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Judges are usually deciding outcomes in the wrongful termination cases we review; but today, we have a judge who is the defendant in a federal wrongful termination lawsuit. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals will soon determine if the lawsuit is barred by the Eleventh Amendment. Lynn Helbing worked as the secretary for the presiding judge of the Tenth Judicial Circuit for the State of Missouri for over 20 years without incident or discipline; when Circuit Judge Rachel Bringer was appointed as presiding judge, that changed....

Guards at Butler County Prison have lost their overtime lawsuit after they claimed that 15 minutes of an hour-long meal break was compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The suit was a case of first impression for the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. With this decision, the Third is the latest in a growing club of federal courts which have applied a harsh standard, essentially cutting off pay for workers who eat on what is arguably time for their own benefit....

Uh oh. You forgot that tomorrow was Administrative Professional’s Day (again)? You’ve probably missed out on the chance to get your admin something meaningful, like that Napa Valley wine gift basket, or that spa day. Don’t worry, though: There’s still time to get a good gift that doesn’t say, “I forgot and bought this at Walgreen’s on the way to work,” like a Whitman’s Sampler. Here are some last-minute gift ideas to save your bacon....

Defective Construction Action In Albano v. Shea Homes Ltd. Pshp., No. 09-15808, an action asserting defective construction claims against a developer, the court certified the following questions to the Arizona Supreme Court, 1) does the filing of a motion for class certification in an Arizona court toll the statute of limitations for individuals, who are included within the class, to file individual causes of action involving the same defendants and the same subject matter?...

An Arkansas death row inmate won a crucial part of his appeal before the Eighth Circuit on Friday, with the court remanding for a further evaluation of the convict’s mental retardation. According to The Associated Press, Andrew Sasser was convicted of raping and murdering a store clerk 20 years ago, but a recent victory in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals will get him a new hearing in federal district court....

Suits under CERCLA against other polluters not barred by res judicata Arrow Gear Co. v. Downers Grove Sanitary Dist., 09-1509, concerned plaintiffs’ suits under section 113(b) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. section 9613(b), seeking to shift some of the costs to other polluters that plaintiffs had incurred as a result of having been found liable for groundwater contamination in a class action suit. Related Link:...

IN RE: MELINDA HANDEL In an appeal from an order discharging Debtor’s debt to Plaintiff law firm, the order is affirmed, where the government had not waived its sovereign immunity for attorney’s fee claims in social security disputes, and thus Defendant Social Security Administration was not liable for the fees incurred by Debtor. Read Binder & Binder, P.C. v. Handel, No. 08-2137. Appellate Information On Appeal of a Decision of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (No....

In a petition for review of an order of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) denying petitioner’s request for a waiver of preemption under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, the petition is granted where the DOE’s stated justifications demonstrated an arbitrary and capricious failure meaningfully to address petitioner’s application for a waiver. Read California Energy Comm’n v. Dept. of Energy, No. 07-71576 Appellate Information Argued and Submitted November 17, 2008...

In a petition for review of the BIA’s denial of petitioner’s application for cancellation of removal, the petition is granted in part where: 1) the BIA erred in characterizing receipt of stolen property as a crime of moral turpitude; and 2) the BIA needed to decide whether petitioner’s petty theft conviction fell within the petty offenses exception of the Immigration and Nationality Act. However, the petition is denied in part where the BIA correctly determined that petitioner’s conviction for petty theft constituted a crime of moral turpitude....

Did you know that the clergy get tax breaks? Neither did we. Apparently there’s a section in the federal tax code that allows “a minister of the gospel” to not include rental allowances in gross income calculations for tax purposes. The housing allowance, known as “parsonage,” came under fire by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. (“FFRF”), an organization dedicated to the separation of church and state. Last week, a District Judge Barbara Crabb found § 107(2) of the Internal Revenue Code unconstitutional, reports Forbes....

Hurley v. Deutsche Bank Trust Co., Ams., No. 09-1964 concerned plaintiffs’ suit against Deutsche Bank and others claiming violations of the Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act (SCRA), and state law claims of infliction of emotional distress, fraud and conversion, arising from the defendants’ foreclosure of plaintiffs’ home. In affirming the district court’s denial of defendants’ motion to compel arbitration on the basis that they waived their right to enforce an arbitration clause against plaintiffs, the court held that the defendants took actions inconsistent with any reliance on the waiver provision and plaintiffs have suffered actual prejudice as a result of defendants’ delay....

