Hawaii
Ohtani’s lawyers say he was victim of likeness misuse in real estate deal, move to dismiss lawsuit
HONOLULU (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and his agent, Nez Balelo, moved to dismiss a lawsuit filed last month accusing them of causing a Hawaii real estate investor and broker to be fired from a $240 million luxury housing development on the Big Island’s Hapuna Coast.
Ohtani and Balelo were sued Aug. 8 in Hawaii Circuit Court for the First Circuit by developer Kevin J. Hayes Sr. and real estate broker Tomoko Matsumoto, West Point Investment Corp. and Hapuna Estates Property Owners, who accused them of “abuse of power” that allegedly resulted in tortious interference and unjust enrichment.
Hayes and Matsumoto had been dropped from the development deal by Kingsbarn Realty Capital, the joint venture’s majority owner.
In papers filed Sunday, lawyers for Ohtani and Balelo said Hayes and Matsumoto in 2023 acquired rights for a joint venture in which they owned a minority percentage to use Ohtani’s name, image and likeness under an endorsement agreement to market the venture’s real estate development at the Mauna Kea Resort. The lawyers said Ohtani was a “victim of NIL violations.”
“Unbeknownst to Ohtani and his agent Nez Balelo, plaintiffs exploited Ohtani’s name and photograph to drum up traffic to a website that marketed plaintiffs’ own side project development,” the lawyers wrote.
“They engaged in this self-dealing without authorization, and without paying Ohtani for that use, in a selfish and wrongful effort to take advantage of their proximity to the most famous baseball player in the world.”
The lawyers claimed Hayes and Matsumoto sued after “Balelo did his job and protected his client by expressing justifiable concern about this misuse and threatening to take legal action against this clear misappropriation.” They called Balelo’s actions “clearly protected speech “
In a statement issued after the suit was filed last month, Kingsbarn called the allegations “completely frivolous and without merit.”
Ohtani is a three-time MVP on the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
“Nez Balelo has always prioritized Shohei Ohtani’s best interests, including protecting his name, image, and likeness from unauthorized use,” a lawyer for Ohtani and Balelo, said in a statement. “This frivolous lawsuit is a desperate attempt by plaintiffs to distract from their myriad of failures and blatant misappropriation of Mr. Ohtani’s rights.”
Lawyers for Hayes and Matsumoto did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Washington
Federal government sues Uber over alleged discrimination against people with disabilities
The federal government said Friday that it is suing Uber for allegedly discriminating against passengers with disabilities.
The Department of Justice said Uber drivers routinely refuse to serve individuals with disabilities, including those with service dogs. Uber is the largest ride-hailing company in the U.S.
The lawsuit alleges that Uber drivers have charged illegal cleaning fees for service animal shedding and imposed cancellation fees after denying service. The lawsuit also alleges that drivers have refused to allow disabled individuals to sit in the front seat so they can use the back seat for mobility devices.
Disabled individuals have missed appointments, experienced significant delays and have been stranded in inclement weather, the lawsuit said.
“For too long, blind riders have suffered repeated ride denials by Uber because they are traveling with a service dog,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This lawsuit seeks to end this persistent discrimination and allow riders with disabilities to use Uber.”
In a statement Friday, Uber said all of its drivers must acknowledge and agree to comply with its service animal and accessibility policies.
Uber said it prohibits drivers from denying service to someone with a service animal and it requires drivers to provide transportation to a person with a disability as long as they get into the vehicle on their own. It also prohibits drivers from refusing to assist with the stowing of devices like walkers, crutches and folding wheelchairs.
“Riders who use guide dogs or other assistive devices deserve a safe, respectful and welcoming experience on Uber — full stop,” the company said. Uber said it disagrees with the allegations in the lawsuit.
Uber said it established a hotline in 2023 for customers who were denied a ride because of a service animal. Uber said when it confirms that a violation has occurred, it takes action, including deactivating a driver’s account.
The Department of Justice is seeking $125 million for disabled individuals who have previously submitted complaints to Uber or the Department of Justice.
The case was filed in federal court in Northern California. Uber Technologies is based in San Francisco.
Georgia
Judge won’t award attorneys fees to governments in lawsuit over Rivian vehicle plant
ATLANTA (AP) — A judge has rejected an attempt by the state of Georgia and a local development agency to force people who unsuccessfully sued to block an electric vehicle plant to pay the government’s legal fees.
State government and the development authority demanded that six Morgan County property owners who challenged the zoning for Rivian Automotive pay more than $337,000 in legal fees incurred by the government.
