Oprah Winfrey’s Network Sued for Discrimination

A woman, named Catherine Dunn who was an assistant at OWN, is suing Oprah Winfrey’s OWN network because she claims that she was subjected to a hostile work environment due to her suffering from Multiple Sclerosis. She claims that during her employment there she was forced to take a stress leave and a leave of absence because of her MS symptoms were exacerbated because of stress in the workplace. She says that when she was out on leave, she was replaced with a non-disabled and younger worker. Dunn is suing for wrongful termination and asking for unspecified damages.

Civil Case Against Rapper Snoop Dogg Begins

A civil case against the rapper Snoop Dogg has begun. A man named Richard Monroe Jr. is claiming that he received serious injuries after he joined Snoop Dogg onstage during one of his performances and was beaten and robbed by Snoop Dogg and his entourage in 2005. Monroe is seeking $22 million in damages and punitive penalties. Snoop attended a day of jury selection this past week and a tape of the incident was shown to jurors during statements by Monroe's attorneys.

Tyler Perry Wins Lawsuit

The actor-screenwriter Tyler Perry has won a lawsuit that accused him of stealing material from Donna West's play for his movie "Diary of a Mad Black Woman." The jurors found that West did not present evidence that supported her accusation of copyright infringement.

West is accusing Perry of stealing material from her play called "Fantasy of a Black Woman" that has been performed three times in 1991 in Dallas, TX and claims that Perry could have accessed the script in 1998 when he presented his plays to the Dallas Black Academy of Arts and Letters. Perry testified in court that his screenplay is an original work. West was asking the court to receive money for damages and profits made from the film, which earned around $50 million in theaters after it was released in 2005. Her attorneys are planning to seek a new trial.

Rapper 50 Cent Sues Taco Bell

The rapper 50 Cent is suing Taco Bell because he says that the restaurant has used his name without his permission in their advertising that asks him to call himself 99 Cent. In a federal lawsuit, he also claimed that the Taco Bell print ad features him asking to change his name to 79 Cent, 89 Cent, or 99 Cent. The ad is part of a Taco Bell "Why Pay More?" campaign that promotes items that cost less than a dollar.

The company supposedly sent a bogus letter that requested the name change to the news media but not to 50 Cent. He didn't find out about the letter or that he was featured in the ad campaigns until he saw a news report about it. He wants $4 million in damages.