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It was inevitable. We’ve seen DUIs on ATVs and wheelchairs; on horseback and horse-and-buggy carts; on forklifts, tractors, and motorized shopping carts. So once people started tooling around cities on electric scooters, this story started writing itself. According to authorities, Nicholas Kauffroath was riding a Bird electric scooter on a sidewalk in West Los Angeles with a blood alcohol level of approximately 0.279 (over three times the legal limit) when he knocked down a pedestrian and neglected to stop or find help....

Would your business be liable for accidentally hiring a sex offender? It could be possible, depending on what kind of business you’re in, and if any harm came out of it. That’s probably the reason why if you’re thinking about hiring an employee, a background check might be something worth doing. Take, for example, the case of the sex offender who was arrested in a cookie monster costume. James Lester Rogers, a convicted sex offender, donned the lovable Sesame Street character costume as part of his new job at an Iowa city fair, according to the Huffington Post....

A sober man’s DUI arrest is turning into a sobering experience for police in Surprise, Arizona. Jesse Thornton, a 64-year-old retired firefighter, hadn’t been drinking when he was pulled over by police one night and arrested for a DUI. A Breathalyzer test confirmed his blood-alcohol level was zero, reports Phoenix’s KNXV-TV. After enduring a series of unfortunate events, Thornton has filed a $500,000 claim against the police department. Red Eyes Lead to Arrest To keep similar hours as his wife who is an ER nurse, Thornton lives a nocturnal lifestyle....

Senator John Ensign is back in the news after a New York Times article questioned whether the aftermath as his affair violated criminal laws and Senate ethics rules. At least preliminary investigations on both fronts appear likely. What criminal laws might come into play? Conspiracy to assist a former employee break a federal lobbying law, and perhaps “honest services fraud.” For the background on Senator Ensign’s affair with the wife of his former co-chief of staff Doug Hampton, and the “soft landing” in a lobbying job Ensign reportedly arranged for Hampton, see the New York Times article that has some anticipating investigation by the Department of Justice....

Bosses are forever writing articles and giving talks to other bosses about how much people love to work for their companies because they are awesome. Keep in mind when you read this guidance from people who are in power that they are necessarily disconnected from the trenches. If you want to know what people need from their jobs, ask workers. Even famous companies that get much credit for friendliness have disturbing business practices that call their claims to fame into question....

Each week seems to include the announcement of a new prong of federal or state response to the economic downturn. The multitude of stimulus benefits can become confusing, even in particular stimulus areas such as incentives to go green. To help navigate these green benefits, the Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy (DSIRE) offers an invaluable map of federal, state and municipal incentives for both renewable energy use and energy efficiency....

Do dating sites have a responsibility to protect their users from sexual predators? One Los Angeles woman thinks so, and has filed suit against Match.com after she says a date she met on the site sexually assaulted her. Her goal is to force the site to check members’ names against public sex offender registries. The victim, an entertainment executive in Hollywood, met the alleged assailant, Alan Paul Wurtzel, via Match.com. They enjoyed their first date, and scheduled second, reports the Daily News....

It’s easy to look back at medieval medical practices and wonder how they ever thought it would work. Theories about the four bodily humors may seem quaint in retrospect, but given the way medical knowledge and technology evolves, it’s almost certain future generations will look back at medicine in our time and similarly wonder what we were thinking. So which controversial medical treatments are still in practice? Here’s a look at a few....

It’s becoming more commonplace for businesses to allow employees to bring pets to work. Some studies have shown that employees who bring their dogs to work experience lower levels of stress-causing hormone cortisol, according to USA Today. Other people simply think having their pets around makes the workplace more enjoyable. But before you allow pets at work, here are some legal tips to consider. While pets may be fun to have at work, know your legal obligations and liabilities before your office turns into a doggie day care....

That thump you hear is the sound of chins hitting the ground all over the western world as the public is apprised of the basis for appeal in the case of Lindsay Lohan vs. the justice system. Ms. Lohan, as you will recall, was recently sentenced to 90 days in jail with another 90 days of rehab for the violation of her probation stemming from DUI charges in 2007. Ms. Lohan’s now former attorney, Shawn Chapman Holley, called the sentence “harsh and unfair....