Morgan County Superior Court Judge Stephen Bradley, in a ruling filed Friday, said that the two lawsuits where the government agencies were seeking fees were far from frivolous, and that awarding legal fees to the government could make it harder for regular citizens to exercise their rights to challenge government actions in court.
“No truly aggrieved citizen should be prohibited from suing to test the legality or constitutionality of the government’s claims, and any precedent that could allow political actions and costs to be offloaded to complaining litigants would be untenable,” Bradley wrote.
JoEllen Artz, a leader of opposition group No2Rivian, said the ruling keeps citizens from being “silenced by Goliath.”
The state is seeking to recover another $200,000 in fees in a separate case in Atlanta.
The ruling came days before a Tuesday groundbreaking ceremony for the $5 billion Rivian plant, which is supposed to eventually employ 7,500 people on a 2,000-acre site near Social Circle, about 45 miles (70 kilometers) east of downtown Atlanta.
In a statement, the state and local governments said the courts have consistently ruled in a way to allow construction.
“This ruling doesn’t change the status of the Rivian project,” the agencies said. “Together, we are focused on the future and delivering for Georgia taxpayers.”
Some local residents oppose the plant, saying it is an inappropriate neighbor to farms and will ruin residents’ drinking-water well in a rural area on the eastern edge of Atlanta’s suburban frontier. The property’s previous owner, a joint development authority that includes the governments of Jasper, Morgan, Newton and Walton counties, transferred ownership of the land to the state. That extinguished what could have been a contentious rezoning fight because state land is generally exempt from local zoning laws.
But the lawsuits challenged whether that was appropriate, questioning whether leasing land to Rivian for a truck assembly plant was a public purpose, or whether Rivian’s private activity still required rezoning by Morgan County.
Bradley ruled against the plaintiffs, but he acknowledged in Friday’s ruling that the transfers “seem clearly designed to circumvent resistance from local voices opposing the Rivian project.”
The development authority, in a statement published in The Covington News, argued it should recoup attorney fees because the lawsuits were illegitimate attempts to “delay progress, costing taxpayers and the community.”
But Bradley said the plaintiffs did not sue in bad faith and a had chance of winning because they raised “new and unanswered questions of law” about the state’s traditional immunity from being sued.
“As shown in the defendants’ reactions, there was a very real chance that a court could decide in the plaintiffs’ favor,” Bradley wrote.
The Morgan County Commission, which was also sued, didn’t seek attorneys’ fees.
Oregon
Driver in crash that killed softball coach and player sentenced to 20 years in prison
The driver accused in a fatal crash that killed an Oregon community college softball player and head coach has been sentenced to more than 20 years in prison.
The judge imposed the sentence against Johnathan James Dowdy, 33, as several members of the Umpqua Community College softball team, the entire soccer team and the school’s president and athletic director looked on.
Dowdy was driving his pickup April 18 when he crossed the center line and crashed into a bus carrying 10 members of the softball team, according to Oregon State Police. The team was on the road from a game in Coos Bay.
Coach Jami Strinz, 46, who was driving the Chevrolet Express bus, and freshman Kiley Jones, 19, who played first base, died. The other eight passengers on the bus suffered moderate to serious injuries, and Dowdy also was hurt.
He pleaded guilty to multiple offenses including two counts of second-degree manslaughter, assault-related charges, driving under the influence of intoxicants and criminal driving while suspended or revoked.
On Thursday, Judge Andrew E. Combs sentenced Dowdy to 20 1/2 years with three years of post-prison supervision, according to court records. The sentence included 6 1/4 years for each manslaughter charge.
His driver’s license also was revoked for life, and he was fined $2,000.
Jones’ mother and stepfather, Nichole and Scott Mahoney, of Nampa, Idaho, said they feel Dowdy’s sentence was too lenient given his past offenses. According to online Oregon court records, his history includes drunken driving and numerous violations for driving while suspended or revoked and driving uninsured.
“Although I forgive him because I don’t want to live in bitterness and anger, I don’t excuse his bad behavior and his bad choice,” Nichole Mahoney said.
The Mahoneys said Jones was a caring and funny young woman who loved animals and children and dreamed of a career in law enforcement. A three-sport varsity high school athlete, with soccer her main focus, she also excelled at softball and joined the college’s team when it began. She was a trustworthy and compassionate teammate, her mother said.
“Her little sister used to have somebody to call and talk to about anything, and now she doesn’t have that,” Scott Mahoney said. “Her friends don’t have that person to confide in anymore, to joke with, to laugh about, to celebrate the launching of a pumpkin spice coffee.”
The Associated Press emailed and left phone messages for the prosecutor, Dowdy’s attorney and the college’s director of athletics and events. The college declined to comment.
