A New Jersey school district has agreed to pay $10,000 to the family of a disabled boy who was prevented from bringing his service dog to school or school-related activities. As part of a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, the school has also agreed to implement a service animal policy and train applies on complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), reports the South Jersey Times....
It’s the time of year when the snowbirds take flight and drive down to the Sunbelt to become part-time residents of Florida, Arizona and other warmer climates. This may present an often unrecognized hazard to other motorists in the area. Residents who only spend part of the year in a given area may or may not fully insure the vehicle they use while there. In a still-struggling economy, you can count on the fact that if there is a choice to save or spend, people will save....
A few weeks ago, the Department of Defense settled its legal battle with the designer of 3D-printed firearms, allowing the company to re-release its CAD files to the public. That announcement sent state lawmakers scrambling in an effort to keep 3D-printed guns off the market. Eight states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit against the federal government (11 more states have since joined that lawsuit), and last week a federal judge blocked the publication of those blueprints....
Last week, a federal judge in Northern California granted the motion to conditionally certify the class action case against Google for allegedly committing age discrimination against applicants. The lawsuit claims that programmers over the age of 40 were discriminated against in the application process at Google. The judge’s ruling means that the lawsuit can proceed to the next stage in the class action process of sending out notifications to potential class members....
Starbucks will soon be selling beer alongside its usual assortment of coffee, pastries, and Frappuccinos. The company plans to start its new venture in select stores in California, Illinois, and Georgia. Some may think Starbucks and alcohol make a strange mix. It’s simply the retailer’s latest move to expand its offerings. The company also plans to sell “premium” foods like small plates alongside its alcoholic beverages. Owners of coffee shops and pastry stores across the nation might be cringing right about now....
The Boy Scouts have been rocked with allegations of molestation abuse dating back from the 1970s till the 1980s. A lawsuit filed by Portland Oregon attorney Kelly Clark details how the molestation abuse of one scout allegedly occurred even after the abuse had been reported to the local Scout coordinator at the time. This week, the Boy Scouts had to explain the use of secret files kept on volunteers that the Boy Scouts have kept since 1919 to catalogue those deemed “unfit” to volunteer....
A monumental moment is about to happen in the District of Columbia. DC is almost set to allow same sex marriage. The Washington Post reports that the DC council voted on Tuesday to allow gay marriage. This will put DC in the company of five other jurisdictions that have similar measures passed. The other states are: New Hampshire, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont and Massachusetts. While the DC same sex marriage bill has been passed, it must still survive a second vote in two weeks....
Just over three weeks after his previous executive order banning individuals from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States was unanimously blocked by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, President Trump issued a revised executive order designed to avoid the political and legal fallout of the last one. So will the new travel ban be any more palatable to protestors, politicians, and, most importantly, the courts? Here’s a look at three major changes, along with some of the justification for the immigration order....
A new study found that daydreaming and driving may be far more dangerous than texting and driving. The study conducted by the Erie Insurance Group claims that those who let their minds wander and daydream as they drive actually pose a five times greater risk than those drivers who simply use their mobile phones and drive, reports Yahoo! A spokesperson from the group called the results “disturbing.” In arriving at these numbers, the group looked at data in over 65,000 fatal car crashes that happened during 2011 and 2012....
Whitney Houston’s unexpected death at age 48 is tragic, but it also offers lessons in estate planning: It’s never too early (or too late) to create a will, and it’s also a good idea to create a separate document to spell out funeral and burial plans. Whitney Houston’s funeral is set for Saturday in New Jersey, at the church where the singer first took to the stage, Reuters reports. But there was a family dispute about Houston’s burial plans: Some wanted her buried in New Jersey, others in Atlanta, according to the website TMZ....
Social hosts who charge a cover to attend their parties can potentially be held liable for injuries caused by their drunken underage guests, the California Supreme Court has ruled. The unanimous ruling means anyone in California who charges admission to a party and serves alcohol to an intoxicated minor can be just as responsible for the minor’s actions as a person who directly sells alcohol to a drunken minor, the San Francisco Chronicle reports....
In some ways, the action that let to the downfall of Jeffrey Gonsiewski is refreshing. Gonsiewski, 56, was the vice president of the loan department at First Security Trust and Savings Bank in Chicago. Gonsiewski’s job entailed monitoring loan customers that were behind on their payments. According to the FBI, Gonsiewski used his position to buy more time for customers struggling to make mortgage payments and other loans. Gonsiewski altered loan documents, making it appear that customers accounts were current....
Maybe you’re just not all that familiar with the Civil Rights Act. Maybe you thought your HR and in-house legal teams were getting bored and needed a little extra action in their day. Or maybe you’re just racist. There could be any number of reasons why you’d think installing a no-Spanish policy at your workplace and then harassing Hispanic employees would be a good idea. Regardless of your reasoning though, you should know you’ll probably get sued by the U....
You were committed to your marriage, but things have gone sour and you’re ready to split. Only you are not totally committed to divorce yet. Is there any advantage to a legal separation? And how does that differ from divorce? Legal separation is available in some, but not all, states. Of course any couple can separate – but making that legal, and crafting terms of the split, including allocation of funds and benefits, is another matter....
The Abbey and bachelorette parties are almost synonymous. Women flock to West Hollywood’s hottest gay bar on the weekends, seeking to celebrate their pending nuptials with a bit of drink and a lot of flesh. But owner David Cooley has had it. While he’s happy for his straight customers, he says watching them was “kind of a slap in my face that I couldn’t have that same experience.” So instead of letting the parade of premarital bliss continue, he’s decided to institute a bachelorette party ban....
Despite the fact that marijuana has been completely legalized in a couple states, and legalized for medical use in half the states, using the drug can in fact lead to Child Protective Services taking your child/children away. In certain parts of the country however, CPS has more sophisticated guidelines that have adapted to the culture change towards marijuana. Although many states have made using pot legal, federally, marijuana is a Schedule 1 drug which means it is still just as illegal meth and heroin at the federal level....
Almost 30 million American suffer from diabetes and 86 million have prediabetes. Along with the associated health risks like an increased chance of kidney failure or heart disease, both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes can have a severe impact you ability to work. Disability insurance is designed to compensate you if you too disabled to work, but does diabetes diagnosis qualify as a disability under the law? Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes are listed as qualifying endocrine disorders for social security disability benefits for adults....
Dubbed the “cursing toddler,” a 2-year-old in Nebraska was placed in child protective custody after a video of him swearing went viral last week. However, an Omaha juvenile court judge ruled Monday that the boy and his 17-year-old mother would be placed with the same foster family. With custody issues settled, the focus is now shifting to the Omaha police union’s use of social media in this case. In the video, the toddler is provoked and cursed at by adults, who exhort him to use expletives....
As the second state to prohibit the underwear-baring style, Florida’s saggy pants ban went into effect this past week as students headed back for the 2011-12 school year. To commemorate the new law, State Senator Gary Siplin of Orlando visited a number of local high schools, handing out hundreds of belts to students showing it all. He’s been pushing for a state-wide saggy pants ban for the past six years....
Identity theft isn’t just super annoying; it can ruin you, financially. Each year seems to bring a new record for the amount of money stolen ($16.8 billion in 2017), and despite concerted efforts to fight it, it’s still a growing problem. Equifax Exposure Identity theft has been a problem for a long time, but it received renewed attention last year when the data breach at Equifax - one of the three credit rating agencies - exposed the information of over 146 million Americans to hackers....
