DC comics wins long battle with rock 'n' roll duo.The long-running lawsuit involving Texas blues artists Edgar and Johnny Winter may have come to a close with a Nov. 24 ruling dismissing the remaining claim in the case. The albino-complected, blues-playing brothers have alleged that DC Comics Inc., co-owned by Time Warner Inc., used their names and likenesses illegally in the comic book series, "Jonah Hex hex, witchcraft or one who works it. The word is of German origin, and beliefs connected with it spread from Europe to the United States, especially to the Pennsylvania Dutch country. : Riders of the Worm and Such." The series features characters known as the Autumn brothers, a pair of half-worm and half-human creatures with pale complexions and long, white hair. The Winters, lost most of their case earlier this year in California Supreme Court, which sent back to the 2nd Appellate District the separate issue of whether DC Comics used the Winters' name and likeness in series promotions and advertising. A three-judge appellate panel dismissed that claim as well. "Thankfully, it is the end of what is an eight-year ordeal," said Michael Bergman, a partner at Weissman Wolff Bergman Coleman Grodin & Evall LLP LLP - Lower Layer Protocol , representing DC Comics. An attorney for the Winters, Vincent Chieffo, a partner at Greenberg Traurig LLP, did not return phone calls. Unsafe Remarks A former security guard for the University of Southern California The U.S. News & World Report ranked USC 27th among all universities in the United States in its 2008 ranking of "America's Best Colleges", also designating it as one of the "most selective universities" for admitting 8,634 of the almost 34,000 who applied for freshman admission will go to trial against the school on claims he was fired for revealing widespread racism in the public safety department. Claude Theus, who is African American African American Multiculture A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. See Race. , was a security guard from 1979 to 1995, when USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. dismissed him for what it said was poor work performance, according court filings. He sued in 1996 for breach of contract, retaliation and racial discrimination. According to Theus, his supervisor, Clyde Lockley, deputy chief of the school's protective services division, told him several weeks before he was fired that he had "made the stupid mistake of taking on racists in the department," and that he needed to keep his "mouth shut about USC." The lower court called Lockley's comments to Theus "inadmissible That which, according to established legal principles, cannot be received into evidence at a trial for consideration by the jury or judge in reaching a determination of the action. hearsay hearsay: see evidence. ," the ruling says, and dismissed the case in March 2002. A three-judge panel in 2nd Appellate District reversed on Dec. 1 under an exception to the hearsay rule hearsay rule n. the basic rule that testimony or documents which quote persons not in court are not admissible. Because the person who supposedly knew the facts is not in court to state his/her exact words, the trier of fact cannot judge the demeanor and credibility , calling the statements "direct evidence of discrimination." Calls to Theus' attorney, Gary Carlin car·line or car·lin n. Scots A woman, especially an old one. [Middle English kerling, from Old Norse, from karl, man.] , and to USC's attorney, Dorothy Reyes, a partner at Reyes & Wolfe LLP in Claremont, were not returned. Comcast Return The former senior counsel at Comcast Cable Communications Inc. has rejoined Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP as counsel in the labor and employment practice group in L.A. T. Jay Thompson first joined Akin in 1987 and left in 1991. He served as staff vice president and deputy general counsel of Continental Airlines Inc. and was the senior attorney in labor and employment at AT&T Corp.'s cable division when it merged with Comcast, which is owned by Comcast Holdings Corp. Staff reporter Amanda Bronstad can be reached at (323) 549-5225 ext. 225, or at abronstad@labusinessjournal.com. |
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