Young sisters Violet and Zoe Michener returned from a class field trip so sun-burned, their mother rushed them to the hospital. The girls are fair skinned and one even suffers from a form of albinism, reports ABC. But that didn’t matter. Under the school’s sunscreen ban, without a doctor’s note, the girls could not carry their own sunscreen nor apply it to themselves. Could the school be held liable for the sunburn?...
One lucky small business is set to score big-time with a free 30-second TV ad during the Super Bowl – the grand prize in a new contest for entrepreneurs. But there are a few legal considerations you’ll want to kick around in your head first. The winner of the Intuit Small Business Big Game will get a professionally produced TV commercial that will likely be seen by more than 100 million viewers during Super Bowl XLVIII in February, according to USA Today....
School vacations can be tricky times for separated parents sharing custody, and spring break can raise some especially challenging custody issues. So while your child is looking forward to some time off from school, you might be looking for answers to some important questions. Here are two questions, and answers, that might impact your custody arrangement during spring break: This is a tough one. Generally, your ex may take the children wherever he or she wants, absent a specific provision in your custody and visitation agreement that requires notice....
One of the purposes of the Credit CARD Act of 2009, known to some as the student credit card law, was to protect college students from the perils of racking up large sums of credit card debt prior to graduation. Turns out that, since the law came into effect in early 2010, it hasn’t been doing such a great job at meeting its goals. Taking advantage of loopholes and vague language, credit card companies are continuing to market to college students, leading them towards thousands of dollars in debt....
While claims of harassment and assault against Harvey Weinstein are grabbing all the headlines, the explosion of #MeToo on Twitter and social media proves that sexual harassment exists across all employment and gender boundaries. Sexual harassment by anyone, at any job or even outside of work, is unacceptable, but many of us struggle with identifying sexual harassment when it happens and how to respond. So here are some clues on spotting sexual harassment at work, and how to deal with it....
In many instances of domestic violence, the police are notified immediately. Some states even have preferred or mandatory arrest policies that direct officers to make an arrest during a domestic violence situation. But in many other cases, domestic violence, assault, or abuse can go unreported for weeks, months, or even years. Victims may not feel safe enough to report domestic violence until much later. But if they wait too long, do they lose the opportunity to report domestic violence, either by filing a police report or a civil lawsuit?...
Time is money. But with American workers spending more and more time commuting to and from work, when is an employer required to pay for an employee’s commute time? In general, the federal Fair Labor Standards Act controls issues regarding wages and hours, and describes which commute situations must be compensated as “work time.” Commuting Between Home and Work In general, time spent commuting between an employee’s home and the work site is not considered “hours worked” under the FLSA....
Sure, there’s nothing like a friendly face to represent your small business. But between salary, benefits, taxes, interviewing, training, and firing or replacing, that friendly face can get expensive. So why not replace all your friendly faces with the latest smartphones? One Swedish entrepreneur is way ahead of you. Robert Ilijason has opened the country’s first unstaffed, no-cash convenience store, a revelation for penny-pinching business owners looking to cut down on their HR overhead....
Insurance is more complicated than it should be. Yet, it pervades all areas of our lives, from health insurance, to car insurance, to home insurance. To deal with this major part of your life, here are five insurance terms you should know: 1. Gap Insurance The minute you drive your car off the dealer’s lot, your car loses value. It’s unfair, but inevitable. So, if another car hits you, and totals your car only days later, your insurance company will only compensate you for the “blue book” value of your car....
On July 13, arguments were heard before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals challenging California’s Prop. 69. Under that law, anyone arrested for a felony can have a sample of DNA taken and it will be added to a state database, whether or not they are ever convicted of the felony. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the lead plaintiff in the case, Elizabeth Haskell of Oakland, was arrested in March 2009 at an anti-war rally in San Francisco on suspicion of forcibly trying to free another protester....
The Chicago Tribune reports that the family of autistic teen Oscar Guzman filed a lawsuit against the city of Chicago, the Chicago Police Dept., and the Independent Police Review Authority which is agency that handles complaints against the Chicago Police Dept. The lawsuit was filed after an alleged police assault on the autistic teen back in April 2009. The family claims that Oscar Guzman was hit on the head by a Chicago police officer after two police officers chased Mr....
Similar in circumstance to last month’s Amtrak crash in Nevada, just after 11 this morning, an Amtrak Downeaster traveling north from Boston collided with a dump truck in North Berwick , Maine. Few of the 112 passengers were injured, but the crash left the trash truck in pieces and the driver dead. This may pose a problem for investigators, who are unsure what caused the crash given that warning lights and bells appeared to be working....
Two years ago in South Carolina, on September 28, 2016, Jesse Osborne shot and killed his father. He then went to nearby Townville Elementary School where he shot three students and one teacher. One student died from excessive bleeding and cardiac arrest. Everyone else survived, but at what price? The parents of five surviving children from the Townville school shooting filed personal injury negligence lawsuits against Anderson School District 4 and the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office, claiming the defendants are responsible for their children’s post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)....
Can you copyright a recipe? Sure, recipes come in various forms – from grandma’s best chocolate chip cookies ever to that world-renowned chef’s secret signature sauce that no one’s able to figure out. It seems as if everyone has their own special recipe. As foodie culture has shown no signs of slowing down in its popularity, what can be said about the recipes behind every dish? Here’s what you may or may not know about what it takes to copyright a recipe....
By now you’ve probably seen the infamous photo of Juli Briskman, bicycling in Virginia, casually flipping the bird to President Donald Trump’s motorcade as it passed by. “He was passing by and my blood just started to boil,” Briskman said after the photo went viral. “I’m thinking, DACA recipients are getting kicked out. He pulled ads for open enrollment in Obamacare. Only one-third of Puerto Rico has power. I’m thinking, he’s at the damn golf course again....
Tennessee police officer James Bishop was fired last week for smoking inside the precinct. Bishop had been a veteran of the force for about 17 years. As a police officer, Bishop was employed to uphold the law. It turns out he might have been breaking the rules himself. A city ordinance passed in 2007 forbade smoking inside municipal buildings. This includes the police precinct, according to the AP. Bishop was on notice....
Living in the 21st century has its perks, including the wealth of information on the internet. But what happens to your digital accounts and online assets upon the end of life? To answer this question, you need to set up a digital estate plan. Digital assets don’t simply include your email accounts, social media profiles and blogs. They also include any websites you’ve published (and potentially monetized), and most importantly any e-commerce websites, or digital wallets, where you may actually have real dollars invested....
Jesse “The Body” Ventura is known for a lot of things. Being bombastic, bold, becoming governor of Minnesota and appearing on Larry King Live. We all hear about the Fourth Amendment in the news, but what does the actual text say? Let’s have a look: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized....
Free Enterprise has sporadically covered the story of Paul Ceglia, the man suing Facebook for a 50% share in the company. He purports to have signed a contract with Mark Zuckerberg in 2003, for which he claims to have email proof. Now, the obvious lesson here is that you should really watch what you write in emails – and don’t use email to conduct negotiations. But the not-so-obvious lesson? You should really follow court orders....
The pilots at the controls of a doomed February flight over upstate New York talked about their lack of experience with aircraft icing just before the plane crashed, and were carrying on unnecessary informal conversation that likely violated “sterile” cockpit rules, according to transcripts released today by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The safety agency’s three-day probe of the accident is focusing on the crew’s training, in-flight protocol, and experience related to aircraft icing, a potential cause of the February 12 Colgan Air crash that killed all 49 passengers and crew members, and one person on the ground....
