When singing the praises of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for all of the good work he did, people rarely think of him as a labor and employment leader. But it’s clear that Dr. King cared about workers’ rights as part of his overarching quest for equality. While history often remembers him as a champion of equal rights based on race, he actually fought for any group that didn’t have the power to protect itself....
Most workers know they need to be careful because their bosses could be watching what they are writing on those personal emails that they send out from the office. Though a recent Wall Street Journal article details how companies are facing some increased difficulty from courts over unannounced monitoring of employee’s private communications, employees should still assume that their employer can and likely is keeping tabs on what happens through their work computer....
The payroll processing giant ADP released its monthly employment report today. It stated that of the 742,000 non-farm private jobs lost in the U.S. in March, small businesses accounted for 284,000. With job loss numbers exceeding expectations, many small businesses will need to know who is entitled to COBRA health coverage and what the employer must do. ADP’s Small Business Report indicated that of the 284,000 jobs shed by businesses with fewer than 50 employees, 173,000 were in service industries, and 111,000 in goods producing sectors....
When it comes to managing student loans, you’re far from alone when you lay awake at night, wondering how you’re going to dig yourself out of debt. An analysis released this week by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shows a staggering number of borrowers are struggling to repay their loans and are seemingly unaware of options that could them help avoid default or forbearance, according to The Wall Street Journal....
According to a report by the Austin American-Statesman, last Wednesday, prosecutors filed a papers before the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct in an effort to have the Honorable Sharon Keller removed from her position as the Chief Judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. In this on-going case, discussed in a prior post, the charges against Judge Keller stem from her actions on September 25, 2007, when she refused to keep the court clerk’s office open to receive a late and last minute appeal by attorneys for death row inmate Michael Richard, scheduled for execution that evening....
When buying a home, especially a newly built home, a buyer expects that the builder or developer will stand by their work and take responsibility for any mistakes in the construction. Unfortunately, when a defect becomes apparent, developers are not always going to be liable, and what’s worse, insurance coverage may not always be available. In San Francisco, residents in a luxury condo building are facing this exact problem as a result of their high rise sinking into the ground....
An Atlanta CEO was shot and killed by an Essex County Sheriff’s undercover police officer in New Jersey last Friday night. DeFarra Gaymon, 48, was in Newark, New Jersey for a 30 year class reunion. Gaymon, known by his friends as “Dean,” was the organizer of the event but never made it to the Crowne Plaza Hotel where it was being held. Gaymon was married with four children and was the President and CEO of Credit Union of Atlanta....
Like email and other digital communications, online chats can sometimes act to preserve conversations months, or even years after they took place. In a civil lawsuit or criminal trial, the contents of a conversation conducted via online chat could help prove or disprove an important fact or substantiate the version of events told by either side. But can online chats actually be used as evidence in court? Before offering evidence in a proceeding, the party offering the evidence must first prove the evidence is what it purports to be through a process called authentication....
The battle over religious freedom has gone from arts and crafts stores to marijuana churches, and is now spilling over into religious hospitals: a Redding, California woman was denied a medical procedure based on a hospital’s religious affiliation. Is this even legal? If hospitals can deny certain medical procedures, can they refuse to care for certain patients as well? Denial of Medical Procedures Mercy Medical Center told Rachel Miller that it would not allow her doctor to perform a tubal ligation (a sterilization procedure known as “tying the tubes”) after she is scheduled to give birth at the hospital in late September....
This week, Wells Fargo Bank announced it had settled a lawsuit with the NAACP over its lending practices. However, on the same day, the cities of Memphis and Baltimore announced suits against the bank over what they claim are its predatory lending practices. According to a Reuters report, Baltimore first sued the bank in 2008, claiming Wells Fargo violated the Fair Housing Act with predatory lending practices. After settlement talks failed, the city filed a new complaint on Wednesday, April 7....
It is common for small business owners to be unaware of current legal issues that may hit them… until they get into legal trouble. The problem is that legal trouble can cost you. It can even cost you your business. As many know and Business Week recently pointed out, court actions can actually demolish small businesses; especially the ones that did not prepare in advance. Here are some legal issues that just about any small business needs to watch out for:...
Daylight Saving Time (DST) is a mystery to most Americans, yet it essentially dictates our daily schedules. With America ready to “fall back” on Sunday, here’s some legal trivia you may not know about Daylight Saving Time: Myth lovers and historians can argue about whether Ben Franklin actually “conceived” of DST, but the practice actually began less than 100 years ago. Congress established our familiar official time zones (Eastern, Central, Pacific, etc....
The quick answer is you can, but it’s now quicker to use the standard naturalization route. After September 11, 2001, President Bush signed the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) program into order. This is a program that helps recruit security-cleared foreign born individuals into the U.S. Military who have foreign language skills and medical expertise by promising them expedited naturalization. MAVNI was enacted after it was discovered that there weren’t enough native-born citizens who possessed these skills....
Sorting out Medicare coverage can be confusing enough, especially if your treatment is moving from a hospital to a nursing home. And it turns out it can get pretty expensive as well. Many patients were shocked to learn that they were never formally admitted into the hospital in the first place, and therefore a federal law allowed Medicare to deny coverage for their nursing home stay. Hopefully, however, a new law will clear all that up....
A Hofstra student was killed after a harrowing split-second decision by a police officer to pull the trigger during a hostage situation over the weekend. The student, 21-year-old Andrea Rebello, was being held in a headlock by a masked intruder with a loaded gun to her head, reports the Associated Press. When the gunman took aim at the veteran police officer, the officer opened fire, killing both the intruder and Rebello....
A man burned at the Burning Man festival recently lost the appeal of his lawsuit against the festival’s promoters. His case vividly depicts “assumption of risk,” which can prevent a plaintiff from prevailing in a personal injury claim. The San Franciso Chronicle reports that a California appeals court upheld a verdict that organizers of the annual Burning Man festival did not negligently cause the burns suffered by Anthony Beninati in 2005....
An intoxicated man was fatally electrocuted in a New York City subway station when he urinated on the electrified third rail in Brooklyn. Matthew Zeno, 30, was walking with a friend along the tracks of the southbound G train about 3:10 a.m. Monday when the horrific accident occurred. Can anyone be held liable for Zeno’s death? Zeno’s 26-year-old friend tried to save him, but was also shocked. The friend, however, was able to flag down subway workers, who in turn called for help, reports the New York Post....
Former Arkansas governor/GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee commuted Maurice Clemmons’ 95 year prison sentence in 2000. Today, Clemmons was killed by a Seattle patrolman after allegedly commiting the horrific execution style murder of four Washington State police officers last Sunday. A convicted criminal with a long rap sheet, Clemmons was given a 95-year prison sentence in Arkansas. The host of charges against him robberies, burglaries, thefts and bringing a gun to school....
Despite murder suspect George Huguely being charged in the death of a former lacrosse player, the games will go on for the Virginia men’s and women’s lacrosse teams. By competing in the upcoming tournaments, the lacrosse community plans to honor the memory of former women’s lacrosse player Yeardley Love. The 22-year-old senior’s battered body was found was discovered in her off-campus apartment. Love’s ex-boyfriend and a member of the men’s team, George Huguely, was charged in her death, the Associated Press reports....
Most people have one job and earn income in the state where they live. So they pay taxes in one state. That’s simple. But, for people who earn income in states other than where they live, things get a bit more complicated. Recently, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Maryland’s tax on out-of-state income is unconstitutional. Comptroller v. Wynne In the case of Comptroller v Wynne, Maryland residents Brian and Karen Wynne sued after they were denied income tax credits for income they earned out-of-state....
