for the packaging of Nutter Butter and Nilla Wafers cookies, and its Premium cracker brand.
California
Smokey Robinson sues former housekeepers for defamation over rape allegations
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Smokey Robinson has filed a defamation lawsuit against four former housekeepers who accused him of rape and prompted a police investigation.
Robinson and his wife, Frances Robinson, filed the counterclaim Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court against the women and their lawyers, whose allegations, they say, were “fabricated in an extortionate scheme.”
The filing is a fast and forceful legal and public pushback from the 85-year-old Motown music luminary in response to the women’s May 6 lawsuit and a May 15 announcement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department that its Special Victims Bureau is “actively investigating criminal allegations” against Robinson.
The Robinsons also filed a motion to strike the women’s lawsuit. The women are seeking at least $50 million, alleging Smokey Robinson repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted them in his home when they worked for him between 2007 and 2024. They said Frances Robinson, a co-defendant, enabled him and created an abusive workplace.
The counterclaim opens with friendly text messages from the women to contradict their claims against Robinson, whose songs, including “Tears of a Clown” and “The Tracks of My Tears,” established him among the biggest hitmakers of the 1960s.
The filing says the women “stayed with the Robinsons year after year,” vacationed with them, celebrated holidays with them, exchanged gifts with them, asked for tickets to his concerts, and sought and received help from them including money for dental surgery, financial support for a disabled family member, and “even a car.”
The filing — which includes photos from the vacations and gatherings as exhibits — says that despite the couple’s generosity, the women “secretly harbored resentment for the Robinsons and sought to enrich themselves through the Robinsons’ wealth.”
“Unfortunately, the depths of Plaintiffs’ avarice and greed know no bounds,” the counterclaim says. “During the very time that the Robinsons were being extraordinarily generous with Plaintiffs, Plaintiffs were concocting an extortionate plan to take everything from the Robinsons.”
John Harris and Herbert Hayden, attorneys for the former housekeepers, said in a statement that the defamation lawsuit “is nothing more than an attempt to silence and intimidate the survivors of Mr. Robinson’s sexual battery and assault. It is a baseless and vindictive legal maneuver designed to re-victimize, shift blame and discourage others from coming forward.”
The lawyers said they intend to get the Robinsons’ lawsuit thrown out by invoking California’s laws against using the courts to silence and intimidate people who sue.
The four women, whose names are withheld in their lawsuit, each allege that Robinson would wait until they were alone with him in his Los Angeles house and then sexually assault and rape them. One woman said she was assaulted at least 20 times while working for Robinson from 2012 until 2024. Another said she worked for him from 2014 until 2020 and was assaulted at least 23 times.
The Robinsons’ other legal filing seeks to strike the women’s lawsuit as invalid, saying they have no right to hide their identities in it, especially after they “chose to make a very public
spectacle of themselves” when they appeared at a news conference the day they sued, their faces covered with masks and sunglasses.
The Sheriff’s Department would give no details on its investigation beyond confirming its existence.
Robinson, who was a central figure in the Motown Records machine with his group the Miracles and as a solo artist, is a member of both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Louisiana
3rd suspect arrested in connection with death of a Super Bowl reporter in New Orleans
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A third person has been charged in connection to the death of a television reporter who had traveled to New Orleans to cover the Super Bowl earlier this year.
Christian Anderson, 33, of New Orleans, was arrested for his alleged role in a recurring scheme that police say involved targeting victims, drugging them and robbing them.
Among those alleged victims was Adan Manzano, a 27-year-old reporter and anchor for Telemundo based in Kansas City, Missouri. Manzano was found dead Feb. 5 in his hotel room in the New Orleans suburb of Kenner.
Manzano’s death came a year after his wife died in a car accident. The couple leaves behind a toddler daughter.
An autopsy revealed that Manzano died lying face down on a pillow, unable to breathe after ingesting a combination of alcohol and the depressant Xanax.
Security video from Manzano’s hotel showed the reporter and a woman, who police later identified as Danette Colbert, entering his room together on the morning of his death. About an hour later, Colbert could be seen walking out of the room alone. Authorities say the woman later used Manzano’s credit card at a New Orleans gas station and several stores in the area.
Colbert, whose arrest record include allegations of drugging men and theft, was charged with second-degree murder and with stealing Manzano’s credit cards and cellphone. In addition, Ricky White, 34, has been charged with murder.
