Chris Brown Reaches Settlement In 2012 Club Brawl

Yes, he’s still sitting in jail, but he’s about to get rid of one problem in his life.

Brown has reached a settlement with the final victims have agreed to settlement offers stemming from an incident with Drake in 2012.

According to the Daily Mail, the singer reached a settlement deal with the victims who suffered injuries at Club W.I.P in New York City.

Brown filed an opposition against the club’s lawyers in April, a judge ruled that all parties involved needed to make a decision on the settlement agreement. Brown was one of the eight injured at the now defunct club when Brown’s and Drake’s entourage were all involved with a brawl after Brown was struck with bottle.

Brown is still behind bars serving his 131 day sentence for admitting to violating his probation in October 2013.

Source: Daily Mail 

Brian Banks’ Accuser Ordered to Pay $2.6M for False Rape Claim

NBC LA

At one time, Brian Banks was one of the most promising young football players in the country. The Los Angeles native was set to star at safety at the University of Southern California. All that changed after he was sent to prison after being accused of a rape that he says he didn’t commit. Banks would spend 5 years in prison before he would be released after the accuser confessed that he didn’t do it.

Almost a year ago, Wanetta Gibson, the woman who made the initial claim about the football player, was ordered by the Los Angeles Superior Court to pay $2.6M for issues related to the case. The breakdown was about $1.5M to Banks and the remaining $1.1M to cover lawyer fees, court costs and punishment for making the false accusation to begin with.

The plaintiff won the initial ruling and a $1.5M settlement, but later admitted she’d made up the story. The judgement was reversed in May of 2012 and Banks signed with the Falcons in 2012. He was later released.

Source: NBC LA 

School Pays $70,000 Settlement After Forcing Student To Give Up Facebook Password

A Minnesota school district is paying up after forcing a teenage student to give up her Facebook and email passwords.

Minnewaska Area Schools is shelling out $70,000 in damages to Riley Stratton, a 15-year-old who was hauled in front of school officials and a local police officer and forced to watch while the adults skimmed through her personal social media accounts.

“I was in tears,” the 15-year-old from Glenwood recalled to The Star Tribune. “I was embarrassed when they made me give over my password.”

Her mom, Sandra Stratton, is furious that she wasn’t invited to sit in on the interrogation.

“They never once told me they were going to bring her into the room and demand her Facebook password,” Sandra said. “I’m hoping schools kind of leave these things alone so parents can punish their own kids for things that happen off school grounds.”

The trouble started two years ago, when Stratton was sixth grader at Minnewaska Area Middle School. The teen published a Facebook post about one of her school hall monitors, saying she hated that particular teacher’s aide for being mean.

News about the posting soon reached school officials. Even though it was published off school grounds, Stratton was given an in-school suspension.

Attorney Wally Hilke, who took on the case pro bono for the American Civil Liberties Union, said that the school’s actions were a violation of Stratton’s rights to free speech.

“They punished her for doing exactly what kids have done for 100 years — complaining to her friends about teachers and administrators,” Hilke said. “She wasn’t spreading lies or inciting them to engage in bad behavior, she was just expressing her personal feelings.”

The girl went back on Facebook and posted again, asking who had snitched on her.

“I was a little mad at whoever turned me in ’cause it was outside school when it happened,” Stratton said.

Tensions escalated after the mother of one of Stratton’s friends discovered that the young girl was having sexual discussions with her son on Facebook. The mother complained to school officials about the racy chat, which caused administrators to call Stratton to the office.

With deputy sheriff present, school officials pressured the teen into sharing her passwords. They then searched through her Facebook profile.

For Superintendent Greg Schmidt, the question is what kind of role schools should play in monitoring possible cyberbullying.

“The school’s intent wasn’t to be mean or bully this student, but to really remedy someone getting off track a little,” Schmidt said.

But the situation was so distressing to Stratton that she was taken out of the public school system and is now being home schooled.

As part of the settlement, Minnewaska schools agreed to re-train teachers and change the policy about social media usage. The policy now says students’ electronic records can only be searched if there’s a reasonable suspicion that school rules were violated.

“Educators can still be involved in the lives of young people, they can look out for the interests of young people,” Hilke said. “They just can’t punish them for exercising their constitutional rights.”

Source: NY Daily News

Penn State To Pay $59.7M To 26 Sandusky Victims

Penn State will pay $59.7 million to 26 sexual abuse victims of former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, the school said Monday.