Ohtani’s lawyers say he was victim of likeness misuse in real estate deal, move to dismiss lawsuit
HONOLULU (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and his agent, Nez Balelo, moved to dismiss a lawsuit filed last month accusing them of causing a Hawaii real estate investor and broker to be fired from a $240 million luxury housing development on the Big Island’s Hapuna Coast.
Ohtani and Balelo were sued Aug. 8 in Hawaii Circuit Court for the First Circuit by developer Kevin J. Hayes Sr. and real estate broker Tomoko Matsumoto, West Point Investment Corp. and Hapuna Estates Property Owners, who accused them of “abuse of power” that allegedly resulted in tortious interference and unjust enrichment.
Hayes and Matsumoto had been dropped from the development deal by Kingsbarn Realty Capital, the joint venture’s majority owner.
In papers filed Sunday, lawyers for Ohtani and Balelo said Hayes and Matsumoto in 2023 acquired rights for a joint venture in which they owned a minority percentage to use Ohtani’s name, image and likeness under an endorsement agreement to market the venture’s real estate development at the Mauna Kea Resort. The lawyers said Ohtani was a “victim of NIL violations.”
“Unbeknownst to Ohtani and his agent Nez Balelo, plaintiffs exploited Ohtani’s name and photograph to drum up traffic to a website that marketed plaintiffs’ own side project development,” the lawyers wrote.
“They engaged in this self-dealing without authorization, and without paying Ohtani for that use, in a selfish and wrongful effort to take advantage of their proximity to the most famous baseball player in the world.”
The lawyers claimed Hayes and Matsumoto sued after “Balelo did his job and protected his client by expressing justifiable concern about this misuse and threatening to take legal action against this clear misappropriation.” They called Balelo’s actions “clearly protected speech “
In a statement issued after the suit was filed last month, Kingsbarn called the allegations “completely frivolous and without merit.”
Ohtani is a three-time MVP on the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
“Nez Balelo has always prioritized Shohei Ohtani’s best interests, including protecting his name, image, and likeness from unauthorized use,” a lawyer for Ohtani and Balelo, said in a statement. “This frivolous lawsuit is a desperate attempt by plaintiffs to distract from their myriad of failures and blatant misappropriation of Mr. Ohtani’s rights.”
Lawyers for Hayes and Matsumoto did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Washington
Federal government sues Uber over alleged discrimination against people with disabilities
The federal government said Friday that it is suing Uber for allegedly discriminating against passengers with disabilities.
The Department of Justice said Uber drivers routinely refuse to serve individuals with disabilities, including those with service dogs. Uber is the largest ride-hailing company in the U.S.
The lawsuit alleges that Uber drivers have charged illegal cleaning fees for service animal shedding and imposed cancellation fees after denying service. The lawsuit also alleges that drivers have refused to allow disabled individuals to sit in the front seat so they can use the back seat for mobility devices.
Disabled individuals have missed appointments, experienced significant delays and have been stranded in inclement weather, the lawsuit said.
“For too long, blind riders have suffered repeated ride denials by Uber because they are traveling with a service dog,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This lawsuit seeks to end this persistent discrimination and allow riders with disabilities to use Uber.”
In a statement Friday, Uber said all of its drivers must acknowledge and agree to comply with its service animal and accessibility policies.
Uber said it prohibits drivers from denying service to someone with a service animal and it requires drivers to provide transportation to a person with a disability as long as they get into the vehicle on their own. It also prohibits drivers from refusing to assist with the stowing of devices like walkers, crutches and folding wheelchairs.
“Riders who use guide dogs or other assistive devices deserve a safe, respectful and welcoming experience on Uber — full stop,” the company said. Uber said it disagrees with the allegations in the lawsuit.
Uber said it established a hotline in 2023 for customers who were denied a ride because of a service animal. Uber said when it confirms that a violation has occurred, it takes action, including deactivating a driver’s account.
The Department of Justice is seeking $125 million for disabled individuals who have previously submitted complaints to Uber or the Department of Justice.
The case was filed in federal court in Northern California. Uber Technologies is based in San Francisco.
Georgia
Judge won’t award attorneys fees to governments in lawsuit over Rivian vehicle plant
ATLANTA (AP) — A judge has rejected an attempt by the state of Georgia and a local development agency to force people who unsuccessfully sued to block an electric vehicle plant to pay the government’s legal fees.
State government and the development authority demanded that six Morgan County property owners who challenged the zoning for Rivian Automotive pay more than $337,000 in legal fees incurred by the government.