Kenner police said that the vehicle Colbert used on the day of Manzano’s death had been rented by Anderson. After reviewing more evidence, including text messages, police say they believe that Anderson “provided logistical support, engaged in post-crime communication, and assisted in attempts to financially benefit from the victim’s stolen assets.”
Anderson has been charged with principal to simple robbery, purse snatching, access device fraud, illegal transmission of monetary funds, bank fraud and computer fraud.
He is currently being held in the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center. Jail records did not immediately list an attorney who could speak on Anderson’s behalf.
Hawaii
Lawsuit accuses police of arresting sober drivers for impaired driving
HONOLULU (AP) — The Honolulu Police Department said it will review all impaired driving arrests after the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii filed a lawsuit Thursday alleging officers are arresting sober drivers in an overzealous focus on making drunk-driving arrests.
In recent years Honolulu officers have arrested “scores” of drivers who show no outward signs of impairment, perform well on field sobriety tests and whose breath tests often show no alcohol, the lawsuit said.
The department is driven by a “singular focus” on getting arrests for driving under the influence, even if they don’t result in convictions, the ACLU said.
Supervisors give officers incentives, including telling night enforcement officers they can go home and still get paid for an entire shift if they make a DUI arrest, which results in officers taking investigative shortcuts or making arrests without probable cause, the ACLU said.
Police are attempting to show that officers are protecting the public, using arrest numbers to secure federal funding and to meet quotas, the organization said.
“Each of our clients blew a 0.000. None of them were intoxicated. Yet they endured lasting damage to their records, their reputation, traumatic arrests, and unlawful detention,” said Jeremy O’Steen, an attorney with a firm that is working on the lawsuit with ACLU Hawaii. “What we are demanding today is simple: Stop arresting innocent people. Stop manipulating the system.”
In response, the department said in a statement that it “takes these allegations very seriously,” and officials have “initiated a comprehensive review of all impaired driving arrests dating back to 2021.”
The ACLU said they became aware of the issue thanks to an investigation by Hawaii News Now reporter Lynn Kawano.
The class-action lawsuit is on behalf of three plaintiffs who were arrested and represents hundreds of other drivers. The lawsuit is asking a judge to declare that the Honolulu Police Department’s practices are unconstitutional and unlawful. It doesn’t seek monetary damages.
In addition to the ongoing review, the cases of the three plaintiffs will be internally investigated, police said: “We are dedicated to upholding public trust and will take appropriate action should any misconduct be found.”
From 2022 through 2024, Honolulu police arrested 127 people who had a blood-alcohol content level of 0.000 after a breath or blood test for driving under the influence, according to the lawsuit. Only 15 people were given a traffic ticket, and only three people were charged with driving under the influence of drugs, the lawsuit said.
Honolulu police’s “pattern” has been to stop drivers either without any problematic driving at a sobriety checkpoint or for minor traffic infractions, the lawsuit said.
ACLU Hawaii is concerned there are quotas that officers are trying to meet. In looking at arrest statistics, the ACLU found a cluster of arrests at the end of the month. On Aug. 31, 2024, there were three arrests where a breath test showed 0.000 at the same location about 20 minutes of each other, the ACLU said.
Oreo maker sues Aldi, alleging grocery chain copies packaging
Snack food maker Mondelez International is suing the Aldi supermarket chain, alleging the packaging for Aldi’s store-brand cookies and crackers “blatantly copies” Mondelez products like Chips Ahoy, Wheat Thins and Oreos.
In a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday in Illinois, Chicago-based Mondelez said Aldi’s packaging was “likely to deceive and confuse customers” and threatened to irreparably harm Mondelez and its brands. The company is seeking monetary damages and a court order that would stop Aldi from selling products that infringe on its trademarks.
Aldi didn’t respond to messages seeking comment. The U.S. branch of Aldi, which is based in Batavia, Illinois, was named in the lawsuit.
In the lawsuit, Mondelez displayed side-by-side photos of multiple products. Aldi’s Thin Wheat crackers, for example, come in a gold box very similar to Mondelez’s Wheat Thins. Aldi’s chocolate sandwich cookies and Oreos both have blue packaging. The supermarket’s Golden Round crackers and Mondelez’s Ritz crackers are packaged in red boxes.