Delta Air Lines, Inc. v. Chimet, S.P.A., 09-1202, involved Delta Airlines’ suit for declaratory judgment seeking to limit its liability for losing approximately 100 kilograms of pure platinum shipped from Italy to Pennsylvania. In affirming the district court’s grant of defendant’s motion to dismiss on forum non conveniens grounds, the court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion by granting defendant’s motion to dismiss as the private interest factors affecting the convenience of the litigants and the public interest factors affecting the convenience of the forum weighed in favor of litigating this dispute in Italy....

In a personal injury action arising from a boat accident, district court’s judgment is affirmed in part and reversed in part where: 1) substantial evidence supported district court’s conclusion that defendant breached a duty of reasonable care to plaintiff by bringing the boat to planing speed when plaintiff was seated on the bow cushion; 2) district court did not clearly err in finding that defendant’s negligent operation of the boat was a proximate and substantial cause of plaintiff’s injuries; and 3) district court erred in awarding plaintiff’s spouse damages for loss of consortium as there is no well-settled admiralty rule authorizing such damages for spouses of non-seafarers negligently injured beyond the territorial waters of the United States....

In a sex discrimination action by the EEOC, summary judgment for defendant-employer is reversed where the EEOC introduced adequate evidence from which a reasonable jury could conclude that the reasons defendant advanced to justify its employment actions were pretextual. Read EEOC v. Boeing Co., No. 07-16903 Appellate Information Argued and Submitted March 6, 2009 Filed August 18, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Hawkins Counsel For Appellant: Anne Noel Occhialino, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Washington, DC...

Family separation and child detention have become a hot-button topic in President Donald Trump’s war on immigration. At least seven children have either died in custody or after being detained by federal immigration agencies at the border, and hundreds more remain separated from their families. Federal immigration law, in the form of what’s known as the Flores Agreement, regulates the manner in which migrant children may be detained, and limits how long they can remain in detention....

So National Email Week is a thing, and what it’s supposed to celebrate really seems to be as elusive as who created it. But if people are going to celebrate email during the second week of June every year, then it would seem like a good time for lawyers to think about how they could be better at email. Here at FindLaw, we think about that sort of stuff all the time....

Clayton Morris, the longtime Fox and Friends anchor that recently stepped down from the show, is now facing several lawsuits accusing him of duping real estate investors through his company, Morris Invest. Now, those investors want their money back. In short, the several lawsuits claim that Morris promised investors turn-key real estate investments in rental properties, but in reality was running a Ponzi scheme, at best. The investors claim they were led to believe they were purchasing rental homes that Morris would renovate, and then manage....

Invasive searches at the airport are not a new complaint. Back when the TSA first started doing full-body scans and pat-downs, they were fodder for comedians everywhere. Flying is not particularly fun to begin with, and security checks can feel invasive. While no one likes these security checks, in some cases passengers have truly felt that Transportation Security Administration officers have violated their rights. Such was the case with Nadine Pellegrino, who alleged that transportation security officers (TSOs) damaged her belongings in a rough search, and then lied about her behavior, resulting in several criminal charges against her....

When October 17th rolls around, if the judiciary funding is exhausted due to the government shutdown, the Eighth Circuit will still keep its doors open. As we’ve discussed before, federal courts are financially running on fumes, trying to maintain operations set at the minimum required for Article III obligations. But the Eighth Circuit is holding sown the fort. Chief Judge William Jay Riley entered an order last week declaring that “the work of all Eighth Circuit Court Staff is necessary and essential to support the exercise of the Court’s Article III judicial power,” according to the memo released by Clerk of Court Michael E....

A groundbreaking settlement between the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) and Angelo Binno, an aspiring law student from Michigan who is legally blind, spells major changes for the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). In 2016, Binno requested to have the often-complained-about analytical reasoning portion of the exam waived, as his visual impairment prevented him from using the usual method of solving the problems - drawing diagrams. At that time, he had already taken the exam twice, with the logic portion proving detrimental to his score....