Fired employee entitled to long-term disability benefits
An employee was wrongfully denied long-term disability benefits for injuries suffered in two automobile accidents – even though she didn’t apply for benefits until months after she was fired for allegedly poor performance, the 6th Circuit has ruled in affirming judgment.
Categories: Recorded Information Management
Collection letter doesn't violate Fair Debt Act
A collection letter didn’t violate federal consumer protection law – even though the amount stated for "interest due" did not accurately state the total amount of interest that had accrued on an overdue credit card account, the 7th Circuit has ruled in affirming judgment.
Categories: Recorded Information Management
Defendants may remove class action to federal court
Chocolate manufacturers may be able to remove a consumer class action alleging antitrust violations to federal court – even though the plaintiff’s complaint failed to indicate that the amount in controversy met the minimum for federal jurisdiction, the 8th Circuit has ruled in vacating a remand order.
Categories: Recorded Information Management
Law firm can't demand set aside for ERISA fees
A law firm can’t require a pension plan to set aside funds for the payment of its anticipated fees from an ERISA class action, the 2nd Circuit has ruled in vacating a preliminary injunction.
Categories: Recorded Information Management
Manufacturer needn't warn about others' products
A manufacturer has no duty to warn of the danger of another manufacturer’s product used in conjunction with its own product, the California Court of Appeal has ruled.
Categories: Recorded Information Management
Annuity isn't exempt in bankruptcy
An annuity that a debtor purchased from his bankruptcy lawyer does not qualify as exempt property in his Chapter 7 case, the 9th Circuit has ruled in affirming judgment.
Categories: Recorded Information Management
Court rules in religious monument case
A monument in a public park constitutes government speech and therefore is not subject to the strict scrutiny that government regulation of private speech would face under the First Amendment, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled.The 10th Circuit concluded that the city must show a compelling justification for denying the request to erect the monument and establish that its objectives could not be achieved by more narrowly tailored means. But the Supreme Court said that a city’s decision was not subject to strict scrutiny.
Categories: Recorded Information Management
Out-of-state gay adoption is enforceable
A lesbian could enforce an Illinois adoption order in a custody dispute with her former partner, even though the state where she now resides – Michigan – doesn’t recognize adoptions by same-sex couples, the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled in reversing a dismissal.
Categories: Recorded Information Management
Class-action arbitration waiver needn't be enforced
The Federal Arbitration Act does not bar application of state law to invalidate a class-action waiver, the 3rd Circuit has ruled in reversing a U.S. District Court.
Categories: Recorded Information Management
No individual liability under Title VII
An individual employee cannot be held liable for employment discrimination as an “agent” of the employer, the 1st Circuit has ruled in affirming a dismissal.
Categories: Recorded Information Management
Defaulting homeowner must pay lender's attorney fees
Public policy doesn’t bar enforcement of a provision in a residential mortgage contract requiring a defaulting borrower to pay a lender’s attorney fees as a condition of terminating foreclosure proceedings, the Ohio Supreme Court has ruled.
Categories: Recorded Information Management
Cost shifting ordered in multiple-defendant case
A corrections officer sued for allegedly mistreating a prisoner may recover his costs when the plaintiff was awarded less than a pretrial joint settlement offered by all the defendants in the case, the 1st Circuit has ruled in reversing an order denying costs.Click here for the 1st Circuit opinion.
Categories: Recorded Information Management
Store may be liable for fall over 'obvious' hazard
A drugstore may be liable for injuries suffered by a customer who tripped over a plainly visible pallet used to display merchandise, the Minnesota Court of Appeals has ruled.The plaintiff tripped over an empty pallet located adjacent to the customer service counter at a Walgreens store.
Categories: Recorded Information Management
Forfeiture clause doesn't violate state wage laws
A forfeiture provision in an employee stock plan doesn’t violate state wage laws, Massachusetts’ highest court has ruled in answering a certified question from a U.S. District Court.
Categories: Recorded Information Management
AmEx can't enforce ban on class-wide arbitration
American Express can’t enforce a clause prohibiting class-wide arbitration contained in its contracts with individual merchants, the 2nd Circuit has ruled in reversing an order compelling arbitration.Click here for the 2nd Circuit opinion.
Categories: Recorded Information Management
Two deaths are separate occurrences under policy
The accidental deaths of two boys at an excavation site constituted separate “occurrences” under the property owner’s liability insurance policy, the Illinois Supreme Court has ruled in reinstating a judgment against the insurer.
Categories: Recorded Information Management
Owner had no duty to warn of asbestos
Building owners didn’t have a duty to warn an independent contractor’s employee of the dangers of asbestos exposure, the Kentucky Supreme Court has ruled in affirming a summary judgment.The plaintiff sued the property owners for negligence after he developed asbestosis.
Categories: Recorded Information Management
Binding arbitration required in legal fee dispute
A lawyer could enforce a clause requiring his client to submit a fee dispute to binding arbitration – even though state law generally guarantees a right to trial for a client who is dissatisfied with an arbitration award, the California Supreme Court has ruled in reversing a denial of arbitration.
Categories: Recorded Information Management
Can discovery order be immediately appealed?
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether a party may immediately appeal an order to disclose materials said to be covered by the attorney-client privilege.
Categories: Recorded Information Management
Court finds prosecutor immune from suit
The U.S. Supreme Court has held that police and prosecutors are shielded by absolute immunity from a §1983 claim alleging poor training, supervision, and communications systems led to impeachment evidence being withheld from a defendant’s attorney.
Categories: Recorded Information Management