For millions of people, pets are more than just personal property, they’re family. Despite the fact that under the law, a dog, or cat, or any animal is considered the same as any other personal item, courts are increasingly being asked to decide who gets custody of a divorcing couple’s pet(s), or even to create custody or visitation schedules. While many courts have balked at these tasks, and one Canadian judge made headlines for threatening to sell the pet at auction and split the proceeds, the state of Alaska’s legislature saw an opportunity and took it....

Hurt Lifting Packages Managers Never Filed Workers Comp Claim According to Hill’s lawsuit, his managers never filed a worker’s compensation claim, could not provide the appropriate paperwork so that Hill could file the claim himself, and merely asked the worker to write down how he had gotten hurt on a note pad. One manager also allegedly told Hill that he was “too young to have back problems.” Illegally Fired It is, in fact, illegal to fire someone for filing a worker’s compensation claim....

Although celebrity divorces regularly make headline news, it’s relatively rare that someone hears about a big story about an annulment, so it might not be surprising that some people wonder what the difference between the two are. For those wondering what distinguishes an annulment from a divorce or what the requirements for a civil annulment are, here’s a quick run down. As most are aware, divorce is a legal process whereby a marriage gets dissolved....

Most small businesses, even those that have managed to do relatively well in these trying times, just can’t get much respect from banks and other lenders. Although most US employers are considered small businesses, the small business loan is considered a very risky category from the lenders’ perspective. Local credit unions often are viewed as neighborhood-friendly partners, better able to assess the health of the barber shop down the street than national behemoths like Bank of America....

There is a staggering amount of data on our smartphones. So it’s no surprise investigators want access to those phones as easily as possible. And we want our privacy. So smartphone companies, like Apple, have attempted to make phones as secure as possible, with passcodes, fingerprints, and now, facial recognition software. And law enforcement and the courts have responded, forcing suspects to hand over passcodes and their fingerprints to open iPhones....

Divorce get complicated when kids are involved. It’s difficult enough when you’re trying to resolve basic custody issues with an ex who lives across town. But what can you do if your ex-spouse is moving away and wants to take the kids away, too? Can you stop this from happening? Stopping your ex from taking the kids on vacation might not be possible if there is a joint custody agreement. However, if there are serious concerns of a potential parental kidnapping, or injury to the children, then seeking the court’s intervention at the earliest possible time could stop your ex from travelling with the children by requiring the children’s passports be taken away, or by having an emergency custody court order put in place....

A judge tossed a 30-year computer ban for a convicted sex offender and engineer. The judge ruled the computer ban was overly aggressive and interfered with the goal of rehabilitation. A federal appeals court sided with a convicted sex offender saying the ban was too harsh, given that the computer is used for Mark Wayne Russell to make a living, the Associated Press reports. A three-judge panel agreed that Russell, who worked for 10 years as an applied systems engineer required him to use a computer....

A New Year’s Eve slaying in downtown Atlanta continues to develop with shocking details. Tommy Christopher Collins, 36, confessed to the stabbing death of 14-year old Rueben Hand, police said. The stabbing happened at an Atlanta train station at Atlanta’s New Year’s Peach Drop celebration. Hand was found with his throat slashed, the Associated Press reports. Collins was arrested three days later at his apartment, largely due to surveillance video from the train station....

Some criminal plots are interesting to explore, like in Ocean’s Seven. And some are downright irrational and twisted, like Mark Charles Barnett. Barnett, a 50-year-old registered sex offender from Florida, was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison after plotting to place bombs in 10 Target stores throughout the eastern seaboard by hiding bombs in food packages that would be placed by a hired accomplice. Why? Because he wanted to make money by buying Target stock after the stock price dropped from the bad news....

The news has come that Granddad is in custody. Not just anyone’s granddad, but the so-called Granddad Bandit who was wanted in connection with the robbery of 25 banks in 13 eastern and southern states. This bank robber now in federal custody should not be confused with the Geezer Bandit. The Geez is a West Coast operator and at last check, still at large. The Granddad Bandit has been identified as 53-year-old Michael Mara, according to the Associated Press....