Morgan County Superior Court Judge Stephen Bradley, in a ruling filed Friday, said that the two lawsuits where the government agencies were seeking fees were far from frivolous, and that awarding legal fees to the government could make it harder for regular citizens to exercise their rights to challenge government actions in court.
“No truly aggrieved citizen should be prohibited from suing to test the legality or constitutionality of the government’s claims, and any precedent that could allow political actions and costs to be offloaded to complaining litigants would be untenable,” Bradley wrote.
JoEllen Artz, a leader of opposition group No2Rivian, said the ruling keeps citizens from being “silenced by Goliath.”
The state is seeking to recover another $200,000 in fees in a separate case in Atlanta.
The ruling came days before a Tuesday groundbreaking ceremony for the $5 billion Rivian plant, which is supposed to eventually employ 7,500 people on a 2,000-acre site near Social Circle, about 45 miles (70 kilometers) east of downtown Atlanta.
In a statement, the state and local governments said the courts have consistently ruled in a way to allow construction.
“This ruling doesn’t change the status of the Rivian project,” the agencies said. “Together, we are focused on the future and delivering for Georgia taxpayers.”
Some local residents oppose the plant, saying it is an inappropriate neighbor to farms and will ruin residents’ drinking-water well in a rural area on the eastern edge of Atlanta’s suburban frontier. The property’s previous owner, a joint development authority that includes the governments of Jasper, Morgan, Newton and Walton counties, transferred ownership of the land to the state. That extinguished what could have been a contentious rezoning fight because state land is generally exempt from local zoning laws.
But the lawsuits challenged whether that was appropriate, questioning whether leasing land to Rivian for a truck assembly plant was a public purpose, or whether Rivian’s private activity still required rezoning by Morgan County.
Bradley ruled against the plaintiffs, but he acknowledged in Friday’s ruling that the transfers “seem clearly designed to circumvent resistance from local voices opposing the Rivian project.”
The development authority, in a statement published in The Covington News, argued it should recoup attorney fees because the lawsuits were illegitimate attempts to “delay progress, costing taxpayers and the community.”
But Bradley said the plaintiffs did not sue in bad faith and a had chance of winning because they raised “new and unanswered questions of law” about the state’s traditional immunity from being sued.
“As shown in the defendants’ reactions, there was a very real chance that a court could decide in the plaintiffs’ favor,” Bradley wrote.
The Morgan County Commission, which was also sued, didn’t seek attorneys’ fees.
Oregon
Driver in crash that killed softball coach and player sentenced to 20 years in prison
The driver accused in a fatal crash that killed an Oregon community college softball player and head coach has been sentenced to more than 20 years in prison.
The judge imposed the sentence against Johnathan James Dowdy, 33, as several members of the Umpqua Community College softball team, the entire soccer team and the school’s president and athletic director looked on.
Dowdy was driving his pickup April 18 when he crossed the center line and crashed into a bus carrying 10 members of the softball team, according to Oregon State Police. The team was on the road from a game in Coos Bay.
Coach Jami Strinz, 46, who was driving the Chevrolet Express bus, and freshman Kiley Jones, 19, who played first base, died. The other eight passengers on the bus suffered moderate to serious injuries, and Dowdy also was hurt.
He pleaded guilty to multiple offenses including two counts of second-degree manslaughter, assault-related charges, driving under the influence of intoxicants and criminal driving while suspended or revoked.
On Thursday, Judge Andrew E. Combs sentenced Dowdy to 20 1/2 years with three years of post-prison supervision, according to court records. The sentence included 6 1/4 years for each manslaughter charge.
His driver’s license also was revoked for life, and he was fined $2,000.
Jones’ mother and stepfather, Nichole and Scott Mahoney, of Nampa, Idaho, said they feel Dowdy’s sentence was too lenient given his past offenses. According to online Oregon court records, his history includes drunken driving and numerous violations for driving while suspended or revoked and driving uninsured.
“Although I forgive him because I don’t want to live in bitterness and anger, I don’t excuse his bad behavior and his bad choice,” Nichole Mahoney said.
The Mahoneys said Jones was a caring and funny young woman who loved animals and children and dreamed of a career in law enforcement. A three-sport varsity high school athlete, with soccer her main focus, she also excelled at softball and joined the college’s team when it began. She was a trustworthy and compassionate teammate, her mother said.
“Her little sister used to have somebody to call and talk to about anything, and now she doesn’t have that,” Scott Mahoney said. “Her friends don’t have that person to confide in anymore, to joke with, to laugh about, to celebrate the launching of a pumpkin spice coffee.”
The Associated Press emailed and left phone messages for the prosecutor, Dowdy’s attorney and the college’s director of athletics and events. The college declined to comment.
