Everyone who wants to start a family should have equal access to medical care and technology needed to get pregnant. But some outdated – or bigoted – state laws deny lesbians who want to give birth equal access to fertility treatments. Take New Jersey’s law, for example, which denies health insurance coverage for fertility treatments unless a woman can show she had unprotected heterosexual sex and still couldn’t get pregnant....
If you haven’t drafted a will yet, what are you waiting for? Actress Valerie Harper answered that question earlier this week, and her experience offers some lessons for us all. Harper, 74, was diagnosed with inoperable cancer last March. At the time of her diagnosis, Harper’s doctors said that she may only have a few months to live. Surprisingly, Harper told radio host Howard Stern that it wasn’t until after her cancer diagnosis that she finally decided to put together a will, ABC News reports....
Small business lending took a huge hit during the financial crisis, but is slowly on the mend. And now that the Treasury Department is pitching in, a complete turnaround may be seen even sooner. The Treasury announced Tuesday that it has approved three states–Connecticut, Missouri and Vermont–for a combined $53.4 million in funds, which it estimates will generate more than $534 million overall in small business lending. Want a piece of that?...
The news is littered with stories of women who are fired for being overweight, but given the laws against age discrimination, it’s rare to hear about someone being fired over gray hair. But Sandra Rawline alleges just that. In a lawsuit filed against Capital Title of Texas, the 52-year-old Houston woman alleges that she was fired from her branch manager position after refusing to adopt a younger image and dye her gray hair....
The only thing better than that new car smell might be getting your new car out on the open road for the first time. And there may not be anything worse than a new car that you can’t seem to get out of the shop. Lucky for us, most states have lemon laws to protect new car buyers from getting stuck with a dud automobile. While lemon laws can vary from state to state, they generally require dealers or manufacturers to fix or buy back a vehicle with a seemingly irreparable defect....
One of the essential elements of a personal injury claim is proving your injury and your damages. If you can’t prove how much the injury cost you, you may not win your lawsuit. So how do you do that? By documenting all of your injury costs and expenses right away, maintaining careful records, and providing everything you have to a good attorney. The absolute first thing you should do after an accident or injury is to take care of yourself – make sure you receive any required medical attention right away....
The election is right around the corner, and with all the excitement, you don’t want to be left out. But what if you have to work a double on Election Day, or you’re away at college, or are going to be on a cruise ship? The good news is that you don’t have to miss out as you can vote with an absentee ballot. The rules for obtaining an absentee ballot are simple, and once you have your ballot, you can vote from the comfort of your own couch....
A driver’s car insurance can cover damage that a car inflicts on a bicycle. But does it cover damage that a bicycle may inflict on a car? Say you’re driving down the road, minding your own business, when – WHAM! – you get hit by a bicyclist. There are scratches and dents along the side of your car, and your side mirror is gone. Who’s going to pay for all of this?...
Charlie Sheen’s drug problems aren’t news to anyone, but his recent foray into at-home rehab is. While Sheen is tended to by an addiction specialist in the comfort of his home, CBS has begun planning for the future of Sheen’s Two and a Half Men time slot. The American with Disabilities Act, which prevents employers from discriminating against persons with disabilities, considers alcoholics and recovering drug addicts to be disabled. While the Act does not provide protection for those who go to work impaired or under the influence, or for those currently using illicit drugs, it does provide protection for those seeking to take rehabilitation leave....
Many Americans are citizens of another country as well, and may be wondering if their dual citizenship is legal under U.S. law. U.S. law doesn’t address dual nationality or require a person to choose one country’s citizenship over another, but the government doesn’t encourage it as a matter of policy, according to the federal government’s official Web portal, USA.gov. So the short answer is that the government won’t punish those who have dual citizenship....
It is legal to ride your bike on a sidewalk? The answer depends on where you’re doing your sidewalk biking, and perhaps surprisingly, maybe even how old you are. While riding a bike may seem less complicated than driving a car, bicyclists also have to follow the rules of the road (and the rules of the sidewalk). In some states, for example, bicyclists can even get arrested for biking under the influence just as drivers can get arrested for DUIs....
As of today, October 13, the attorneys general of every state, with the exception of Alabama, have joined the multi-state fraud probe into the actions of the mortgage loan service industry. The companies who are the focus of the investigation include Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase and Ally Financial. These lenders and others will be under the scrutiny of investigators who will examine claims they acted improperly or in some cases fraudulently, in their efforts to foreclose on properties and evict borrowers from their homes....
With the ubiquity of small businesses on social media, many entrepreneurs are wondering if their business even needs its own dedicated website. Especially when (good) web design is expensive and Facebook is still free. While there may be benefits to replacing your business website with Facebook, there are also drawbacks. Pro: Price Yep, Facebook is free. So are Likes. And you’re not charged for normal posting. So you have access to all kinds of customer interaction without spending a dime....
Two California students and their parents are being held financially liable for the defamation of a teacher. Former Catholic school physical education teacher John Fischler, 49, filed the defamation lawsuit after two schoolgirls branded him a “perv” and “creeper,” and spread false rumors that he’d inappropriately touched kids and peeked into a girls’ restroom at Holy Spirit School in San Jose. After being cleared of the allegations, Fischler was awarded $362,653 in compensatory damages....
If your child is biking to school alone, are you guilty of child neglect? Tennessee mom Teresa Tryon is facing this very accusation. Tryon lets her 10-year-old daughter to ride her bike to school by herself. The route her daughter takes is about a mile long, and takes about 7-9 minutes. Last month, a police officer saw Tryon’s daughter riding her bike to school. The officer says that several cars had to swerve to avoid hitting the girl, and that the girl was biking into oncoming traffic....
As the debate and controversy over Arizona’s tough new immigration law continues, two Arizona city councils have voted to sue the state. Tucson and Flagstaff have made the decision to challenge the state due to several issues, including tourism and costs of enforcement. They are the first municipalities in Arizona to move forward with legal proceedings challenging the law. Phoenix had been considering filing a suit but that has been put on hold after the city attorney ruled that Mayor Phil Gordon lacked the legal authority to file the suit alone....
The state of Washington has revoked the driver’s license of Jose Antonio Vargas in response to the undocumented reporter revealing that he has hid his illegal immigrant status from his friends and employers for the last 14 years. Last month the New York Times published an article by Vargas entitled, My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant, detailing his arrival in the United States and the steps he took to conceal his status so that he could attend college and work his way to a promising career in journalism....
Walmart labor protests have spread to 28 stores in 12 states. The protests only involved 88 employees, which is a drop in the bucket considering Walmart employs 1.4 million workers worldwide. However, the protest followed a strike last week in the Los Angeles area that involved 63 workers and precedes a planned strike at the company headquarters. The strike last week was the first strike ever in Walmart’s 50-year existence, reports The Wall Street Journal....
In addition to or in lieu of money damages, civil courts may also order an equitable remedy such as an injunction. An injunction is a court order compelling a party to do or not do a specific act or acts. Injunctions are typically used to prevent future harmful action, rather than to compensate to an injury that has already occurred. Injunctions can be temporary – such as a preliminary injunction issued before a trial to prevent a defendant from harming the plaintiff’s ability to enforce his or her rights– or permanent....
Age discrimination claims with the EEOC are up 38%, according to new statistical report compiled by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Last year, 22,857 people filed age-related complaints with the EEOC, compared with 16,548 in 2006. For employers, the data begs the question: What happens after an age discrimination claim is filed? The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) complaint process varies on a case-by-case basis, but in general, each age discrimination claim entails the following steps:...
