Those of you who remember my earlier posts about the settlement and my brief on behalf of objectors might be interested in seeing the briefs that putatively settling plaintiffs and defendants submitted in support of the settlement.
So as not to clutter Overlawyered with these posts, I have started a new weblog focusing on my class action work. You can also keep up with this work by becoming a Facebook supporter of the Center for Class Action Fairness.
Sued-if-you-do, sued-if-you-don’t dept.: “United Parcel Service tentatively settled a 10-year-old lawsuit Tuesday by agreeing to allow some deaf and hard-of-hearing employees to compete for jobs driving small delivery vans after special testing and training. …UPS argued that deaf drivers were more likely to get into accidents because they couldn’t hear sirens, screeching tires or other danger signals.” [Egelko/SF Chronicle] We covered the litigation in 2006.
The Federal Trade Commission seems particularly interested in checking up after blogs that participate in affiliate programs like Amazon’s while making favorable mention of books and other products sold there. [Morrissey, “Hot Air”; Elizabeth Jacobson, CEI “Open Market”] “Do we seriously expect people to hire lawyers before launching a mommy blog? Apparently so.” [James Joyner via Instapundit; Ron Coleman] Earlier here and here.
More: Patrick at Popehat is feeling commercial.
The New York Times’s “Room for Debate” includes views by Richard Pildes, Jamal Greene and Hans von Spakovsky. Abigail Thernstrom and Edward Blum wrote on the case earlier.
Per CQ Politics, “A House committee approved a sweeping food safety overhaul bill Wednesday after tweaking it to address most remaining GOP concerns, including the bill’s effect on small food producers. …Republicans had expressed concerns about the effect of [a provision increasing frequency of inspections] on small producers, but were assuaged by language adopted as part of a manager’s amendment that would allow the FDA to modify that inspection schedule for some producers at its discretion.” An annual fee per establishment has also been cut from $1000 to $500. More: WSJ. Earlier here, etc.
“Joints and baggies sold at California’s medical marijuana dispensaries will soon carry a new warning label” now that a state panel has added reefers to the long list of officially recognized carcinogens that must be warned about under Prop 65. [San Jose Mercury News via CalBizLit]
Most of the 37 guards who work at the Cornwall Island, Ontario border crossing have notes from doctors saying that tensions arising from relations with the local Mohawk Indian tribe make it too stressful to work there and could result in harmful health effects. [CanWest/Vancouver Sun]
The issue generated a five-page legal memo from the City Attorney before being resolved in March. [Matier & Ross, SF Chronicle via Lowering the Bar, California Beat CBS5 with link to City Attorney opinion]
What am I bid? $1.00? Not even that? (via Caron).