The terms of the settlements include confidentiality agreements, the school said in a press release. Of the 26 settlements, 23 are signed and three are agreed in principle, with final documentation expected within the next few weeks.

“The Board of Trustees has had as one of its primary objectives to reach settlements in a way that is fair and respects the privacy of the individuals involved,” Keith Masser, chair of the Board of Trustees, said in a statement. “This is another important milestone in accomplishing that goal.”

University President Rodney Erickson called the agreements “another step forward in the healing process for those hurt by Mr. Sandusky, and another step forward for Penn State.”

The settlements won’t be funded by student tuition, taxpayer funds or donations, the university said. Expenses not covered by insurance are expected to be funded from interest revenues related to loans made by the school.

Penn State has rejected some of the six remaining claims as being without merit and has engaged others in possible settlement discussions. Penn State has spent more than $50 million on other costs related to the Sandusky scandal, including lawyers’ fees, public relations expenses, and adoption of new policies and procedures related to children and sexual abuse complaints.

Sandusky was convicted in June 2012 of 45 criminal counts. Since then, the school repeatedly stressed its determination to compensate his victims.

Sandusky, 69, has been pursuing appeals while he serves a 30- to 60-year state prison sentence.

Three former Penn State administrators await trial in Harrisburg on charges they engaged in a criminal cover-up of the Sandusky scandal. Former president Graham Spanier, retired vice president Gary Schultz and retired athletic director Tim Curley deny the allegations, and a trial date has not been scheduled.

Eight young men testified against Sandusky, describing a range of abuse they said went from grooming and manipulation to fondling, oral sex and anal rape when they were boys.

Sandusky did not testify at his trial but has long asserted his innocence. He has acknowledged he showered with boys but insisted he never molested them.

The abuse scandal rocked Penn State, bringing down football coach Joe Paterno and leading college sports’ governing body, the NCAA, to levy unprecedented sanctions against the university’s football program.

Source: USA Today

Breathe Again: Toni Braxton Bankruptcy Case Finally Settled

It does seem like Toni Braxton has been in bankruptcy forever, but TMZ has learned she has finally settled her Chapter 7 blues and it cost her just about $150,000 to wipe the slate clean.

As TMZ first reported, Braxton filed  for bankruptcy (for the second time) back in  2010, claiming debts as high as $50,000,000.

According to docs filed in the bankruptcy, Braxton made a deal with the trustee to buy  back some of the personal property she lost. The deal was for Braxton to pay  $5,000/month for 15 months with the last payment being $50,000. Braxton made all  the payments except for that last one.

The other part of the case  hanging over Braxton’s head was the issue of $754,000 Braxton made for overseas  performances. The shows took place after she filed for bankruptcy. She argued that she was legally entitled to keep the money earned from these  performances.

However, the trustee argued since Braxton was technically paid before the Chapter 7 filing (the money was put in escrow before the shows,  she didn’t get it til after) she should have to fork it over.

The trustee and Braxton finally came to an agreement this week — Braxton agreed to  pay the $50,000 she owed for the property and $100,000 from the performances.

Braxton and the trustee came to an agreement that she could buy back the copyright on a slew of her songs for a cool $20,000. They go to auction on July 15 and they’re hers, assuming she doesn’t get outbid.

A  judge still needs to sign off on it all  but it appears this bankruptcy case  is finally over.

SOURCE: TMZ

The Saga Continues: Raiders TO Pay JaMarcus Russell Additional $3 million

I guess the $32 million guranteed they paid him intially wasn’t enough. The story of the Oakland Raiders and their embattled former quaterback Jamarcus Russell continues.

The Raiders will have to former quarterback JaMarcus Russell close to $3 million in a settlement over his disputed rookie contract, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Russell was the team’s No. 1 overall draft pick in 2007 and signed a 6-year, $68 million contract.

After three unproductive seasons in Oakland, he was waived and hasn’t played in the NFL since.

According to the report, the two sides were set to go to court recently, but reached the settlement.

After being released by the Raiders, Russell sat out the league for several years. He has been working out with former quaterback Jeff Garcia with hopes of getting back into the league. While is was rumored that he may latch onto the Dallas Cowboys as Tony Romo’s backup, he’s still unsigned and at home waiting on a team to give him a second chance.

Atleast he has a extra $3 million to sit by him while he waits.

SOURCE: CSN Bay Area