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As many police officers will tell you, you don’t just stop being a cop once you clock out. And when many officers clock out of their official police jobs, they clock in to other work, like security for sporting events, schools, and even oil pipelines. And their legal authority can get a little blurry when police are off-duty, whether they are on-duty for another gig or not. And in the wake of some highly publicized shootings by off-duty police officers, many people are wondering whether cops can still carry guns, pull you over, or arrest you while they are off-duty....

A mother’s water balloon lawsuit seeks $75,000 from her daughter’s New York school district for a senior prank gone wrong. Stacy Katz of New Hampshire claims an upperclassman at John Jay High School in Lewisboro, N.Y., threw a water balloon at her daughter, hitting her in the left ear and rupturing her eardrum. The impact allegedly caused bleeding and hearing loss, the local Journal News reports. Though a student allegedly hurled the water balloon, the school district should be held liable because of its negligence, Katz’s lawsuit asserts....

Doing good deeds in an emergency situation isn’t exactly bad behavior. But small business owners can indeed legally fire workers for being “Good Samaritans.” Michigan retailer Meijer tested this theory in mid-November when it fired 62-year-old employee David Bowers for leaving his post as a greeter to help a man extinguish a car fire, reports The Associated Press. Is it OK for your business follow suit and terminate do-gooders? Most small business owners staff their businesses with at-will employees, meaning that employees can be fired on the whim of the employer – in most cases without just cause....

An antitrust lawsuit settlement will force Visa and MasterCard to make a $1.1 billion dollar payout to retailers. AP reports that the payout was the result of a class action antitrust lawsuit that claimed that both Visa and MasterCard attempted to fix prices and restrict trade. The suit was over Visa and Mastercard having forced merchants to accept their signature debit cards if they wanted to accept their credit cards. The debit cards, by the way, featured some hefty transaction fees....

Do you refuse to hire job applicants with an arrest or criminal record? No matter how small or irrelevant the infraction is to the job? If you do, be careful. The Equal Employment Opportunity has announced that it reached a $3.1 million settlement with PepsiCo over such a policy. Investigators concluded that the practice disproportionately affected African-Americans and other minorities. The Pepsi settlement is also not the first time the agency has targeted such criminal background check policies....

A Denver Public School secretary at Palmer Elementary School allegedly used duct tape to bind the hands and mouth of a six year old boy who was acting up. Talk about taking school punishment to a whole new level! The Denver Post reports that Ms. Jennifer Carter is charged with false imprisonment and child abuse of six year old Joshua Fredericks. These are both criminal misdemeanor charges. According to the boy’s mother, Ms....

Death is an unfortunate fact of life. As people grow older, their parents do the same. Children often want to protect their parents as much as they can during the autumn years of their life. Frequently, all a child can do for their aging parent is make sure that they maintain their personal and financial affairs. To that end, there are some really important documents that should be asked about, as well as other aspects of your parents’ lives that you should try to find out, before they pass....

Sadly, not all of us see the holidays as a time for cheer. And it would be nice if those Scrooges among us would just say, “Bah, humbug,” and move on. But for some, the holiday spirit means stealing Christmas decorations from someone else’s yard. And not just any decorations: an animated jack in the box, drums, mustang, and tricycle from a drive-thru Christmas lights display. So, what’s going to happen to these local Grinches?...

Who’s liable for sledding injuries? Like the 10-year-old girl who was impaled by a piece of rebar while sledding in Maryland on Monday morning, injuries are known to happen. The girl underwent surgery and is expected to recover, The Baltimore Sun reports. Many sledding injuries are related to the condition of the property where the sledding occurred. If a lawsuit is filed, it would generally fall under the legal theory of premises liability....

A proposed bill in Wisconsin that would prohibit flu shot firings is coughing up a storm of controversy over whether employees should be required to get flu vaccinations. It’s standard practice for employers, particularly in the healthcare industry, to require staff to get vaccinated against the flu. But if the Wisconsin bill passes, such requirements may no longer be legal in the Badger State. In general, employees cannot refuse workplace vaccination policies unless the refusal is due to a religious exemption or a specific health risk....

GM’s new tv spot recently made clear to us that the only chapter the “leaner, greener, faster and smarter” New GM cares about is chapter 1. If this is chapter 1, some would say there was a prequel – in which lots and lots of people had claims regarding defective GM cars. New GM thinks those claims are sooo Old GM, and would prefer not to have to pay any of them....

Over the last few months, over $1 million in Apple products have been stolen from various Apple stores, from San Diego to Butte County. Though the band of thieves took a bite out of Apple, it appears the police have taken a bite out of crime, thanks to Alameda and San Luis Obispo police departments and the California Department of Justice eCrime unit. The Apple robberies and burglaries were all very similar....

Any renter knows it can be like pulling teeth to get a landlord to make repairs. Landlords are reluctant to give their time and more reluctant to open their wallets to what they often perceive to be unnecessary and unwarranted repairs. However, if you have a legitimate gripe, you can compel your landlord to make the repairs in certain circumstances. Here are three steps you can take to resolve your landlord repair issue:...

Four electricians who suffered severe brain injuries in a work-related accident on an oil rig have been awarded $1.375 million by a Texas court. Three companies – Fire and Safety Specialists Inc., Noble Drilling Services Inc., and Keppel Amfels LLC – will be footing the bill. As reported by Harlingen, Texas’ KGBT-TV, the men were working in the engine room of a drydocked oil rig when the room was flooded with carbon dioxide....

You just think you came up with the greatest invention and are excited about patenting your creation. But before filing your patent documentation with the government, there are some questions you should first ask regarding whether filing a patent is even a good idea. Filing a patent can be an expensive proposition. Lawyers’ fees can be astronomical, the filing fees are expensive, and it costs money to enforce the patent....

In a legislative move that is making waves, the House of Representatives has revised the way it evaluates federal lands for conveyances/transfers to states, essentially allowing federal lands to be gifted to the states, local governments, or tribal entities. From there, the government recipients may be free to sell, lease, or otherwise do what they will with those federal lands. Divesting federal lands has been a goal of conservatives since the Reagan era....

Prison breaks are a popular topic for Hollywood television and film. So when actual prisoners break out of an actual prison, it is no wonder that the media follows the every move of the police and fugitives. On July 30th, three inmates escaped the Arizona prison where they were serving long terms for varying sentences. Police have now caught the second prison escapee, and are hot on the trail of the third....

Recently, there have been many examples of class action discrimination suits against major companies in the news. The suit filed at the end of June, 2010, against 24 Hour Fitness for race and gender discrimination is but one example. If you own a small business, how do you protect it from a potential discrimination suit? Here are a few basic ideas and resources to help you consider the problem of employment discrimination....

You’re considering adoption but have an arrest or conviction in your past. Are you automatically disqualified? Adoption is a complicated process and answering that question can be complex and dependent on a variety of factors. An arrest or conviction may not disqualify you but it might. The nature of the crime alleged, when it happened, how it was resolved, and how forthcoming you are, will all make a big difference in a decision....

Police tactics have taken center stage with the Sacramento shooting of an unarmed black man named Stephon Clark. In that case, police body cam footage shows police officers shooting him 20 times after receiving a call about a man breaking car windows. But it also reveals officers muting their audio after the shooting. This and other instances raise the question about whether or not police officers are allowed to turn off their body cameras while on the job....