Aldi, which was founded in Germany, keeps prices low by primarily selling products under its own labels. It’s one of the fastest-growing grocery chains in the U.S., with more than 2,500 stores in 39 states. On Friday, the company announced that its current chief operating officer, Atty McGrath, would become Aldi’s U.S. CEO on Sept. 1.
The chain has faced lawsuits over its packaging before. Last year, an Australian court found that Aldi infringed on the copyright of Baby Bellies snack puffs for young children. In that case,
Aldi’s packaging featured a cartoon owl and similar colors to the name-brand packaging.
Earlier this year, a U.K. appeals court ruled in favor of Thatchers, a cider company, which sued Aldi over design similarities in the packaging of its lemon cider.
Mondelez said in its lawsuit that the company had contacted Aldi on numerous occasions about “confusingly similar packaging.” Mondelez said Aldi discontinued or changed the packaging on some items but continued to sell others.
The lawsuit also alleges that Aldi infringed on Mondalez’s trade dress rights for the packaging of Nutter Butter and Nilla Wafers cookies, and its Premium cracker brand.
California
Smokey Robinson sues former housekeepers for defamation over rape allegations
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Smokey Robinson has filed a defamation lawsuit against four former housekeepers who accused him of rape and prompted a police investigation.
Robinson and his wife, Frances Robinson, filed the counterclaim Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court against the women and their lawyers, whose allegations, they say, were “fabricated in an extortionate scheme.”
The filing is a fast and forceful legal and public pushback from the 85-year-old Motown music luminary in response to the women’s May 6 lawsuit and a May 15 announcement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department that its Special Victims Bureau is “actively investigating criminal allegations” against Robinson.
The Robinsons also filed a motion to strike the women’s lawsuit. The women are seeking at least $50 million, alleging Smokey Robinson repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted them in his home when they worked for him between 2007 and 2024. They said Frances Robinson, a co-defendant, enabled him and created an abusive workplace.
The counterclaim opens with friendly text messages from the women to contradict their claims against Robinson, whose songs, including “Tears of a Clown” and “The Tracks of My Tears,” established him among the biggest hitmakers of the 1960s.
The filing says the women “stayed with the Robinsons year after year,” vacationed with them, celebrated holidays with them, exchanged gifts with them, asked for tickets to his concerts, and sought and received help from them including money for dental surgery, financial support for a disabled family member, and “even a car.”
The filing — which includes photos from the vacations and gatherings as exhibits — says that despite the couple’s generosity, the women “secretly harbored resentment for the Robinsons and sought to enrich themselves through the Robinsons’ wealth.”
“Unfortunately, the depths of Plaintiffs’ avarice and greed know no bounds,” the counterclaim says. “During the very time that the Robinsons were being extraordinarily generous with Plaintiffs, Plaintiffs were concocting an extortionate plan to take everything from the Robinsons.”
John Harris and Herbert Hayden, attorneys for the former housekeepers, said in a statement that the defamation lawsuit “is nothing more than an attempt to silence and intimidate the survivors of Mr. Robinson’s sexual battery and assault. It is a baseless and vindictive legal maneuver designed to re-victimize, shift blame and discourage others from coming forward.”
The lawyers said they intend to get the Robinsons’ lawsuit thrown out by invoking California’s laws against using the courts to silence and intimidate people who sue.
The four women, whose names are withheld in their lawsuit, each allege that Robinson would wait until they were alone with him in his Los Angeles house and then sexually assault and rape them. One woman said she was assaulted at least 20 times while working for Robinson from 2012 until 2024. Another said she worked for him from 2014 until 2020 and was assaulted at least 23 times.
The Robinsons’ other legal filing seeks to strike the women’s lawsuit as invalid, saying they have no right to hide their identities in it, especially after they “chose to make a very public
spectacle of themselves” when they appeared at a news conference the day they sued, their faces covered with masks and sunglasses.
The Sheriff’s Department would give no details on its investigation beyond confirming its existence.
Robinson, who was a central figure in the Motown Records machine with his group the Miracles and as a solo artist, is a member of both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Louisiana
3rd suspect arrested in connection with death of a Super Bowl reporter in New Orleans
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A third person has been charged in connection to the death of a television reporter who had traveled to New Orleans to cover the Super Bowl earlier this year.
