Noting that a reasonable concern of injury does not satisfy the need to plead an actual or imminent injury, the Tenth Circuit affirmed a lower court dismissal of a class action suit against an industrial defendant. The ruling was with prejudice, too. As any practitioner knows, causation must be alleged in order to support a cause of action. This seems to be something that the plaintiffs’ lawyer forgot in this case....
Splitting the federal circuits, a federal appeals court in Philadelphia has ruled that age discrimination may be actionable by sub-groups of older workers. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals said the Age Discrimination in Employment Act protects workers aged 40 and older against age discrimination, and groups of fifty-year-olds or older groups may sue relative to younger groups in the protected class. “A rule that disallowed subgroups would ignore genuine statistical disparities that could otherwise be actionable through application of the plain text of the statute,” the appellate court said....
In December 2021, after a trial in the U.S. court for the Southern District of New York, a jury convicted British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell of child sex trafficking and other crimes related to her relationship with American financier Jeffrey Epstein. A few days later, a juror known as Scotty David revealed that he had been a victim of sexual abuse and shared his experience to convince other jurors about the victims’ credibility....
President Trump has threatened to send the federal military into the streets of American cities when protests turn violent. If he issues such an order, can the military refuse to follow it? First, some background: On June 1, Trump suggested that he could employ a 213-year-old law, the Insurrection Act, as a basis to send in troops. That proposal was criticized by legal experts and historians as unwarranted — at least in this case....
If a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available, could your employer require you to be inoculated as a condition of your employment? The short answer is yes. Employers do have the power to do that and so does the government – but whether the state or the private sector will exercise that right is an open question. With a vaccine at least months away, more than one-third of Americans are skittish at best about getting a COVID-19 shot (or shots)....
Establishment Clause Action Regarding Religious Homeless Shelter In Community House, Inc. v. Boise, No. 09-35780, an action against the City of Boise and the Boise City Council, alleging, among other things, that the anticipated lease of a building to a homeless shelter violated the First Amendment’s anti-Establishment Clause and the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA), the court reversed the denial of summary judgment based on qualified immunity, holding that 1) the Mayor and the members of the City Council were entitled to absolute legislative immunity for their actions in promoting and approving the lease; and 2) certain other individual defendants were entitled to qualified immunity because at the time the City approved the lease and sale, a reasonable official would not have known that such actions would violate the Establishment Clause or the FHA....
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals upheld former New Jersey State Senator Wayne Bryant’s 2008 political corruption conviction last week, rejecting Bryant’s claims that his due process rights were violated in the case. The court also upheld the conviction of Bryant’s partner in crime, R. Michael Gallagher, the former dean of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ). For those new to the Third Circuit, Wayne Bryant was convicted on fraud and bribery charges after Gallagher arranged for UMDNJ to pay Bryant $35,000 per year for a low-show job; Bryant, in return, used his position as chairman of the state’s Senate Appropriations Committee to funnel an additional $10 million per year to UMDNJ....
“The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” Those words, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, are pretty much all you need to know about Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action. Michigan passed an initiative in 2006 which amended the state constitution to prohibit discrimination or racial preferences in public education, government contracting and public employment. Affirmative action proponents immediately sued to block the portion of the law dealing with higher education....
In plaintiff’s suit against a driver of a tractor-trailer and the driver’s employer arising from a traffic accident, summary judgment in favor of the driver’s employer on a negligent-supervision-and-retention claim and jury’s finding in favor of the driver on the underlying negligence claim is affirmed where: 1) although the district court abused its discretion in preventing plaintiff from pursuing a certain line of questioning of defendant’s expert witness, the error was harmless; 2) district court’s decision that a police report was trustworthy was reasonable or, at the very least, arguable, and thus not an abuse of discretion; and 3) the issue of whether the district court erred in addressing the negligent-supervision-and-retention claim is moot as there is no reversible error in the conduct of the trial and because the jury found that defendant-driver was not negligent....
Last Friday, billionaire Elon Musk won a securities fraud class action brought by some Tesla investors who complained that his bad tweets caused them to lose millions. Musk managed to pull this victory off with both hands tied behind his back. What Happened? Back in 2018, Tesla CEO Musk tweeted that he was planning to take Tesla private at $420 per share. He wrote, “funding secured.” He followed this with another tweet: “Investor support is confirmed....
