“Even though they received back-pay, they are now suing the government….Their attorney said that late payment violates the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act and they’re now owed damages – adding up to hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars per worker.” [Mike Conneen, WJLA]
Archive for November, 2013
“Hells Angels lawsuit accuses Dillard’s of trademark infringement”
“Hells Angels is suing 8732 Apparel and Dillard’s Inc. in federal court, claiming trademark infringement of its famous skull-with-wings logo known as the Hells Angels Death Head.” [My San Antonio] The U.S. Department of Justice along with various state law enforcement agencies have deemed the celebrated motorcycle gang to be an organized criminal enterprise.
At Treasury’s mercy
How “money laundering” regulations give the U.S. Treasury power to destroy foreign banks [Stewart Baker, Volokh] Meanwhile, if Canadians imagine that the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is something only Canadian-Americans need to worry about, they should think again [Maclean’s]. Excerpt:
To say that FATCA is controversial is an understatement. The law is so complex and onerous to implement that some foreign banks have reportedly kicked out their U.S. clients in order to avoid dealing with it. Americans living abroad are queuing to give up their U.S. passports over it. The other problem with FATCA is that it asks foreign banks to do things that are often illegal in their home countries, such as passing on certain private information.
“The Smoking Congresswoman and Her Asbestos Lawsuit”
Paul Barrett at Business Week:
…even a politically moderate, law school-educated guy like me, someone who’s perfectly prepared to root for a suit against a dishonest insurance company or an exploitative landlord, finds himself increasingly dismayed by the uses to which our civil justice system is put.
That’s by way of introducing the lawsuit filed by 69-year-old Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), known as a big-time smoker, attributing her lung cancer to asbestos products made by more than 40 companies. Did we mention that representing her is the politically well-connected New York firm of Weitz & Luxenberg?
Boston police vs. photography-rights blogger
Carlos Miller, whose “Photography Is Not A Crime” blog argues for the right of citizens to film police, has been charged by Boston police with — with what, exactly? [Brian Doherty; Ken at Popehat (“What a accomplishment: the Boston Police Department has discovered a way to make it a crime for citizens to contact the person it designates to talk to citizens.”)]
Medical roundup
- Pressure from HHS leads day cares to ban practice of baby-swaddling, and not everyone’s pleased about that [Abby Schachter, Reason]
- “If Big Pharma likes your healthcare plan, you can keep it” [Tim Carney]
- For “those of us with polycystic kidney disease… stringent FDA regulation seems to be taking away hope” [Bill Brazell, Atlantic] And: speaking of the FDA, “Dallas Buyers Club Is a Terrific Libertarian Movie” [David Boaz, Cato] Also: New Peter Huber book, “The Cure in the Code: How 20th Century Law Is Undermining 21st Century Medicine” [Basic/Manhattan Institute, Wired]
- $7,440 annual expected loss per hospital bed in Florida vs. $810 in Minnesota, and other med-mal loss statistics [Becker’s Hospital Review via TortsProf]
- Charge: black lung defense firm finds ways to conceal medical expert reports from adversaries [Center for Public Integrity via Joe Patrice, Above the Law]
- Prescribing drugs for off-label uses is perfectly legal, but Johnson & Johnson will pay $2.2 billion for promoting the practice [Ann Althouse]
- Jury awards $4 million legal malpractice verdict against prominent D.C.-based plaintiff’s firm [Richmond Times-Dispatch via White Coat]
- “Can You Secretly Record the Medical-Legal Exam?” [Eric Turkewitz]
“University sued in drunk-driving deaths…”
“…because housing officer didn’t report alleged domestic abuse” [ABA Journal]
Reining in patent litigation via fee shifts
Prevailing parties in patent suits can win attorneys’ fees from losing opponents in cases deemed “exceptional.” “Under the test used to identify exceptional cases, cases must be objectively baseless and brought in bad faith.” That is already a painfully narrow exception, allowing for large volumes of poorly founded litigation, but two cases before the Supreme Court this term may provide clarity on when courts can deem cases “exceptional” and suitable for a fee shift. Broader use of fee shifts — presumably by way of deeming at least some swath of losing cases “exceptional” — would be one way of addressing the patent troll problem that would not call for new legislation. [ABA Journal, related, Corporate Counsel (arguments that judiciary can deal with trolls on its own]
In other developments, the Federal Trade Commission has voted to proceed with an inquiry into the patent troll problem [New York Times] and the Government Accountability Office has released a long-awaited report on the issue [Mike Hogan and Gregory Hillyer, Legal Intelligencer]
Labor and employment roundup
- High times at the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service [Luke Rosiak, Examiner via Jim Harper, Cato]
- 6th Circuit: In ruling company’s suit against union to be unfair labor practice, NLRB breezed past First Amendment issues [NLRB v. Allied Mechanical Services, Terry Potter/Lexology]
- “People look at me funny sometimes when I say the minimum wage law limits employee rights…” [Coyote]
- “ENDA and the Seduction of Symbolic Gestures” [Mark Lee, Washington Blade] Employers look to solve practical questions [Michigan Employment Law Connection] I’m quoted on ENDA in numerous outlets [Al Jazeera, Sydney Morning Herald, Tim Carney/Washington Examiner, more] and will be joining Ray Dunaway at 8:50 a.m. on his WTIC Hartford radio show to discuss the issue. More: ENDA explainer [Brett Kalikow, On Labor]
- If New Yorkers knew full cost of state’s scaffold law, would they demand it be fixed? [Bob Dorigo Jones]
- Disability rights group ADAPT decries DoL rule on home attendant overtime [ADAPT, Daniel Schwartz, earlier here and here]
- The Greek model of public sector employee tenure: “Nearly three years after he was convicted of murder [of the town’s mayor] and sentenced to life in prison, Savvas Saltouridis remains on the municipal payroll.” [WSJ]
NYC: “Meet the seemingly unfirable female firefighter”
“Despite failing a required FDNY running test five times, Wendy Tapia was allowed to graduate from the Fire Academy and become a firefighter. On Dec. 2, she is taking the test for an unprecedented sixth time.” [New York Post] In The Excuse Factory, I told the story of how prolonged litigation from civil rights groups claiming to speak for the interests of female applicants had severely eroded testing for strength, endurance and agility among many urban fire, police and trash services.