Christian Anderson, 33, of New Orleans, was arrested for his alleged role in a recurring scheme that police say involved targeting victims, drugging them and robbing them.
Among those alleged victims was Adan Manzano, a 27-year-old reporter and anchor for Telemundo based in Kansas City, Missouri. Manzano was found dead Feb. 5 in his hotel room in the New Orleans suburb of Kenner.
Manzano’s death came a year after his wife died in a car accident. The couple leaves behind a toddler daughter.
An autopsy revealed that Manzano died lying face down on a pillow, unable to breathe after ingesting a combination of alcohol and the depressant Xanax.
Security video from Manzano’s hotel showed the reporter and a woman, who police later identified as Danette Colbert, entering his room together on the morning of his death. About an hour later, Colbert could be seen walking out of the room alone. Authorities say the woman later used Manzano’s credit card at a New Orleans gas station and several stores in the area.
Colbert, whose arrest record include allegations of drugging men and theft, was charged with second-degree murder and with stealing Manzano’s credit cards and cellphone. In addition, Ricky White, 34, has been charged with murder.
Kenner police said that the vehicle Colbert used on the day of Manzano’s death had been rented by Anderson. After reviewing more evidence, including text messages, police say they believe that Anderson “provided logistical support, engaged in post-crime communication, and assisted in attempts to financially benefit from the victim’s stolen assets.”
Anderson has been charged with principal to simple robbery, purse snatching, access device fraud, illegal transmission of monetary funds, bank fraud and computer fraud.
He is currently being held in the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center. Jail records did not immediately list an attorney who could speak on Anderson’s behalf.
Hawaii
Lawsuit accuses police of arresting sober drivers for impaired driving
HONOLULU (AP) — The Honolulu Police Department said it will review all impaired driving arrests after the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii filed a lawsuit Thursday alleging officers are arresting sober drivers in an overzealous focus on making drunk-driving arrests.
In recent years Honolulu officers have arrested “scores” of drivers who show no outward signs of impairment, perform well on field sobriety tests and whose breath tests often show no alcohol, the lawsuit said.
The department is driven by a “singular focus” on getting arrests for driving under the influence, even if they don’t result in convictions, the ACLU said.
Supervisors give officers incentives, including telling night enforcement officers they can go home and still get paid for an entire shift if they make a DUI arrest, which results in officers taking investigative shortcuts or making arrests without probable cause, the ACLU said.
Police are attempting to show that officers are protecting the public, using arrest numbers to secure federal funding and to meet quotas, the organization said.
“Each of our clients blew a 0.000. None of them were intoxicated. Yet they endured lasting damage to their records, their reputation, traumatic arrests, and unlawful detention,” said Jeremy O’Steen, an attorney with a firm that is working on the lawsuit with ACLU Hawaii. “What we are demanding today is simple: Stop arresting innocent people. Stop manipulating the system.”
In response, the department said in a statement that it “takes these allegations very seriously,” and officials have “initiated a comprehensive review of all impaired driving arrests dating back to 2021.”
The ACLU said they became aware of the issue thanks to an investigation by Hawaii News Now reporter Lynn Kawano.
The class-action lawsuit is on behalf of three plaintiffs who were arrested and represents hundreds of other drivers. The lawsuit is asking a judge to declare that the Honolulu Police Department’s practices are unconstitutional and unlawful. It doesn’t seek monetary damages.
In addition to the ongoing review, the cases of the three plaintiffs will be internally investigated, police said: “We are dedicated to upholding public trust and will take appropriate action should any misconduct be found.”
From 2022 through 2024, Honolulu police arrested 127 people who had a blood-alcohol content level of 0.000 after a breath or blood test for driving under the influence, according to the lawsuit. Only 15 people were given a traffic ticket, and only three people were charged with driving under the influence of drugs, the lawsuit said.
Honolulu police’s “pattern” has been to stop drivers either without any problematic driving at a sobriety checkpoint or for minor traffic infractions, the lawsuit said.
ACLU Hawaii is concerned there are quotas that officers are trying to meet. In looking at arrest statistics, the ACLU found a cluster of arrests at the end of the month. On Aug. 31, 2024, there were three arrests where a breath test showed 0.000 at the same location about 20 minutes of each other, the ACLU said.