Many retailers have issued lines of credit to customers in the form of credit cards. Often, this is done in partnership with existing banks and lenders. For example, Kohl’s, the discount clothing chain, has partnered with both Chase Bank and Capital One to issue cards to consumers. While the debtor signs up for the card through Kohl’s, it is the bank that owns the debt – and initiates collections actions for defaulted debt....
In a recent First Circuit decision, Karth v. Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., the renal biopharmaceutical company Keryx scored a win while raising the bar for investors hoping to prove securities fraud based on inadequate risk disclosures. The Boston-based company produces a single product, a drug called Auryxia, used to treat kidney disease. For all steps of the manufacturing process, Keryx used third-party contractors. Issues In the Manufacturing Chain In 2013, Keryx released a Form 10-Q, a comprehensive financial performance report required quarterly by the Securities Exchange Commission....
Denial of a petition for habeas relief brought by a defendant convicted of sexual assault and false imprisonment is affirmed as defendant’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim is rejected as he failed to offer some basis for the court to believe that a witness was available to testify to the victim’s sexual orientation and that there was a reasonable probability that this witness’s testimony would have made a difference in the outcome of the trial....
There is never a good time for appliances to break or major damage to happen to your home. If a DIY repair is against your rental contract (or your DIY ability), you might be searching for the best, cheapest, or fastest repair person or contractor to come over and help you. When you invite a professional to your property they are legally considered an “invitee." You must take “reasonable care" to protect them from known hazards and regularly inspect your home for unknown dangers....
Johnson v. U.S. Attorney General, 07-2820, involved a petition for review, filed by a citizen of Guyana, of BIA’s denial of his application for cancellation of removal under the Special Rule for Battered Spouses, 8 U.S.C. section 1229b(b)(2). However, because the extreme cruelty determination in section 1229b(b)(2) is discretionary and not subject to judicial review, the petition is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. Howard Hess Dental Lab., Inc. v. Dentsply Int’l, Inc....
In an action by a creditor to prevent the bankruptcy court’s discharge of a state court judgment against the debtor, summary judgment for the creditor is affirmed where: 1) the debtor’s conduct constituted larceny within the federal meaning of the term, and accordingly under 11 U.S.C. section 523(a)(4), his debt could not be discharged; 2) the debtor knew that the creditor’s injury was substantially certain to occur as a result of his conduct; and 3) the district court’s withdrawal of the creditor’s motion for attorney’s fees and subsequent decision on attorney’s fees were not improper....
Ukraine’s courageous fight against an invading foe eight times its size has captured many hearts. It has prompted many of us to pray for peace or to contribute to refugee relief efforts. But for some of us, including many Americans, it’s stirred a desire to join the fight. Following Russia’s invasion in late February, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky created the “International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine” and invited foreigners to join it....
Unless you live under a rock (or don’t know any teens or tweens), TikTok is a popular social media platform. TikTok began as the Chinese social media app Musical.ly, which allowed users to post short videos of themselves lip-syncing to music. Musical.ly merged into TikTok in 2018 to become the internet phenomenon it is today. Among the most popular TikTok content are choreographed dance videos, cute animal videos, and viral challenges....
She’s not fat and she’s not singing, but Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will soon become the star of an opera. The Supreme Court Justice and well-known opera fan is set to debut as the Duchess of Krakenthorp in Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti’s “The Daughter of the Regiment,” the Washington National Opera announced last Friday. RBG will be performing as the Notorious Duchess of Krakenthorp for one night only, though, so be sure to get your tickets in advance....
In an action challenging the constitutionality of a New York Police Department (NYPD) policy that required that a breathalyzer test be administered to every NYPD officer who caused injury or death as a result of firing his or her gun, denial of a preliminary injunction is affirmed where: 1) the district court did not make a clearly erroneous assessment of the evidence when it found that the primary purpose of the breathalyzer policy was not the NYPD’s general interest in crime control, and thus fell under the “special needs” doctrine of Fourth Amendment jurisprudence; 2) the fact that crime control was one purpose – but not the primary purpose – of the breathalyzer policy did not bar the application of the “special needs” doctrine to the breathalyzer policy; and 3) based on the record at this stage of the proceedings, the breathalyzer policy was reasonable under the three-factor balancing test of the “special needs” doctrine....
