The death of the owner of Segway has renewed questions into whether the vehicles are safe. Jim Heselden, 62, bought the company less than a year ago from Dean Kamen. Heselden died after falling off a the side of a cliff and dropping 30 feet into a river. It was a sudden and tragic death that happened while Kamen was riding an all-terrain country version of a Segway off road....
Can Bushmaster be sued over the deadly Connecticut elementary school shooting? A Bushmaster rifle was reportedly used in the shootings that claimed 26 lives at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown. A Bushmaster rifle was also used in the Washington, D.C.-area sniper attacks in 2002, after which victims and their families sued the company, Forbes reports. The suit ended in a $2.5 million settlement. The company may soon find itself involved in another lawsuit tied to the elementary school tragedy....
A Missouri Starbucks was sued over tip jars and has some business owners asking: Can my business be sued over having a tip jar on the counter? The short answer to the question of business liability may be rather disconcerting: yes. However, not to fret. You could also be sued for wearing an orange shirt, being an agent of Satan or any host of ridiculous reasons. The question isn’t whether you can be sued for something, it’s whether the opposing party is likely to prevail in such a suit....
Most of us work hard at our jobs, trying to get things done and make a positive impression on our bosses and colleagues. Many of us even work right through meals, skipping lunch to be more productive. Part of that motivation comes from knowing that we could be fired for not doing our work. But can you also get fired for not taking a break from work? The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) governs minimum wage, maximum hours, and overtime compensation....
Owning a gun is legal in all 50 states (some restrictions may apply). Medical marijuana has been legalized, to some extent, by 40 states (with six more on the way). But doing those two legal things at the same time is illegal, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). An open letter released by the ATF in 2011 asserts that federal law prohibits anyone who is an “unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance” from shipping, transporting, receiving or possessing firearms or ammunition....
A Minnesota mother is suing her own daughter in an attempt to block the child’s gender transition. The mother, Anmarie Calgaro, is taking both her daughter and her daughter’s medical clinic to court, seeking to stop any future medical services after the clinic did not give her notice of the child’s gender transition. The lawsuit raises issues of minor emancipation, access to medical services, and how much control a parent may have over their children’s medical decisions....
A Tribal Call for Re-Enforcement: Giving Teeth to Child Support Agreements in Native American Tribes Enforcing child support agreements can be challenging on its own, but within the setting of Native American Tribes, it has proven to be a classic bark-without-bite scenario. Since only states can take certain garnishment actions such as intercepting tax refunds to pay child support commitments, tribal courts have not had alternate means of collection. State tribal support programs are authorized by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, which made far-reaching changes to the Child Support Enforcement Program....
The Citi credit card hack seems to be just one of the many information hacks of 2011. Citigroup claims that about 1% of North American card holders’ information may have been breached. In its annual report in 2010, Citi had reported that it had around 21 million credit card customers in North America. Alarmingly, the hack occurred more than a month ago - and Citi only confirmed it this week, after the Financial Times broke the story....
Holidays are often an opportunity for stores to make a little more. Retailers rely on Christmas, of course. But who is really making bank on Halloween? Candy makers, costume shops, pumpkin farmers, and haunted house owners all have reason to rejoice at the end of every October. While kids are consuming all those trick-or-treat sweets on November 1, there will be a few grownups counting their loot too. Hershey’s and Mars’ Holiday A survey of social media discussions of America’s favorite Halloween candies last year showed that the Pennsylvania chocolate maker has won the nation’s heart, Thrillist reports....
As members of the post-World War II baby boom enter their 60s, age discrimination claims filed with the EEOC are on the rise. Last year, 22,857 people filed age-related complaints with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), compared with 16,548 in 2006, according to new data compiled by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. But what exactly is age discrimination and what can you do about it? What Constitutes Age Discrimination Age discrimination involves treating someone (an applicant or employee) less favorably because of his or her age....
An elderly woman in Utah who traveled abroad seems to be the victim of the first Zika virus-related death in the U.S. Her lab results came back positive for Zika after her death, however, and the virus is not thought to be the only cause for the woman’s demise. Little has been disclosed about this first Zika victim in the US due to health privacy laws, reports Fox News. Officials won’t even release the names of the places where she traveled and may have contracted the virus....
An Alabama man became the first person sentenced under a relatively new federal law against “grooming” minors for sexual exploitation by providing them with child pornography. The law gives harsh penalties for the reportedly common practice in which child molesters lower children’s defenses against inappropriate sexual contact. According to a Department of Justice press release, Jerry Alan Penton, 37, was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison on a variety of charges relating to child pornography....
Burger King’s franchisees are up in arms about the new promotion for a dollar burger – specifically a $1 double cheeseburger. They claim that the company does not have the right to set maximum prices on their menus. AP reports that the National Franchise Association which represents more than 80% of Burger King’s United States franchise owners stated that the deal on the double cheeseburgers actually forces the franchisees to take a 10 cent loss on each burger....
Renting an apartment or house can be a tricky thing – in so many ways, it’s your space; but in so many other ways, it is clearly not. Can I paint this wall? What’s the limit on house guests? Why can’t my pit bull live here? And varying opinions and state laws on marijuana and gun ownership can only complicate matters further. So here are some of the biggest questions regarding guns and drugs on rental properties, for renters:...
According to data released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), an estimated 35,200 people died in car accidents in 2015, a 7.7 percent increase over the previous year. This would also be the deadliest year on the nation’s roadways since 2008. We’re told our cars are getting safer all the time, so why were last year’s accidents so deadly? One of the reasons might surprise you. It’s a Gas NHTSA Administrator Dr....
For many Americans who are down on their luck, their cars have become a permanent home away from home. But not all localities are welcoming of what some lawmakers are calling “vehicle vagrants.” For those who intend on making their car a very cheap hotel, take these legal issues into consideration before living in your car: Trespassing/Parking For the most part, spending an extended period of time in your car isn’t a problem – you can sleep in your parked car in your driveway if you’d like....
Los Angeles police are on the hunt for a cop killer. While the suspect, ex-LAPD officer Christopher Dorner, remains at large, two innocent women are in the hospital after being “mistakenly” shot by LAPD officers taking part in the manhunt. “Tragically, we believe this was a case of mistaken identity by the officers,” LAPD Chief Charlie Beck told reporters Thursday, according to CBS News. The women – Maggie Carranza, 47, and her mother Emma Hernandez, 71 – were delivering newspapers about 5 a....
Seeing a need to toughen up on its policies, a newly proposed CA state law would ban texting while biking. California lawmakers are considering a bill that would ban the use of mobile phones while bicycling and expand the state’s hands-free phone law, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The new California state law would give a stiff penalty to cyclists caught talking or texting on their phone. The bill would impose a fine on bicyclists and double the maximum fine up to $455 including additional fees for drivers who violate the law....
Several lawsuits and even an Olympic athlete are alleging that the popular birth control method NuvaRing is dangerous and possibly deadly. The lawsuits claim the ring causes blood clots, which, if they reach the lungs, can cause fatal pulmonary embolisms and cardiac arrest. These accusations have continued after Merck, NuvaRing’s manufacturer, paid $100 million last year to settle numerous lawsuits. The Risk NuvaRing is a plastic device that can be inserted into the vagina to release hormones, most notably progestin....
The iPhone caper continues with further twists and turns, as it now appears that after the infamous iPhone was left at a Redwood City bar, Apple reported the iPhone stolen. The report prompted an investigation that later led California’s Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team, to the home of Gizmodo.com editor Jason Chen. The REACT team forcibly entered Chen’s home without him present and seized, among other things, four computers and two servers....
