A Wisconsin doctor was negligent in the care of a former restaurant owner injured in a motorcycle accident nearly nine years ago, a jury has determined. Daniel R. Nelson suffered permanent disabilities when an obstruction in his tracheotomy tube deprived him of oxygen while he recovered from the motorcycle accident. Jurors awarded $2.1 million to Nelson and his family for medical and health care expenses, past and future pain, suffering and disability, loss of consortium and lack of society and companionship.

A New Jersey judge has granted class-action status for a lawsuit accusing Mercedes-Benz of selling cars with emergency-response systems it knew would soon be obsolete. The ruling consolidates 10 pending lawsuits filed on behalf of about 100,000 consumers who bought Mercedes-Benz vehicles equipped with the Tele Aid emergency response systems between 2002 and 2007. The lawsuit alleges that the automaker unjustly enriched itself in violation of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act.

An Oklahoma judge last week reinstated a nationwide class action against Ford Motor Co. over allegedly faulty accelerator pedals in certain Ford models.  In the lawsuit, plaintiffs claim that accelerator pedals in certain models of Ford Super Duty pickup trucks and Expedition sport utility vehicles cause the truck to idle rather than accelerate when the driver presses the pedal. The lawsuit seeks between $60 million and $100 million on behalf of 300,000 to 500,000 class members.

Poor signage caused a North Carolina woman to drive her car into a river and drown, a lawsuit filed by family members claims. The lawsuit names Duke Energy, Gaffney Public Works and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. An attorney for the family said poor signage was to blame for a similar accident that killed another woman last year.

A county jail near Tulsa, Okla. will pay $1.7 million to a man whose legs were amputated after he was incarcerated. In the lawsuit, Russell Mounger claimed that jail officials refused him prescribed medication and kept him in restraints for extended periods of time. Mounger had previously received $1 million from an insurer. The $1.7 million settlement will be paid out over three years.

Customers of a wireless broadband internet services provider have filed a lawsuit accusing the company of misrepresenting the quality of its services. According to the lawsuit Clearwire claimed its services were comparable to cable internet or DSL services when they were not. The lawsuit seeks damages on behalf of customers in Washington, Hawaii, Minnesota and North Carolina.

The family of a Brooklyn high school student who was killed in a hit-and-run drunken driving accident has filed a lawsuit against the driver, the owner of the car and a family that hosted the underage drinking party. Robert Ogle was run down while walking home from the party after an intoxicated person stole a car which was left running outside a deli. The lawsuit seeks damages for wrongful death

A federal judge has granted conditional class-action status to a lawsuit filed by a Starbucks employee who claimed the coffee chain violated wage laws by failing to pay managers overtime. The conditional class covers all people who worked as managers from Jan. 15, 2006 to the present. Starbucks has faced various wage-related suits during the last year, including one in which a California court ordered the company to pay $100 million in tips and interest to baristas who were required to share tips with their supervisors.

A Chicago-area resident filed a putative class-action lawsuit Thursday over allegations that local residents were exposed to contaminated drinking water for more than 20 years. In the lawsuit, Joseph Marzano claims the Village of Crestwood and current and former city officials covered up evidence of contamination as a cost-cutting measure. The lawsuit alleges the water contained a highly toxic dry cleaning chemical linked to cancer and other health problems

A peanut production plant partially blamed for a nationwide salmonella outbreak had serious structural and sanitary problems that would have contributed to contamination, an attorney for a number of salmonella victims said Thursday. According to Bill Marler, who is representing plaintiffs in nine lawsuits, the Peanut Corp. of America plant in Blakely Ga. showed signs of a leaking roof and rodent infestation. A tour of another Peanut Corp. plant in Texas earlier this week revealed similar problems.